Registry Word 2007 turn off background printing/save

[Wes from Scottsdale]

In Word 2003, the registry key for this was pretty easy to locate. Does
anyone know the key to turn off background printing and background saving in
Word 2007?

 

[Tony Jollans]

Given that the location has not changed (except that it is under Office\12.0
instead of Office\11.0) it must be pretty easy to locate for Word 2007, too,
and, would you believe it, it _is_ pretty easy to locate! Have you even
bothered to look?

 

[Wes from Scottsdale]

Wow, you've got my vote for MVP! Thanks for taking time out of your busy day
to post your useless reply. Since you seem to have enough free time to post
sarcastic responses, maybe you could put in a little bit more effort and post
something helpful. Since you asked, I did look using Process Monitor. I did
not find the BackgroundSave/BackgroundPrint keys after making the changes in
2007. Before risking registry problems, I figured I would ask all of the
knowledgeable people here. Hopefully one of them will answer.

Here is my Process Monitor trace, filtering only Word registry Set events.
17 2:27:59.2675953
PM WINWORD.EXE 2020 RegSetValue HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\Common\Offline\Options\Local SUCCESS Type: REG_DWORD, Length: 4, Data: 1
18 2:27:59.2937257
PM WINWORD.EXE 2020 RegSetValue HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\Common\Smart
Tag\Applications\OpusApp\FriendlyName SUCCESS Type: REG_SZ, Length: 40, Data:
Microsoft Word 12.0
19 2:27:59.2937679
PM WINWORD.EXE 2020 RegSetValue HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\Common\Smart
Tag\Applications\OpusApp\Save SUCCESS Type: REG_BINARY, Length: 4, Data: 01
00 00 00
20 2:27:59.2937869
PM WINWORD.EXE 2020 RegSetValue HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\Common\Smart
Tag\Applications\OpusApp\ShowButtons SUCCESS Type: REG_BINARY, Length: 4,
Data: 01 00 00 00
21 2:27:59.2938050
PM WINWORD.EXE 2020 RegSetValue HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\Common\Smart
Tag\Applications\OpusApp\ShowIndicators SUCCESS Type: REG_BINARY, Length: 4,
Data: 01 00 00 00
22 2:35:40.3378603
PM WINWORD.EXE 2020 RegSetValue HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\Common\Offline\Options\Local SUCCESS Type: REG_DWORD, Length: 4, Data: 1
23 2:35:40.3781757
PM WINWORD.EXE 2020 RegSetValue HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\Common\Smart
Tag\Applications\OpusApp\FriendlyName SUCCESS Type: REG_SZ, Length: 40, Data:
Microsoft Word 12.0
24 2:35:40.3782190
PM WINWORD.EXE 2020 RegSetValue HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\Common\Smart
Tag\Applications\OpusApp\Save SUCCESS Type: REG_BINARY, Length: 4, Data: 01
00 00 00
25 2:35:40.3782386
PM WINWORD.EXE 2020 RegSetValue HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\Common\Smart
Tag\Applications\OpusApp\ShowButtons SUCCESS Type: REG_BINARY, Length: 4,
Data: 01 00 00 00
26 2:35:40.3782570
PM WINWORD.EXE 2020 RegSetValue HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\Common\Smart
Tag\Applications\OpusApp\ShowIndicators SUCCESS Type: REG_BINARY, Length: 4,
Data: 01 00 00 00

 

[Wes from Scottsdale]

Wow, you've got my vote for MVP! Thanks for taking time out of your busy day
to post your useless reply. Since you seem to have enough free time to post
sarcastic responses, maybe you could put in a little bit more effort and post
something helpful. Since you asked, I did look using Process Monitor. I did
not find the BackgroundSave/BackgroundPrint dword keys after making the
changes in 2007. Before risking registry problems by copying the 2003 keys
to the Word 12 branch, I figured I would ask all of the knowledgeable people
here. Hopefully one of them will answer.

Here is my Process Monitor trace, filtering only Word registry Set events.
17 2:27:59.2675953
PM WINWORD.EXE 2020 RegSetValue HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\Common\Offline\Options\Local SUCCESS Type: REG_DWORD, Length: 4, Data: 1
18 2:27:59.2937257
PM WINWORD.EXE 2020 RegSetValue HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\Common\Smart
Tag\Applications\OpusApp\FriendlyName SUCCESS Type: REG_SZ, Length: 40, Data:
Microsoft Word 12.0
19 2:27:59.2937679
PM WINWORD.EXE 2020 RegSetValue HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\Common\Smart
Tag\Applications\OpusApp\Save SUCCESS Type: REG_BINARY, Length: 4, Data: 01
00 00 00
20 2:27:59.2937869
PM WINWORD.EXE 2020 RegSetValue HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\Common\Smart
Tag\Applications\OpusApp\ShowButtons SUCCESS Type: REG_BINARY, Length: 4,
Data: 01 00 00 00
21 2:27:59.2938050
PM WINWORD.EXE 2020 RegSetValue HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\Common\Smart
Tag\Applications\OpusApp\ShowIndicators SUCCESS Type: REG_BINARY, Length: 4,
Data: 01 00 00 00
22 2:35:40.3378603
PM WINWORD.EXE 2020 RegSetValue HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\Common\Offline\Options\Local SUCCESS Type: REG_DWORD, Length: 4, Data: 1
23 2:35:40.3781757
PM WINWORD.EXE 2020 RegSetValue HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\Common\Smart
Tag\Applications\OpusApp\FriendlyName SUCCESS Type: REG_SZ, Length: 40, Data:
Microsoft Word 12.0
24 2:35:40.3782190
PM WINWORD.EXE 2020 RegSetValue HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\Common\Smart
Tag\Applications\OpusApp\Save SUCCESS Type: REG_BINARY, Length: 4, Data: 01
00 00 00
25 2:35:40.3782386
PM WINWORD.EXE 2020 RegSetValue HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\Common\Smart
Tag\Applications\OpusApp\ShowButtons SUCCESS Type: REG_BINARY, Length: 4,
Data: 01 00 00 00
26 2:35:40.3782570
PM WINWORD.EXE 2020 RegSetValue HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\Common\Smart
Tag\Applications\OpusApp\ShowIndicators SUCCESS Type: REG_BINARY, Length: 4,
Data: 01 00 00 00

 

[Tony Jollans]

Goodness, me!

With all due respect, my reply is not useless: a trifle condescending,
perhaps, sarcastic if you like, but not useless. You stated that it was easy
to locate these values in Word 2003 so I assumed you knew where they were.
Given that assumption, the answer to your question is in my reply; assuming
you know where the options are in 2003, you can find them in 2007 in the
equivalent place. To spell it out, for the record:

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Word\Options\BackgroundPrint
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Word\Options\BackgroundSave

.. both of these are doubleword values, taking zero to mean disabled
and 1 to mean enabled.

Personally I wouldn't consider using Process Monitor the easiest way to do
this, but if you are competent with it, I doubt you really need my help. I
do not know at what point in its operations Word actually writes the values
to the registry (although a quick check suggests it may not be until Word is
closed), nor do I know what actions were taken for the period of your trace
(although, from its appearance, it doesn't look as though it spans the
closure of Word), so the log is of little meaning to me.

Finally, I do put effort into my replies, but it is entirely voluntary, and
I do not expect to be berated for not putting in enough. If you would care
to pay me for my effort, then you can complain about it.

 

[Wes from Scottsdale]

Thank you Tony.

It turns out that I was looking in the right place, but not at the right
time. I didn't factor in the possibility that the key is not created until
after I closed Word, and my process monitor trace did not include the close
event. All of the other registry keys I'm changing update when the change is
confirmed while the app is still open.
Thank you for reminding me of when this key is written. In this case, I
overlooked the simple answer because of the complexility of the project I am
working on.

As for the other aspect of your reply, I understand this is voluntary and
appreciate any help that people are willing to give. However, I also expect
not to be thrown under the bus for asking a question. If you don't feel
answering a question is worth your time, then don't bother. Posting a vague
reply just wastes the time of the person asking for assistance.

Thank you again for your help.

Wes