Word shortcut keys

[Guest]

My copy of microsoft word (sutdent and teacher edition 2002) has stopped
recognising some of the pre-programmed shortcut keys, but still recognises
others. For example, in the font menu I can still use ALT+B for subscript
but I can't use ALT+P for superscript. I've tried uninstalling and
reinstalling it, but that didn't help, and I've also tried resetting
shortcuts to the default settings but it still doesn't work. Any ideas?

Elena

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

FWIW, Word has built-in shortcut keys for superscript (Ctrl+Shift+=) and
subscript (Ctrl+=) that don't require a visit to the Font dialog.

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

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all may benefit.

 

[Guest]

Thanks, that helps. But what about setting shortcut keys for symbols and
things - again some of the ones I've set work, and some don't. Is there a
reason why this has happened, and what can I do to sort it out so they work
again?

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

If you are creating custom keyboard shortcuts that are not being saved, then
there may be a problem with Normal.dot (which is where keyboard shortcuts
are saved by default). If you have renamed Normal.dot or inadvertently saved
a document as Normal.dot, this will wipe out all your customizations, as
well as (in the latter case) Word's built-in AutoText.

If you're being prompted to save Normal.dot when you know you haven't made
any changes, then look for an add-in that may be modifying Normal.dot in a
way you don't approve. Or, if you are on a corporate network, it may be that
Normal.dot is being overwritten at startup. If the latter is the case, you
may want to store your shortcuts in another template over which you have
control.

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

Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

 

[Guest]

I spent some more time trying to work out what was going on yesterday, and
what I've found is that when trying to create custom shortcuts, the ALT key
can only be used with about half the letters, whereas the Ctrl key can be
used with all of them. Also, when custom shortcuts are created for certain
symbols, but not others, trying to insert them using the shortcut causes the
font to automatically switch to MS Mincho, even when it's not installed.

In the font menu, the Alt key with some letters works for some of the
formatting (e.g. Alt+B still activates subscript) and once the cursor is in
that area of the screen, the Alt key doesn't actually need to be pressed at
all; the letter on it's own will activate formatting (e.g. just pressing P
will activate superscript).

I've scanned for viruses and have run adware and system mechanic, and have
removed anything that's come up, but it hasn't solved the problem. Likewise
un-installing ans re-installing hasn't helped either.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Since the function of the Alt key on its own is to activate accelerator keys
on menus and in dialogs, it is generally advisable not to use Alt alone in
shortcut keys (Word will *not* warn you that the combination is already
assigned). Rather, combine it with Ctrl or Shift. I don't know enough about
this subject to advise you how to straighten out the problems you're seeing,
but one thing you could try is starting Word in Safe Mode: At the Start |
Run command line, type

winword /a

and press Enter. Note that there is a space before the forward slash and
none after it. This will start Word without Normal.dot, ignore the Registry,
and suppress loading of global templates and add-ins. That is, it will run
Word in its basic out-of-the-box condition. This will not allow you to test
saved shortcuts, but you can at least make sure that Word runs as designed.
If it does, then you can start troubleshooting Normal.dot, the Registry, and
add-ins.

Also, if you do have any add-ins loading at startup, you might try unloading
them (uncheck them in Tools | Templates and Add-ins) to see if that solves
your problem. If so, and if you can isolate the add-in that is causing
problems, you can decide whether you need it and therefore whether or not to
remove it from Word's Startup folder. If it is something you need
occasionally, you could move it to another location and just load it as
needed (with the knowledge that it will cause some problems with your
shortcuts).

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

Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.