Very strange problem in Word 97 - Normal.dot error and more

[huntz0r]

I am getting the error that many people are experiencing, where upon
closing Word it says that changes were made to Normal.dot and prompts
to save, even if you haven't done anything to change Normal.dot.
However, there is another odd part. When attempting to save a file, no
matter what you name it, it only saves it as the first character of the
name you gave. For example, if you save a file as test.doc, you find a
file called t.doc has appeared instead. And if you go into Add-ins and
Templates, it comes up showing that "N" is the default template, even
though it seems to load Normal.dot just fine. I have tried replacing or
deleting Normal.dot to no effect. I even ran setup from the Office 97
disc and selected Reinstall, let it finish and there is still no
change.

Anyone have ideas for me?

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

If you are using Windows XP and have set any of the Compatibility settings,
this is not necessary, as Windows 97 is fully compatible with Windows XP. To
check, right-click on the executable (winword.exe) and choose Properties.
There is a tab for Compatibility. This is already more than I know (hints
thrown out by Office MVP Beth Melton when her mind was elsewhere), but
perhaps it will be enough to get you where you need to go!