Templates behaving oddly (Word 2003)

[Denise]

I've used MS Word for a hundred years, so this isn't a "newbie" question.

My doc templates have worked nicely, only complaint has been that they
"forget" that I saved them to Page Width, not 85%. It was annoying, but
do-able, because once switched, all new docs opened correctly... until the
next time I shut down Word and re-opened.

Two weeks ago, ALL doc templates started behaving oddly. I never use markup
view - no need - and suddenly every single doc template has as default
"markup view" with "header and footer" NOT visible. That means when I open
Word, I have to change page width, uncheck markup view, and re-check header
and footer view.

Even more bizarre: Docs that were long ago saved with the old settings, when
now opened, don't show header and footer, but do show markup view. Etc.

I've tried the usual remedies, i.e. resaving the doc templates. Nothing helps.

Is this a result of a Microsoft "update", since it just started happening
recently?

 

[Graham Mayor]

Word, especially Word 2003, has always had the unforunate habit of losing
some of its user preferences. This is probably attributable to minor
corruption of the Word Data key in the registry. The simplest solution is to
save your preferred settings (at least the ones that change) in an autoopen
and and autonew macro (and maybe in an autoexec macro depending on what you
need to control) so they are re-applied for each document.
The following should help - see http://www.gmayor.com/installing_macro.htm
for more information
If your PC is very fast, you may need to change the line
When:=Now + TimeValue("00:00:01"), Name:="CodesOff"
to
When:=Now + TimeValue("00:00:03"), Name:="CodesOff"
or even
When:=Now + TimeValue("00:00:05"), Name:="CodesOff"

Sub AutoNew()
ActiveWindow.ActivePane.DisplayRulers = True
ActiveWindow.ActivePane.View.ShowAll = False
ActiveWindow.DisplayHorizontalScrollBar = True
ActiveWindow.DisplayVerticalScrollBar = True
With ActiveWindow.View
.Type = wdPrintView
.Zoom.Percentage = 500
.Zoom.PageFit = wdPageFitBestFit
.ShowFieldCodes = False
.DisplayPageBoundaries = True
.ShowDrawings = True
End With
CommandBars("Reviewing").Visible = False
End Sub

Sub AutoOpen()
ActiveWindow.Caption = ActiveDocument.FullName
ActiveWindow.ActivePane.DisplayRulers = True
ActiveWindow.ActivePane.View.ShowAll = False
ActiveWindow.DisplayHorizontalScrollBar = True
ActiveWindow.DisplayVerticalScrollBar = True
With ActiveWindow.View
.Type = wdPrintView
.Zoom.Percentage = 500
.Zoom.PageFit = wdPageFitBestFit
.ShowFieldCodes = False
.DisplayPageBoundaries = True
.ShowDrawings = True
End With
End Sub

Sub AutoExec()
CommandBars("Reviewing").Visible = False
Application.OnTime _
When:=Now + TimeValue("00:00:01"), Name:="CodesOff"
End Sub

Sub CodesOff()
On Error GoTo Oops:
ActiveWindow.ActivePane.View.ShowAll = False
Oops:
End Sub

 

[Denise]

Thank you, Graham! I will try that first thing in the morning. Did Microsoft
"fix" that in Word 2007, or is it an ongoing bug?

 

[Graham Mayor]

Word 2007 operates in a dramatically different fashion from 2003 such that
the comparison is not really valid.
It was a particular problem with Word 2003, but easy enough to control with
macros. I don't think anyone has got to the bottom of why it happens and not
all users who experience the problem suffer the same changes.

--
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Graham Mayor - Word MVP


<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>

 

[Beth Melton]

If this situation has recently occurred then typically the behavior you
describe points to an add-in causing the issue to occur. There are numerous
ill-behaved add-ins that modify user and document preferences out there.

Did you install any new hardware or software recently? If you go to
Tools/Templates and Add-ins do you see any add-ins in the Global Templates
and Add-ins list? There are other places add-ins can hide so if you'd prefer
to find the source then let us know and we can help troubleshoot the issue
with you. Personally, I'm one that wants to know "what" is modifying my
documents -- you never know other changes that it may be making.

Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email cannot be acknowledged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

Coauthor of Word 2007 Inside Out:
http://www.microsoft.com/MSPress/books/9801.aspx#AboutTheBook

Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/