Well I'm new to Word 2007 but have been using Word since 1993. I do recall
earlier versions could be a bit tricky with this too, but not like 2007.

I don't want "preferred" column width. I want "column width". I just want it
to obey me, take on the width I specify and then and stay put until I change
it.

One column has gone wide and pushed others off the right-hand edge. Now,
every time I try to change the widths to get those columns back, instead of
columns shrinking as specified, the various columns randomly reduce and
expand but the lost columns stay lost.

Any ideas?