Transferring template in Word 2003 to Word 2007

[Mike Turner]

My Uncle has recently begun using Word 2007 (on a new computer,Vista OS) and
would like the default template (I believe called the "normal" template?) to
be as per his default template with Word 2003 on his old computer (Win XP).

Is it as simple as opening a Word 2003 doc that uses his 2003 default
template within the Word 2007 app and somehow saving the template from that?

Thanks for any help.

Mike Turner

 

[Herb Tyson [MVP]]

Not necessarily. While that would give him access to the styles from his old
Normal.dot template, it wouldn't give him access to any AutoText,
AutoCorrect, macros, or menu/toolbar/keyboard customizations from the old
Normal.dot.

Normal.dot usually is stored in a hidden folder, so it's necessary to tell
Windows to display hidden file & folders to see Normal.dot so it can be
copied. On his old computer, in Word, choose Tools - Options - File
Locations. Normal.dot will have been stored in the User templates location.
Note the location, close Word, then use Windows Explorer to copy Normal.dot
to the new computer's Templates folder... the location of which is noted
below.

On the new computer, two things would be necessary to get Word 2007 to use
Normal.dot as the starting point for Normal.dotm (the new file format
version of Normal.dot that Word 2007 uses).

First, Normal.dot would need to be copied to Word 2007's Templates folder.
In Word 2007 running in Vista, if you click the Office button - Open, you
should see a location under Favorite Links on the left called Templates.
This is the location where Normal.dot would need to be copied.

Second, to get Word 2007 to use Normal.dot to create a new Normal.dotm, you
need to delete or rename the existing Normal.dotm that's in that folder. If
your uncle has already used Word 2007 on the new computer, then a
Normal.dotm has already been created. With Word closed, simply delete or
rename that Normal.dotm, copy Normal.dot from the XP computer to that
location, and then start Word (you might need to tell Windows Explorer to
display hidden files/folders in Vista). Once done, the next time Word is
opened, it will use Normal.dot, and will automatically create a new
Normal.dotm based on it when Word is closed.

 

[Mike Turner]

Herb,

Thanks very much for the help. Is the first paragraph of your reply still
true using the transfer method you describe (although it would still,at the
least, be a really good start and he may not even have any of the features in
his template that you say would be inaccessible)?

Mike

 

[Herb Tyson [MVP]]

Not sure I understand the question. The transfer method I describe will
provide complete access to all of the features that can be transferred from
Normal.dot to Normal.dotm. Indeed, when you upgrade to Word 2007 on a given
computer, Word 2007 looks in the template folder for an existing copy of
Normal.dot to use as a basis for maintaining the user's existing
Normal.dot-based settings.

Stripping out the text and saving an existing document as Normal.dotm would
save just the styles (as well as any custom setup in the headers and
footers).

--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com

 

[Mike Turner]

Many thanks Herb. I think that answered it.

Not sure I understand the question. The transfer method I describe will
provide complete access to all of the features that can be transferred from
Normal.dot to Normal.dotm. Indeed, when you upgrade to Word 2007 on a given
computer, Word 2007 looks in the template folder for an existing copy of
Normal.dot to use as a basis for maintaining the user's existing
Normal.dot-based settings.

Stripping out the text and saving an existing document as Normal.dotm would
save just the styles (as well as any custom setup in the headers and
footers).

--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com