Word Problem

[Harmon]

I have gone to Microsoft to try to get assistance with this problem, but as you would expect I got the run around. I know how smart EN Worlders are so I thought that one of you could help me out.

“Microsoft Word
“Changes have been made that affect the global template, Normal.DOT. Do you want to save those changes? Yes. No. Cancel.”

This pops up every time that I close Word, whether I do anything or not with Word- if I open it by accident, or if I use it for days, this message comes up. I have searched the Help menu but have yet to find anything that will help.

Is there anyone that can help me stop this from popping up? If you can help please tell me how to fix this.

Oh, and do not bother with the Microsoft bashing, I know, I have heard them all. I would just like to have some help with this issue.

Thank you for your assistance.

 

[Ilium]

I don't know, of course, but it almost sounds like you have a virus. It seems like something is trying to modify normal.dot every time you open Word. You can try cranking up the macro security level to see if it reveals anything. Go to Tools|Macros|Security and set it to Very High. Then close out of Word and re-open it.

Eh. Worth a shot.

 

[Harmon]

I don't know, of course, but it almost sounds like you have a virus. It seems like something is trying to modify normal.dot every time you open Word. You can try cranking up the macro security level to see if it reveals anything. Go to Tools|Macros|Security and set it to Very High. Then close out of Word and re-open it.

Eh. Worth a shot.

Interesting idea.

I did as you suggested, but the setting was already on High. Also I have ETrust running, so that should keep the bad guys at bay at least a little bit.

Thanks for the idea, worth checking out at the very least.

 

[Mycanid]

Hmm ... well my good Harmon. Two things come to mind. The first is that you should try to re-install the program using the "FIX" option. The second is that the program has died. MS Word sometimes does this on old OS's for some strange reason I have never been able to figure out.

But before I get too far into all that nonsense, what version of Windows are you using? What version of Word are you using? What service packs for both (OS and prog) have you downloaded/installed?

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

It's a common problem with Word, although there is no single cause (and hence, no simple fix).

Normal.dot is a template loaded every time you open a new document in Word. Its usually located in c:\documents and settings\username\application data\microsoft\templates. It contains default document settings, among other things. For example, if you wanted a standard footer on every document, you could edit the normal.dot template to include that footer.

Several things can cause the 'save' problem. Most common in business environments is Word not pulling up the user-specific copy and instead reverting back to a network copy that someone else has open already. Another possibility is permissions issues with the Office program directory or something screwey with the permissions on your D&S tree. It can also be a macro virus (although those are pretty rare anymore), an add-on program that you've installed that's conflicting, etc.

Oh, and on some versions, there is a 'Save changes to normal template' option under Tools-Options->Save. You can de-check that and it won't bug you any more.

If I think of anything to add, I'll post more later.

 

[IronWolf]

If you haven't made any changes to normal.dot you can also just rename it and Word will create a new one when it starts. That usually fixes any corruption issues that sometimes occur. Of course if you have made changes to the template then you would lose those changes.

 

[Harmon]

Thank you all for your help.

Rod I used your idea of the de check the save box, that seems to have works.