Why? Format Painter not working BETWEEN documents 2003 Prof. only

[Guest]

Let me try this again: is it a bug in Office Pro 2003? Format painter via the
icon (paint brush) does not work (the icon becomes disabled) BETWEEN Word
documents.
1- It works fine within a document
2- It works properly in the STANDARD version of Office 2003 (I've done
numerous tests in the office here and have also consulted distant users)
3- It worked fine in Word 2000.
4- I am aware of the CTRL keystroke combinations but this is just a
workaround to a feature I know works in some applications.
Might this be an issue in the Professional version that is related to the
enhanced XML support?
This is a feature that we really need to be able to use. Should I place a
$$$$ call to Microsoft?
Many TIA for the feedback.

 

[Beth Melton]

Works fine in my version of Office 2003 Professional.

I suspect something else is turning it off such as a macro running
when you activate the window. To verify start Word using the /a switch
which will bypass your Normal.dot, global templates and add-ins, and
personal preferences and see if the issue still occurs. Go to
Start/Run and run:

winword /a

Note the space before the forward slash.

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

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

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

 

[Guest]

Your suggestion worked: when I started Word per your suggestion, the format
painter worked between two test documents. Now just a bit more clarification
as to what's happening: How would I find out what's causing the problem?
Should I replace the existing normal.dot and start from scratch? Since this
is happening on the software throughout our company, we must all have
something in common installed... What did I do by using the a/ command? Did I
default to an "original/unaltered" normal.dot? (Please excuse my lack of
knowlege here. I'm trying to understand what's happening so I can fix it and
this is a new procedure to me.)
THANK YOU SO MUCH for your prompt assistance. You nailed it!

 

[Beth Melton]

The /a switch is a troubleshooting device that will start Word using
the 'vanilla' installation. Your Normal.dot is not used, global
templates/add-ins are not loaded, and your personal settings stored in
the Registry are not used.

My first suspicion is a macro which could be stored in a global
template/add-in, the attached document template, or your Normal.dot.

First rule out global templates/add-ins:

To determine if you are using any global templates go to
Tools/Templates and Add-Ins and see if there are any global templates
or add-ins listed. If so they are located in one of your Startup
folders. The location of the Word\Startup folder can be found under
Tools/Options/File Locations and the Office\Startup folder can be
found in the Office installation path..

Take a look in each folder and if you find more than one file move
them one at a time and try duplicating the error after each file is
moved out of the folder until you determine which one is causing the
problem.

As of Word 2000, Word can have COM add-ins. COM are added via the
Registry rather than the Startup folders. To determine whether or not
you are using COM Add-In you can add the "COM Add-in" command to your
toolbar:

- Right-click any toolbar and select Customize
- On the Commands tab, select the Tools category
- Locate COM Add-Ins on the right
- Drag/Drop to a location of your choice

For more information on the COM Add-Ins utility see this article:
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/Customization/CheckIfAddinsInstalled.htm

If the above checks out then what template is your document based on?
I know several Microsoft templates alter user preferences when you
activate the document, such as turn of table gridlines and such, so
that could be the issue as well.

If the documents are based on your Normal.dot then you can try
creating a new one. Locate Normal.dot and rename it to OldNormal.dot.
Word will create a new one upon starting.

If this resolves the problem, any customizations can be copied to the
new Normal.dot via the Organizer (Tools/Templates and Add-Ins) Once
this is complete OldNormal.dot can be discarded. If the problem still
exists then you can delete the new Normal.dot and rename your
OldNormal.dot to Normal.dot.
--
Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email can not be acknowledged.

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

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

 

[Guest]

Got it! I started playing detective and covered some of what you've explained
so I don't feel quite as "clueless." I'm posting this additional info with
the hope that it may help someone else. I say this because I have narrowed
down what I think is the problem: Adobe Acrobat 6.0 (in my case,
Professional). When I unchecked the corresponding PDF box in the "global
templates and add-ins," while starting up Word with the existing normal.dot
(as opposed to using the a/ switch), the problem is gone. Our software was
installed "out-of-the-box" sans any upgrades or patches and on a totally
random and inconsistent basis; no-one in the IT department knew that there
were patches/upgrades to both the Standard and Professional version of Adobe
Acrobat 6.0 (6.0.1- which supposedly deals with Office 2003 incompatibility
issues- and 6.0.2) and we've had several problems related to the order and
procedures in which new programs are installed. As a result, the tech editor
(me) plays IT troubleshooting detective on a regular basis...
Thanks again for taking the time to provide feedback and help. The
additional information and explanations you have provided will help me get
this taken care of correctly AND understand what I'm doing and why.

 

[Beth Melton]

Glad you hear you have the problem under control now. Thanks for the
update.
--
Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email can not be acknowledged.

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

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