normal.dot, new Word docs

thank you all for your continued help

when I follow the instructions above and choose user
templates, it takes me to "modify location" dialogue
screen. and the path then becomes
programfile\microsoft\office\templates
i must be missing something because you can't search from
just having that path come up. again, what it led me to
was a modify LOCATION screen. confusing.
a further complication, besides the ~$ icons, is that now
I can't open a second Windows doc while still inside an
original one. that never happened before. when i do
that, I get the "do you want to save this as your normal
template" message and you can't closeout of it. what a
mess. it brings up the square box. how the heck did all
this happen in one week after years of smooth sailing

Doug

You need to reply to the previous message or no-one will have a clue what
you are on about.

You were advised to check tools options file locations because that is
where the required folder location is defined. It is not a place where you
can edit the file. You need to take a note of the location then search for
that location using Windows Explorer. Don't change anything there!

Regarding filenames beginning ~$ see
http://www.gmayor.com/what_to_do_when_word_crashes.htm.

Let's try a different tack

What you need to do is open Windows Explorer.
Set it to display hidden files as previously instructed.
Search for normal.dot
Delete or rename it.
Clear up the orphaned temp files as described in the above link.
Start Word.
You should be back in business.


--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

Web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site www.mvps.org/word




doug wrote:
thank you all for your continued help

when I follow the instructions above and choose user
templates, it takes me to "modify location" dialogue
screen. and the path then becomes
programfile\microsoft\office\templates
i must be missing something because you can't search from
just having that path come up. again, what it led me to
was a modify LOCATION screen. confusing.
a further complication, besides the ~$ icons, is that now
I can't open a second Windows doc while still inside an
original one. that never happened before. when i do
that, I get the "do you want to save this as your normal
template" message and you can't closeout of it. what a
mess. it brings up the square box. how the heck did all
this happen in one week after years of smooth sailing

graham

thanks again for your patience. it's difficult to
decipher this from reading it rather than speaking to
someone I'm not great on instructions, esp when I'm not
sure which file/location/etc is which!) - I think I've
remedied a lot of this. A couple final things.

1 - I took ALL the things out of my TEMP files and
trashed them as suggested. SO I'm just double checking
it's okay to empty the trash, before I do it!

2 - Is there a reason to reset the option to NOT show
hidden files?

3 - Did we address the other problem I asked about in the
last post: that presently I cannot open a second Word
file when one is open? thanks again
-----Original Message-----
Doug

You need to reply to the previous message or no-one will
have a clue what
you are on about.

You were advised to check tools options file
locations because that is
where the required folder location is defined. It is not
a place where you
can edit the file. You need to take a note of the
location then search for
that location using Windows Explorer. Don't change
anything there!

Regarding filenames beginning ~$ see
http://www.gmayor.com/what_to_do_when_word_crashes.htm.

Let's try a different tack

What you need to do is open Windows Explorer.
Set it to display hidden files as previously instructed.
Search for normal.dot
Delete or rename it.
Clear up the orphaned temp files as described in the
above link.
Start Word.
You should be back in business.


--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

Web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site www.mvps.org/word




doug wrote:
thank you all for your continued help

when I follow the instructions above and choose user
templates, it takes me to "modify location" dialogue
screen. and the path then becomes
programfile\microsoft\office\templates
i must be missing something because you can't search
from
just having that path come up. again, what it led me
to
was a modify LOCATION screen. confusing.
a further complication, besides the ~$ icons, is that
now
I can't open a second Windows doc while still inside an
original one. that never happened before. when i do
that, I get the "do you want to save this as your
normal
template" message and you can't closeout of it. what a
mess. it brings up the square box. how the heck did
all
this happen in one week after years of smooth sailing



.

If the files were in your temp folder they can be discarded. Windows will
reinstate any it requires next time the application that placed them is run.

There is no need to reset the hidden files option. Personally I would rather
know what is stored on my hard drive, rather than what Microsoft thinks I
should know about.

I am puzzled about your reference to the second document. Do you perhaps
mean the single document interface that places each document in what appears
to be its own version of Word, as opposed to the Word 97 way of doing things
with all the documents in one 'application'? If that is the case, then from
the Word tools menu - options view uncheck windows in taskbar will work
in Word 2002/3.


--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

Web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site www.mvps.org/word




doug wrote:
graham

thanks again for your patience. it's difficult to
decipher this from reading it rather than speaking to
someone I'm not great on instructions, esp when I'm not
sure which file/location/etc is which!) - I think I've
remedied a lot of this. A couple final things.

1 - I took ALL the things out of my TEMP files and
trashed them as suggested. SO I'm just double checking
it's okay to empty the trash, before I do it!

2 - Is there a reason to reset the option to NOT show
hidden files?

3 - Did we address the other problem I asked about in the
last post: that presently I cannot open a second Word
file when one is open? thanks again
-----Original Message-----
Doug

You need to reply to the previous message or no-one will have a clue
what you are on about.

You were advised to check tools options file locations because
that is where the required folder location is defined. It is not a
place where you can edit the file. You need to take a note of the
location then search for that location using Windows Explorer. Don't
change anything there!

Regarding filenames beginning ~$ see
http://www.gmayor.com/what_to_do_when_word_crashes.htm.

Let's try a different tack

What you need to do is open Windows Explorer.
Set it to display hidden files as previously instructed.
Search for normal.dot
Delete or rename it.
Clear up the orphaned temp files as described in the above link.
Start Word.
You should be back in business.


--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

Web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site www.mvps.org/word




doug wrote:
thank you all for your continued help

when I follow the instructions above and choose user
templates, it takes me to "modify location" dialogue
screen. and the path then becomes
programfile\microsoft\office\templates
i must be missing something because you can't search from
just having that path come up. again, what it led me to
was a modify LOCATION screen. confusing.
a further complication, besides the ~$ icons, is that now
I can't open a second Windows doc while still inside an
original one. that never happened before. when i do
that, I get the "do you want to save this as your normal
template" message and you can't closeout of it. what a
mess. it brings up the square box. how the heck did all
this happen in one week after years of smooth sailing



.

what I meant was opening one document and then opening
another and another (creating new ones) while the
original doc remains open beneath them

this seems to cause the error message of "normal doc has
changed"

it used to be I could keep creating as many new docs as I
wanted while the original remained open
-----Original Message-----
If the files were in your temp folder they can be
discarded. Windows will
reinstate any it requires next time the application that
placed them is run.

There is no need to reset the hidden files option.
Personally I would rather
know what is stored on my hard drive, rather than what
Microsoft thinks I
should know about.

I am puzzled about your reference to the second
document. Do you perhaps
mean the single document interface that places each
document in what appears
to be its own version of Word, as opposed to the Word 97
way of doing things
with all the documents in one 'application'? If that is
the case, then from
the Word tools menu - options view uncheck windows
in taskbar will work
in Word 2002/3.


--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

Web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site www.mvps.org/word




doug wrote:
graham

thanks again for your patience. it's difficult to
decipher this from reading it rather than speaking to
someone I'm not great on instructions, esp when I'm not
sure which file/location/etc is which!) - I think
I've
remedied a lot of this. A couple final things.

1 - I took ALL the things out of my TEMP files and
trashed them as suggested. SO I'm just double checking
it's okay to empty the trash, before I do it!

2 - Is there a reason to reset the option to NOT show
hidden files?

3 - Did we address the other problem I asked about in
the
last post: that presently I cannot open a second Word
file when one is open? thanks again
-----Original Message-----
Doug

You need to reply to the previous message or no-one
will have a clue
what you are on about.

You were advised to check tools options file
locations because
that is where the required folder location is
defined. It is not a
place where you can edit the file. You need to take a
note of the
location then search for that location using Windows
Explorer. Don't
change anything there!

Regarding filenames beginning ~$ see

http://www.gmayor.com/what_to_do_when_word_crashes.htm.

Let's try a different tack

What you need to do is open Windows Explorer.
Set it to display hidden files as previously
instructed.
Search for normal.dot
Delete or rename it.
Clear up the orphaned temp files as described in the
above link.
Start Word.
You should be back in business.


--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

Web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site www.mvps.org/word




doug wrote:
thank you all for your continued help

when I follow the instructions above and choose user
templates, it takes me to "modify location" dialogue
screen. and the path then becomes
programfile\microsoft\office\templates
i must be missing something because you can't search
from
just having that path come up. again, what it led
me to
was a modify LOCATION screen. confusing.
a further complication, besides the ~$ icons, is
that now
I can't open a second Windows doc while still inside
an
original one. that never happened before. when i do
that, I get the "do you want to save this as your
normal
template" message and you can't closeout of it. what
a
mess. it brings up the square box. how the heck did
all
this happen in one week after years of smooth sailing



.



.

You should still be able to open or create as many documents as you want.
Are you saying that you can only only have one open?
The normal.dot has changed message has nothing to do with this. It is most
likely caused by an add-in (or by Norton AV's office plug-in - if you have
Norton AV) or can be caused by using Word as your e-mail editor.

--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

Web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site www.mvps.org/word




doug wrote:
what I meant was opening one document and then opening
another and another (creating new ones) while the
original doc remains open beneath them

this seems to cause the error message of "normal doc has
changed"

it used to be I could keep creating as many new docs as I
wanted while the original remained open
-----Original Message-----
If the files were in your temp folder they can be discarded. Windows
will reinstate any it requires next time the application that placed
them is run.

There is no need to reset the hidden files option. Personally I
would rather know what is stored on my hard drive, rather than what
Microsoft thinks I should know about.

I am puzzled about your reference to the second
document. Do you perhaps
mean the single document interface that places each document in what
appears to be its own version of Word, as opposed to the Word 97 way
of doing things with all the documents in one 'application'? If that
is the case, then from the Word tools menu - options view
uncheck windows
in taskbar will work
in Word 2002/3.


--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

Web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site www.mvps.org/word




doug wrote:
graham

thanks again for your patience. it's difficult to
decipher this from reading it rather than speaking to
someone I'm not great on instructions, esp when I'm not
sure which file/location/etc is which!) - I think I've
remedied a lot of this. A couple final things.

1 - I took ALL the things out of my TEMP files and
trashed them as suggested. SO I'm just double checking
it's okay to empty the trash, before I do it!

2 - Is there a reason to reset the option to NOT show
hidden files?

3 - Did we address the other problem I asked about in the
last post: that presently I cannot open a second Word
file when one is open? thanks again
-----Original Message-----
Doug

You need to reply to the previous message or no-one will have a
clue what you are on about.

You were advised to check tools options file locations because
that is where the required folder location is
defined. It is not a
place where you can edit the file. You need to take a note of the
location then search for that location using Windows Explorer.
Don't change anything there!

Regarding filenames beginning ~$ see

http://www.gmayor.com/what_to_do_when_word_crashes.htm.

Let's try a different tack

What you need to do is open Windows Explorer.
Set it to display hidden files as previously instructed.
Search for normal.dot
Delete or rename it.
Clear up the orphaned temp files as described in the above link.
Start Word.
You should be back in business.


--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

Web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site www.mvps.org/word




doug wrote:
thank you all for your continued help

when I follow the instructions above and choose user
templates, it takes me to "modify location" dialogue
screen. and the path then becomes
programfile\microsoft\office\templates
i must be missing something because you can't search from
just having that path come up. again, what it led
me to
was a modify LOCATION screen. confusing.
a further complication, besides the ~$ icons, is
that now
I can't open a second Windows doc while still inside an
original one. that never happened before. when i do
that, I get the "do you want to save this as your normal
template" message and you can't closeout of it. what a
mess. it brings up the square box. how the heck did all
this happen in one week after years of smooth sailing



.



.

Hi Graham

I am hesitant to try it again for fear of having to
retrace all my steps with that error messgage, but yes,
as of 2 days ago I was not able to open more than one
without getting that error. No to the Norton thing or
the Word as mail thing.

I could try it again today but god forbid it gave me that
error again I feel like I'd be the biggest @@@**! to have
to ask you again what to do...

-----Original Message-----
You should still be able to open or create as many
documents as you want.
Are you saying that you can only only have one open?
The normal.dot has changed message has nothing to do
with this. It is most
likely caused by an add-in (or by Norton AV's office
plug-in - if you have
Norton AV) or can be caused by using Word as your e-mail
editor.

--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

Web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site www.mvps.org/word




doug wrote:
what I meant was opening one document and then opening
another and another (creating new ones) while the
original doc remains open beneath them

this seems to cause the error message of "normal doc
has
changed"

it used to be I could keep creating as many new docs
as I
wanted while the original remained open
-----Original Message-----
If the files were in your temp folder they can be
discarded. Windows
will reinstate any it requires next time the
application that placed
them is run.

There is no need to reset the hidden files option.
Personally I
would rather know what is stored on my hard drive,
rather than what
Microsoft thinks I should know about.

I am puzzled about your reference to the second
document. Do you perhaps
mean the single document interface that places each
document in what
appears to be its own version of Word, as opposed to
the Word 97 way
of doing things with all the documents in
one 'application'? If that
is the case, then from the Word tools menu - options
view
uncheck windows
in taskbar will work
in Word 2002/3.


--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

Web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site www.mvps.org/word




doug wrote:
graham

thanks again for your patience. it's difficult to
decipher this from reading it rather than speaking to
someone I'm not great on instructions, esp when I'm
not
sure which file/location/etc is which!) - I think
I've
remedied a lot of this. A couple final things.

1 - I took ALL the things out of my TEMP files and
trashed them as suggested. SO I'm just double
checking
it's okay to empty the trash, before I do it!

2 - Is there a reason to reset the option to NOT
show
hidden files?

3 - Did we address the other problem I asked about
in the
last post: that presently I cannot open a second Word
file when one is open? thanks again
-----Original Message-----
Doug

You need to reply to the previous message or no-one
will have a
clue what you are on about.

You were advised to check tools options file
locations because
that is where the required folder location is
defined. It is not a
place where you can edit the file. You need to take
a note of the
location then search for that location using
Windows Explorer.
Don't change anything there!

Regarding filenames beginning ~$ see

http://www.gmayor.com/what_to_do_when_word_crashes.htm.

Let's try a different tack

What you need to do is open Windows Explorer.
Set it to display hidden files as previously
instructed.
Search for normal.dot
Delete or rename it.
Clear up the orphaned temp files as described in
the above link.
Start Word.
You should be back in business.


--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

Web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site www.mvps.org/word




doug wrote:
thank you all for your continued help

when I follow the instructions above and choose
user
templates, it takes me to "modify location"
dialogue
screen. and the path then becomes
programfile\microsoft\office\templates
i must be missing something because you can't
search from
just having that path come up. again, what it led
me to
was a modify LOCATION screen. confusing.
a further complication, besides the ~$ icons, is
that now
I can't open a second Windows doc while still
inside an
original one. that never happened before. when i
do
that, I get the "do you want to save this as your
normal
template" message and you can't closeout of it.
what a
mess. it brings up the square box. how the heck
did all
this happen in one week after years of smooth
sailing



.



.


.

I am frankly baffled. Are you sure you haven't picked up a virus? There are
a couple of recent viruses that play havoc with Word. May I suggest that you
try one of the on-line virus checkers.

--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

Web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site www.mvps.org/word




doug wrote:
Hi Graham

I am hesitant to try it again for fear of having to
retrace all my steps with that error messgage, but yes,
as of 2 days ago I was not able to open more than one
without getting that error. No to the Norton thing or
the Word as mail thing.

I could try it again today but god forbid it gave me that
error again I feel like I'd be the biggest @@@**! to have
to ask you again what to do...

-----Original Message-----
You should still be able to open or create as many documents as you
want. Are you saying that you can only only have one open?
The normal.dot has changed message has nothing to do
with this. It is most
likely caused by an add-in (or by Norton AV's office plug-in - if
you have Norton AV) or can be caused by using Word as your e-mail
editor.

--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

Web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site www.mvps.org/word




doug wrote:
what I meant was opening one document and then opening
another and another (creating new ones) while the
original doc remains open beneath them

this seems to cause the error message of "normal doc has
changed"

it used to be I could keep creating as many new docs
as I
wanted while the original remained open
-----Original Message-----
If the files were in your temp folder they can be discarded.
Windows will reinstate any it requires next time the application
that placed them is run.

There is no need to reset the hidden files option. Personally I
would rather know what is stored on my hard drive, rather than what
Microsoft thinks I should know about.

I am puzzled about your reference to the second document. Do you
perhaps mean the single document interface that places each
document in what appears to be its own version of Word, as opposed
to the Word 97 way of doing things with all the documents in
one 'application'? If that
is the case, then from the Word tools menu - options view
uncheck windows
in taskbar will work
in Word 2002/3.


--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

Web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site www.mvps.org/word




doug wrote:
graham

thanks again for your patience. it's difficult to
decipher this from reading it rather than speaking to
someone I'm not great on instructions, esp when I'm not
sure which file/location/etc is which!) - I think I've
remedied a lot of this. A couple final things.

1 - I took ALL the things out of my TEMP files and
trashed them as suggested. SO I'm just double checking
it's okay to empty the trash, before I do it!

2 - Is there a reason to reset the option to NOT show
hidden files?

3 - Did we address the other problem I asked about
in the
last post: that presently I cannot open a second Word
file when one is open? thanks again
-----Original Message-----
Doug

You need to reply to the previous message or no-one will have a
clue what you are on about.

You were advised to check tools options file locations
because that is where the required folder location is defined.
It is not a place where you can edit the file. You need to take
a note of the location then search for that location using
Windows Explorer.
Don't change anything there!

Regarding filenames beginning ~$ see

http://www.gmayor.com/what_to_do_when_word_crashes.htm.

Let's try a different tack

What you need to do is open Windows Explorer.
Set it to display hidden files as previously instructed.
Search for normal.dot
Delete or rename it.
Clear up the orphaned temp files as described in
the above link.
Start Word.
You should be back in business.


--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

Web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site www.mvps.org/word




doug wrote:
thank you all for your continued help

when I follow the instructions above and choose user
templates, it takes me to "modify location" dialogue
screen. and the path then becomes
programfile\microsoft\office\templates
i must be missing something because you can't search from
just having that path come up. again, what it led me to
was a modify LOCATION screen. confusing.
a further complication, besides the ~$ icons, is that now
I can't open a second Windows doc while still inside an
original one. that never happened before. when i do
that, I get the "do you want to save this as your normal
template" message and you can't closeout of it. what a
mess. it brings up the square box. how the heck did all
this happen in one week after years of smooth sailing



.



.


.