Normal.dot

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Charlie

Office/Word 2003 - why does normal.dot always show up as
the most recent file in the "Recently Used File" list? It
always seems to be in the background when I close Word, as
well.
 
Hmm . . . I'm not so sure, but I don't think it's anything to be concerned about. Normal.dot is the blank template file that loads whenever you start Word.
 
Are you _opening_ normal.dot? I am running Windows XP Pro and Word 2003. I
don't get normal.dot in my recently used files list (either under the Start
menu or in Word) unless I actually open it (not just create a document based
on it). The same is also true of my other global and document templates.

Are we talking about a different list?
--

Charles Kenyon

See the MVP FAQ: <URL: http://www.mvps.org/word/> which is awesome!
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I don't know that it is something to be concerned about, but I think it is
curious. Usually normal.dot is not listed in "My Recent Documents" nor in
Word's recently used file list unless it is opened directly.
--

Charles Kenyon

See the MVP FAQ: <URL: http://www.mvps.org/word/> which is awesome!
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zeldamaniac44 said:
Hmm . . . I'm not so sure, but I don't think it's anything to be concerned
Click to expand...
about. Normal.dot is the blank template file that loads whenever you start
Word.
 
Under Tools => Options => Save (tab)

Do you have "prompt to save normal template" checked. You should.

If you do not, it is possible that an Add-In or even a virus is making
changes to normal.dot which are saved when you quit word. I suspect (but
don't know) that this could add normal.dot to your recently used documents
list.
--

Charles Kenyon

See the MVP FAQ: <URL: http://www.mvps.org/word/> which is awesome!
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Yes, but have you seen heard of the strange occurence of people overwriting normal.dot without knowing anything about it? This is exactly what happened to me (see my thread <URL: http://communities2.microsoft.com/c...ment&mid=9132be6e-c0e5-4e7d-8921-feb30f82ece7> in this NG) and they have theories that it happens by people selecting it from history list, that's if I recall correctly, but you should see for yourself

http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/AppErrors/BlankDocNotBlank.ht

Follow that link and scroll to the bottom, then read the section that says "Help Us Solve a Mystery

----- Charles Kenyon wrote: ----

I don't know that it is something to be concerned about, but I think it i
curious. Usually normal.dot is not listed in "My Recent Documents" nor i
Word's recently used file list unless it is opened directly
--

Charles Kenyo

See the MVP FAQ: <URL: http://www.mvps.org/word/> which is awesome
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------
This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replie
and questions to the newsgroup so that others can lear
from my ignorance and your wisdom

zeldamaniac44 said:
Hmm . . . I'm not so sure, but I don't think it's anything to be concerne
Click to expand...
about. Normal.dot is the blank template file that loads whenever you star
Word
 
We've abandoned the History theory, as we've found there are a number of
add-ins that make changes to Normal.dot every time they load. If you have
"Prompt to save Normal.dot" enabled, you'll be asked for permission. If not,
not. Some of these add-ins are also suspected of being responsible for
saving a document to Normal.dot, which causes the problem dealt with in the
article you refer to. Among the worst culprits are the Microsoft Works Suite
Add-in for Word and the Norton Office Plug-in.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

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zeldamaniac44 said:
Yes, but have you seen heard of the strange occurence of people
Click to expand...
overwriting normal.dot without knowing anything about it? This is exactly
what happened to me (see my thread <URL:
http://communities2.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/en-us/default.aspx?
dg=microsoft.public.word.docmanagement&mid=9132be6e-c0e5-4e7d-8921-feb30f82e
ce7> in this NG) and they have theories that it happens by people selecting
it from history list, that's if I recall correctly, but you should see for
yourself:
 
There's no way I'm deliberately opening normal.dot. I run
NAV 2004 and did a total system scan and found no virus. I
checked "Prompt to save normal template" and it made no
difference. I deleted normal.dot, opened and saved a few
files and everything was well. I then simply Formatted the
font to arial and hit the Default button. This created a
new normal.dot and the problem of this file showing up in
the MRU started all over.
 
Uninstall the Norton AV Office Plug-In. This is an option in Norton AV.


Unchecking the prompt when saving changes to the normal.dot template is the
equivalent of removing the battery from your smoke alarm because it keeps
buzzing and that annoys you. Instead, look for the source of the smoke, in
this case the changes to the normal.dot template. The most usual changes are
customization of toolbars, recording macros, adding AutoText entries. Less
benign is updating styles on the template from changes made to styles in the
document, especially with the option of changing style definitions to
conform to formatting in the document. If the user isn't making changes, the
likely source is a poorly-written Add-In like the Works Add-In. Least
likely, but still possible is a macrovirus.

--

Charles Kenyon

See the MVP FAQ: <URL: http://www.mvps.org/word/> which is awesome!
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This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies
and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn
from my ignorance and your wisdom.
 
First, under Tools => Options => Save make sure the box to prompt to save
changes to normal.dot is checked. (See previous messages in this thread.) I
suspect that it is not checked in your system and it should be.

The message "Changes have been made that affect the global template -
normal. Do you wish to save those changes?" is an important warning. It
means that changes have been made, whether you intended to make changes or
not. You can also get it when your template has been altered by a poorly
written Add-In program or by a malicious virus.

The reason for the message being shown repeatedly is almost always a poorly
written Add-In. The Norton AV Office Plug-In seems to be the most frequent
offender recently, but that can change as some other poorly written program
comes on the market.

Other offenders include the MS Works Suite Add-In, EZ-Photo, Scansoft, Adobe
Acrobat, and Microsoft's MetaData remover. These all install Add-Ins that
mess with your normal.dot when they shouldn't do so and don't need to do so.
Some of these are .dot files, others are installed. See <URL:
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Customization/CheckIfAddinsInstalled.htm> for
instructions on seeing what Add-Ins you have. (Having Add-Ins is not a bad
thing. I run Word with 15 Add-Ins, most of which I wrote myself.)

Start with the Add-Ins I've noted. If you have any of them, decide whether
they are worth the annoyance they are causing you. Probably they are not.
Disable any that are not worth the candle. Restart Word and see if your
problem is gone.

If not...

If you start Word using
Start => Run: Winword.exe /a
you'll end up with Word out of the box loading without your saved normal.dot
file, with no macros and no Add-Ins. You may notice that it loads much more
quickly than you are used to seing. When you close it, you won't get the
"normal.dot" prompt.

So, what you need to do is disable all of your Add-Ins (don't delete them).
Start by moving .dot files out of your Word Startup folder, one-by-one, with
Word closed. Restart Word and see if that Add-In caused the problem. If not,
put it back in and take the next one out. (You can put them in a sub-folder
of your Startup folder.) If none of them are the problem, move to the .com
Add-Ins that have to be uninstalled.

If your offender is not on my list, please write back and let us know which
one caused your problems.

Write to the company that put out the Add-In with a complaint, and possibly
a bill for your time.

Hope this helps,
--

Charles Kenyon

Word New User FAQ & Web Directory:
<URL: http://addbalance.com/word/index.htm>

Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of
Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide)
<URL: http://addbalance.com/usersguide/index.htm>

See also the MVP FAQ: <URL: http://www.mvps.org/word/> which is awesome!
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littlema said:
Normal.dot was showing up on my "Recently used files list" and I too had
Click to expand...
just upgraded to OmniPage Pro 14. What are the steps to correcting this
problem?
 
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