Normal template

[Guest]

I have a problem that sounds similar to that of others whose threads I've read, although I didn't read about the following: When I close out of Word there is a bit of a pause and at the bottom it says something like "saving changes to Normal", but then it opens a blank document and in the title bar it says Normal (Read Only) - Microsoft Word.

The next time I open Word and look at the list of the last documents I used, Normal is at the top. It's almost as if Word is saving the Normal template as a document named Normal

Also, once Word is completely closed out, I can go into the templates folder and it will still show a temporary file for Normal (~normal) that is grayed--as if the program is still open. This does not close. It will also happen with other documents as well, but they will eventually close

The thing that makes this so annoying is that we use another program called ChartScript published by SoftMed which also works with and opens Word, but with its (ChartScript's) own toolbar. Up until about 3 weeks ago, I was able to have Word open but minimized, and then when I needed to, I'd open ChartScript which also opens its "version" of Word. Once I was done with ChartScript and closed the program, it would close its version of Word along with it, leaving the original version of Word alone. Now, however, I've been getting a box every time that says Word cannot save the file (Normal.dot) because it is already open elsewhere.

I'm not sure if these are two completely separate issues, or if there is something wrong with Word that transfers over when ChartScript opens. Personally I think it has something to do with the fact that Word doesn't just close the Normal.dot template anymore like it used to, but instead seems to treat the template as if it's a document instead. I've been going back and forth with our ISD folks but they're not advanced users of Word--they're best at troubleshooting problems with hardware and reinstalling programs if necessary (We use Windows XP Professional and Office XP Professional, which are downloaded to our computers from the server through the assistance of ISD, so using the Detect and Repair feature is really not an option.

Any help or suggestions on this would really be appreciated.

Thanks folks!

 

[Graham Mayor]

The first thing to do is to prevent Word from saving normal.dot without your
permission. Tools > options > save > check prompt to save normal.dot.

Next thing to do is to delete those temporary files -
http://www.gmayor.com/what_to_do_when_word_crashes.htm

That should fix it. If not, then checkput the additional information at
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/AppErrors/ProbsOpeningWord.htm

--
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Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site www.mvps.org/word
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[Mike Whitehurst]

I've had this happen often on workstations and cured it by setting the
normal.dot to read only.
Granted, you can't expect changes to the template settings to be saved
unless you remove the read only attribute first.
But in my situations the normal.dot should never be changed after I
configure it.

Mike

I have a problem that sounds similar to that of others whose threads I've

read, although I didn't read about the following: When I close out of Word
there is a bit of a pause and at the bottom it says something like "saving
changes to Normal", but then it opens a blank document and in the title bar
it says Normal (Read Only) - Microsoft Word.

The next time I open Word and look at the list of the last documents I

used, Normal is at the top. It's almost as if Word is saving the Normal
template as a document named Normal.

Also, once Word is completely closed out, I can go into the templates

folder and it will still show a temporary file for Normal (~normal) that is
grayed--as if the program is still open. This does not close. It will also
happen with other documents as well, but they will eventually close.

The thing that makes this so annoying is that we use another program

called ChartScript published by SoftMed which also works with and opens
Word, but with its (ChartScript's) own toolbar. Up until about 3 weeks ago,
I was able to have Word open but minimized, and then when I needed to, I'd
open ChartScript which also opens its "version" of Word. Once I was done
with ChartScript and closed the program, it would close its version of Word
along with it, leaving the original version of Word alone. Now, however,
I've been getting a box every time that says Word cannot save the file
(Normal.dot) because it is already open elsewhere.

I'm not sure if these are two completely separate issues, or if there is

something wrong with Word that transfers over when ChartScript opens.
Personally I think it has something to do with the fact that Word doesn't
just close the Normal.dot template anymore like it used to, but instead
seems to treat the template as if it's a document instead. I've been going
back and forth with our ISD folks but they're not advanced users of
Word--they're best at troubleshooting problems with hardware and
reinstalling programs if necessary (We use Windows XP Professional and
Office XP Professional, which are downloaded to our computers from the
server through the assistance of ISD, so using the Detect and Repair feature
is really not an option.)

 

[Graham Mayor]

Setting normal.dot to read only is poor practice and defeats the object of
the file. The problem here is simply that of interference from an orphaned
temporary file caused through a crash or from switching off the PC without
closing applications properly. See
http://www.gmayor.com/what_to_do_when_word_crashes.htm

--
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>
Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com

<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>

 

[Mike Whitehurst]

Not in my case.
It stopped the popups.
The system doesn't crash. Winword isn't exited incorrectly. It just happens.
There is a KB on this and a programming fix. But I don't program.