The Insert Key

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I am having problems in Word XP - when I hit the insert key Word will not go
into overwrite mode. Is there an add-inn that I need to install, or some
other type of additional installation that I need to perform to make this
work?
 
boardbigmountain said:
I am having problems in Word XP - when I hit the insert key Word will
not go into overwrite mode. Is there an add-inn that I need to
install, or some other type of additional installation that I need to
perform to make this work?
Click to expand...

Nothing additional, but you do need to check out a couple of configuration
options.

Easiest: Look in Tools > Options > Edit. If "Use the INS key for paste" is
checked, clear it.

Next: Go to Tools > Customize and click the Keyboard button. Click "All
Commands" in the Categories list, then click "Overtype" in the Commands
list. If you don't see "Insert" in the Current Keys box, put the cursor in
the Press New Shortcut Key box and press the Insert key. Click Assign before
closing all dialogs.
 
Jay Freedman said:
Nothing additional, but you do need to check out a couple of configuration
options.

Easiest: Look in Tools > Options > Edit. If "Use the INS key for paste" is
checked, clear it.

Next: Go to Tools > Customize and click the Keyboard button. Click "All
Commands" in the Categories list, then click "Overtype" in the Commands
list. If you don't see "Insert" in the Current Keys box, put the cursor in
the Press New Shortcut Key box and press the Insert key. Click Assign before
closing all dialogs.
Click to expand...

Jay,

I also am having this problem. The OVR in the bottom line being greyed out,
and pressing the INSERT key, does nothing other than produce an audible
"THUMP". I have checked both items you mentioned above, and still have the
problem. I even "re-registered" the INSERT key.

Now, here is the clue that I think that will make the solution clear to
you, and then perhaps to me. This is only with a certain document that I
received from someone else. Other documents that I have created, or from
other people do not have this problem.

Help ??

Chris
(e-mail address removed)
 
cjkoeb said:
Jay,

I also am having this problem. The OVR in the bottom line being
greyed out, and pressing the INSERT key, does nothing other than
produce an audible "THUMP". I have checked both items you mentioned
above, and still have the problem. I even "re-registered" the INSERT
key.

Now, here is the clue that I think that will make the solution clear
to you, and then perhaps to me. This is only with a certain document
that I received from someone else. Other documents that I have
created, or from other people do not have this problem.

Help ??

Chris
Click to expand...

Hi Chris,

One possibility is that this particular document contains an AutoOpen or
Document_Open macro that unassigns the Insert key or assigns it to a
different function. Try going to Tools > Macro > Security and setting the
level to High, then reopening that document.

If that removes the problem, it's time to investigate further. Press Alt+F11
to open the VBA editor. In the Project Explorer pane on the left, find the
project with the document's name in it. Expand the icon and then
double-click the ThisDocument icon and any icons that appear under the
Modules icon. If you see any code there, copy it and paste it into a reply
here, and we'll tell you what it does. You might want to keep it and/or
modify it, or you might want to remove it completely.

A second, more remote possibility is some sort of document corruption,
although I've never heard of one that specifically disabled overtype and did
nothing else.
 
Jay Freedman said:
Hi Chris,

One possibility is that this particular document contains an AutoOpen or
Document_Open macro that unassigns the Insert key or assigns it to a
different function. Try going to Tools > Macro > Security and setting the
level to High, then reopening that document.

If that removes the problem, it's time to investigate further. Press Alt+F11
to open the VBA editor. In the Project Explorer pane on the left, find the
project with the document's name in it. Expand the icon and then
double-click the ThisDocument icon and any icons that appear under the
Modules icon. If you see any code there, copy it and paste it into a reply
here, and we'll tell you what it does. You might want to keep it and/or
modify it, or you might want to remove it completely.

A second, more remote possibility is some sort of document corruption,
although I've never heard of one that specifically disabled overtype and did
nothing else.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP


Pat,
Click to expand...
I tried everything you suggested, but to no avail. I even tried saving in
different formats - no go. Finally in desparation, I opened a blank document
and pasted the entire 13 pages into it. WORKED ! Haven't checked yet, but I
hope the formatting is intact.

Now, I am more than a little curious as to what the original problem was.
Can I send you the document to examine?

Regards,

Chris
 
Jay Freedman said:
cjkoeb wrote: [snip]
I also am having this problem. The OVR in the bottom line being
greyed out, and pressing the INSERT key, does nothing other than
produce an audible "THUMP". I have checked both items you mentioned
above, and still have the problem. I even "re-registered" the INSERT
key.

Now, here is the clue that I think that will make the solution clear
to you, and then perhaps to me. This is only with a certain document
that I received from someone else. Other documents that I have
created, or from other people do not have this problem.

Help ??

Chris
Click to expand...

Hi Chris,

One possibility is that this particular document contains an AutoOpen or
Document_Open macro that unassigns the Insert key or assigns it to a
different function. Try going to Tools > Macro > Security and setting the
level to High, then reopening that document.

If that removes the problem, it's time to investigate further. Press Alt+F11
to open the VBA editor. In the Project Explorer pane on the left, find the
project with the document's name in it. Expand the icon and then
double-click the ThisDocument icon and any icons that appear under the
Modules icon. If you see any code there, copy it and paste it into a reply
here, and we'll tell you what it does. You might want to keep it and/or
modify it, or you might want to remove it completely.

A second, more remote possibility is some sort of document corruption,
although I've never heard of one that specifically disabled overtype and did
nothing else.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP


Pat,
Click to expand...
I tried everything you suggested, but to no avail. I even tried saving in
different formats - no go. Finally in desparation, I opened a blank document
and pasted the entire 13 pages into it. WORKED ! Haven't checked yet, but I
hope the formatting is intact.

Now, I am more than a little curious as to what the original problem was.
Can I send you the document to examine?

Regards,

Chris
Click to expand...

Hi Chris,

One of the classic methods of getting rid of document corruption is to
copy everything in the document except the final paragraph mark, and
pasting it into a new blank document. The final paragraph mark holds
the document-wide formatting information, in addition to the
formatting for that specific paragraph, and that's frequently where
the corruption is.

As I said, I've never heard of a document corruption whose sole effect
is disabling overtype mode, but I suppose there's a first time for
everything. :-)

I'd rather you didn't send the document to me. I don't have any kind
of diagnostic tool to find corruption in the binary area of a
document, and frankly I'd rather keep pathological files as far away
from my installation as possible. Be content that you fixed the
problem!
 
Jay Freedman said:
Jay Freedman said:
cjkoeb wrote: [snip]
I also am having this problem. The OVR in the bottom line being
greyed out, and pressing the INSERT key, does nothing other than
produce an audible "THUMP". I have checked both items you mentioned
above, and still have the problem. I even "re-registered" the INSERT
key.

Now, here is the clue that I think that will make the solution clear
to you, and then perhaps to me. This is only with a certain document
that I received from someone else. Other documents that I have
created, or from other people do not have this problem.

Help ??

Chris

Hi Chris,

One possibility is that this particular document contains an AutoOpen or
Document_Open macro that unassigns the Insert key or assigns it to a
different function. Try going to Tools > Macro > Security and setting the
level to High, then reopening that document.

If that removes the problem, it's time to investigate further. Press Alt+F11
to open the VBA editor. In the Project Explorer pane on the left, find the
project with the document's name in it. Expand the icon and then
double-click the ThisDocument icon and any icons that appear under the
Modules icon. If you see any code there, copy it and paste it into a reply
here, and we'll tell you what it does. You might want to keep it and/or
modify it, or you might want to remove it completely.

A second, more remote possibility is some sort of document corruption,
although I've never heard of one that specifically disabled overtype and did
nothing else.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP


Pat,
Click to expand...
I tried everything you suggested, but to no avail. I even tried saving in
different formats - no go. Finally in desparation, I opened a blank document
and pasted the entire 13 pages into it. WORKED ! Haven't checked yet, but I
hope the formatting is intact.

Now, I am more than a little curious as to what the original problem was.
Can I send you the document to examine?

Regards,

Chris
Click to expand...

Hi Chris,

One of the classic methods of getting rid of document corruption is to
copy everything in the document except the final paragraph mark, and
pasting it into a new blank document. The final paragraph mark holds
the document-wide formatting information, in addition to the
formatting for that specific paragraph, and that's frequently where
the corruption is.

As I said, I've never heard of a document corruption whose sole effect
is disabling overtype mode, but I suppose there's a first time for
everything. :-)

I'd rather you didn't send the document to me. I don't have any kind
of diagnostic tool to find corruption in the binary area of a
document, and frankly I'd rather keep pathological files as far away
from my installation as possible. Be content that you fixed the
problem!
Click to expand...

Pat,

well, actually I concidered copy/paste as a work around, not a fix. BUT,
accidentally I did find the problem, though not sure why Word works this way,
but stranger things have been known to lurk in the bowels of Microsoft. I
clicked on TRK to turn off tracking, and low and behold, OVR now works !!!

any idea of the logic behind that ?

Chris
 
cjkoeb said:
well, actually I concidered copy/paste as a work around, not a fix.
BUT, accidentally I did find the problem, though not sure why Word
works this way, but stranger things have been known to lurk in the
bowels of Microsoft. I clicked on TRK to turn off tracking, and low
and behold, OVR now works !!!

any idea of the logic behind that ?

Chris
Click to expand...

Yes, that's by design. When you have change tracking turned on, Word needs
to show the old letters as deletions and the new letters as insertions. If
you had overtype turned on at the same time, the deletions and insertions
would be interleaved and very hard to read. Instead, you can select the old
text and start typing, and the entire old text will be marked as deleted
with the new insertion coming after it.
 
Jay Freedman said:
Yes, that's by design. When you have change tracking turned on, Word needs
to show the old letters as deletions and the new letters as insertions. If
you had overtype turned on at the same time, the deletions and insertions
would be interleaved and very hard to read. Instead, you can select the old
text and start typing, and the entire old text will be marked as deleted
with the new insertion coming after it.
Click to expand...
Now that makes sense, and your suggestion for text replacement with tracking
is one I will stick in my tool kit. There are so many tip/tricks in most any
program as complex as Word or Excel. From looking at some of the other
threads that I got when I did a search on "Insert Key", there are quite a few
others having the same trouble, and not knowing that it was the TRK all along
!
Thanks for the help.
 
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