MENUS

STARTUP AND SHUTDOWN

Word 2000 Closes on Startup

The Annoyance:

When I try to start Word 2000, it just closes, without even an error message. Excel and PowerPoint do the same.

The Fix:

This usually happens only with an Office 2000 installation that has either Service Release 1 (SR-1) or Service Release 1a (SR-1a) installed. The problem is that the installation CD key is faulty. You can tell because the CD key will start with the characters GC6J3. You need to get a valid CD key from your Office reseller or from Microsoft, and then delete the relevant key from the Windows Registry (see http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=255503 for details). After doing so, start Word and enter the valid CD key when prompted for it.

Word Hangs on Startup

The Annoyance:

When I try to start Word, it hangs.

The Fix:

Normal.dot , the global template, may be corrupted. Proceed as follows :

1. If Word is still running, close it. Right-click an open space in the taskbar or the notification area (the area with the clock at the right or bottom end of the taskbar) and choose Task Manager. Click the Applications tab, click the Word entry (its entry in the Status column should say "Not Responding," as shown in Figure 1-4), and then click the End Task button. In the End Program dialog box, click the End Now button.

   Figure 1-4. Use the Windows Task Manager to check whether an application has stopped responding. If it has, select it and click the End Task button to close it.

   
   

2. Choose Start Run, type winword /a , and press Enter. Using the /a switch starts Word without loading any add-ins and without loading Normal.dot . If Word hangs again, use the Task Manager to close it. Then choose Start Control Panel Add or Remove Programs, click the Microsoft Office item, click the Change button, and follow the procedure for repairing Office. Skip the rest of this list.

   If Word starts, the problem is most likely with Normal.dot or any add-ins (templates or other files that add features to Word) set to load automatically when you start Word. Proceed to Step 3.

3. Choose Tools Options, click the File Locations tab, and check the " User templates readout. Open this folder in Windows Explorer. Rename the Normal.dot file with another name . Choose Tools Templates and Add-Ins, uncheck the boxes for all the items in the "Global templates and add-ins list, and then click the OK button. This prevents Word from loading the global templates and add-ins on a normal startup.

4. Close Word (choose File Exit), restart it normally (for example, from the Start menu), and then close it again. Word automatically creates a new Normal.dot in the default folder.

5. Open Word again, choose Tools Templates and Add-Ins, and click the Organizer button. In the Organizer dialog box, click the Close File button on the side that says Document1 (Document), click the resulting Open File button, select the renamed Normal.dot , and click Open.

6. If Word is able to access the renamed Normal.dot without hanging, use the controls on the four tabs of the Organizer dialog box to copy the styles, AutoText entries, custom toolbars , and macro project items (macros, user forms, and classes) to the new Normal.dot .

7. Click the Close button to close the Organizer dialog box, and then Shift-click the File menu and choose Save All to save the changes to the new Normal.dot .

8. If Word was using global templates or add-ins, choose Tools Templates and Add-Ins, check the box for the first template or add-in, click the OK button, and then restart Word. See if the instability returns. If so, stop using that template or add-in. If not, load another add-in and restart Word again. Continue until you have added all of the add-ins one by one and identified (and removed) any that cause problems.

Word Takes Forever to Start

The Annoyance:

Word takes many seconds, or even a couple of minutes, to starteven on my 4 GHz Pentium.

The Fix:

First, does your computer have enough memory? (See "Check That Your Computer Has Enough Memory," later in this chapter.) If not, that may be your problem; if so, continue with this fix.

If Word is running at the moment, make sure you're not loading an absurd number of global templates and add-ins. Choose Tools Templates and Add-Ins to display the Templates and Add-ins dialog box (see Figure 1-5). In the "Global templates and add-ins area, uncheck the boxes for any global templates or add-ins you want to unload. Alternatively, select a global template or add-in and click the Remove button to remove it from the list. Make sure you click each template or add-in in turn and look at the "Full path " readout at the bottom of the Templates tab. If the template or add-in is in your Word Startup folder, you must remove it manually so that Word doesn't load it automatically when you restart the program. Choose Start Run, type %userprofile%\Application Data\Microsoft\Word\Startup , and press Enter to open a Windows Explorer window to your Word Startup folder. Move each template or add-in that you don't want Word to load automatically to another folder.

Word's Two Types of Add-Ins

Word uses two main types of add-ins: global templates , which are templates either stored in the Word Startup folder (which makes Word load them automatically) or manually loaded using the Templates and Add-ins dialog box, and COM add-ins , which are either dynamic link library files (DLLs) or ActiveX executable (EXE) files.

Figure 1-5. Loading too many global templates and add-ins can make Word take much longer to start.

Next , check which COM add-ins are installed (if any). You'll need to add the COM Add-Ins command to a menu first:

1. Choose Tools Customize to open the Customize dialog box, then click the Commands tab.

2. Click the COM Add-Ins command in the righthand listbox and drag it to the menu in which you want it to appear (e.g., Tools).

(The next time you exit Word, save your Normal template if Word prompts you to do so.)

Now select the COM Add-Ins command from the menu in which you placed it. Use the control in the COM Add-Ins dialog box (see Figure 1-6) to unload any add-ins that you don't want to load or to remove any that you no longer need at all.

Figure 1-6. COM add-ins also take up memory and can slow down Word. Unload or remove any add-ins that you don't need.

If your global templates and add-ins aren't the culprit, your Normal.dot file might be corrupt. Try launching Word without Normal.dot or other add-ins: select Start Run, type winword /a , and press Enter.

If Word still starts slowly, you may need to re-register it. Choose Start Run again, type winword /r , press Enter, and wait while the Windows Installer configures Office. When it finishes, start Word normally.

Word 2003 Runs Slowly

The Annoyance:

I've upgraded from Word 2000 to Word 2003, but Word 2003 runs so slowly that I wish I hadn't bothered.

The Fix:

Word 2003 is much more demanding than Word 2000 and typically runs more slowly. Choose Tools Options and try the following suggestions for improving performance:

• On the Spelling & Grammar tab, uncheck the "Check grammar as you type" box. If you can do without on-the-fly spellchecking, uncheck the "Check spelling as you type" box as well.

• On the View tab, uncheck whichever of the following you can dispense with: the Highlight box, the ScreenTips box, the Smart Tags box, and the Animated Text box. You may want to leave the ScreenTips box checked if you use revision marks in your documents.

• On the General tab, uncheck the "Provide feedback with animation" box.

• On the Save tab, uncheck the "Embed smart tags" box. If you save your documents diligently, uncheck the "Save AutoRecover info every" box as well.

• On the Edit tab, make sure the "Mark formatting inconsistencies" and "Auto-Keyboard switching" boxes are unchecked. Depending on your editing preferences, also consider switching off the "Use smart cursoring," "Use smart paragraph selection," "When selecting, automatically select entire word," "Keep track of formatting," "Show Paste Options button," "Smart cut and paste," and "Enable click and type" options. If you're not clear what these options do, see Chapter 3.

Word may also be suffering from a surfeit of fonts. If the Font drop-down list or Font dialog box includes fonts you never use, consider removing some. Choose Start Control Panel Appearance and Themes Fonts to open the Fonts folder, select the fonts you don't need, and drag them to another folder for temporary storage. (You can delete the surplus fonts if you prefer, but it's usually better to keep them in case you need them later.)

---

Warning: Don't remove any of the following fonts that Windows requires for its interface: Arial, Microsoft Sans Serif, Tahoma, Marlett, Times New Roman, Courier New, Symbol, and Wingdings. Windows protects Marlett and doesn't display it in the Fonts folder.

---

Check That Your Computer Has Enough Memory

The Annoyance:

I've had four computers on which Word crashes for lack of memory, but Microsoft doesn't publish the memory requirements for Word.

The Fix:

Microsoft gives general memory requirements for Office (and for the individual applications if you buy them separately). For example, Office 2003 says "128 MB of RAM or above recommended," and Office XP gives a requirement for each supported OS (128 MB for Windows XP, 64 MB for Windows 2000 Professional, 32 MB for Windows Me or Windows NT, or 24 MB for Windows 98), plus 8 MB for each application running simultaneously .

These miserly recommendations will give wretched performance, because they're barely enough for the operating system itself to work welland Word needs plenty of RAM on top of that. A typical Word 2003 session with a couple of documents open often takes 50 MB of RAM and 25 MB of virtual memory. Word XP is a bit less greedy for RAM than Word 2003, and Word 2000 much less so. But if you want Word to run without problems, make sure your PC has more than enough RAM. If you're running Windows XP or Windows 2000, consider 256 MB the bare minimum for using Word.

To check on memory:

• If you're not sure how much memory your computer has, right-click My Computer and choose Properties (or press Windows Key+Break) to display the System Properties dialog box. Check the Computer readout on the General tab.

• To check how much memory is in use, right-click a blank space in the taskbar or notification area and choose Task Manager; then click the Performance tab and look at the Total readout and the Available readout in the Physical Memory area. These numbers are in kilobytes; divide by 1,024 to get the number of megabytes.

• To check how much memory Word is using, click the Processes tab, find WINWORD.EXE in the Image Name column, and look at the Mem Usage column. That's the amount of RAM. To see the amount of virtual memory, choose View Select Columns, check the Virtual Memory Size box, and click the OK button. You may need to resize the Windows Task Manager window to display the VM Size column.

Make Word Start Automatically When You Log On

The Annoyance:

I need to use Word all the time in my work. It'd be handy to have Word start automatically when I log on.

The Fix:

Click the Start menu and navigate to a Word icon, then drag it to the All Programs Startup submenu. Next time you log on, Word will start.

---

Tip: If your PC doesn't have a Startup submenu on the Start menu, choose Start Run, type %userprofile%\start menu\programs\startup , and press Enter to open a Windows Explorer window to your Startup folder. Drag a Word shortcut to this folder.

---

Prevent Word from Creating a Blank Document at Startup

The Annoyance:

When I start Word, the last thing I need is yet another blank document based on the Normal templateI'd rather have one based on my template. Actually, what I really want is for Word to open the document I need to work with.

The Fix:

Word offers you a blank document based on the Normal template as a token of its continuing devotion, rather like your cat might lay out the occasional eviscerated rabbit for your early-morning dining delight. (Well, by now you should know better than to walk around barefoot without switching on the light, shouldn't you?)

Instead of continuing to dispose of the useless blank document by clicking the Close button (and wishing you could dispose of the rabbit with similar ease), you can prevent Word from creating the document, make it create a document based on a template of your choice, or have it open a document for you. To do so, use Word's startup switches (startup options) in the shortcut that you use to start Word.

Create a suitable shortcut for a startup switch

Depending on the version of Word and how it was set up, you may not be able to use the Word shortcut that appears on the Start menusome of these shortcuts don't let you edit the command used to start Word. To check, right-click the Word shortcut and choose Properties, then look at the Shortcut tab. If the Target text box is grayed out, you need to create a new shortcut.

To do so, locate WINWORD.EXE (usually in a folder named some variation of " Office " in the Program Files folder, which you can access by choosing Start Run, typing %programfiles% , and pressing Enter) and create a shortcut to it wherever you find most convenient . For example, right-click WINWORD.EXE within its parent folder and choose "Create shortcuts here," rename the shortcut from " Shortcut to WINWORD.EXE" to a snappier name, and then drag the shortcut to your Start menu, if that's where you want it.

Right-click the new shortcut, choose Properties, and then click the Shortcut tab. The next sections discuss the switches you can use. Enter the switches on the Target line of the Shortcut tab after the final double quotation marks. For example:

"D:\Program Files\Office 2003\OFFICE11\ WINWORD.EXE" /n

Prevent Word from creating a blank document

If all you want to do is to prevent Word from creating a blank document at startup, add the /n switch to the shortcut that starts Word (as shown above).

Open a document based on your preferred template

If you want to open a document based on a template other than the Normal template, use the /t switch and specify the template name:

"D:\Program Files\Office 2000\OFFICE11\ WINWORD.EXE" /tMagazine.dot

If the template name contains spaces, enclose it in double quotation marks. You may need to include the full path.

Open a document on the Most Recently Used list

To make Word always open one or more of the documents on its Most Recently Used list (the list that appears at the foot of the File menu), use the /m switch, the word file , and the file's position. For example, /mfile1 opens the document at the number one position on the list.

Open a specific document

Opening a recent document can be useful, but it'll often stick you with a document you don't need. What's usually more useful is to open one or more specific documents when you start Word. To do so, enter the full path and filename of each file after the program file, with a space between each name, and all in the same line:

"D:\Program Files\Office 2000\OFFICE11\ WINWORD.EXE" "c:\Docs\Book1.doc"

Control When the Task Pane Appears

The Annoyance:

The Getting Started task pane that appears when I start Word gets me started all rightthe wrong way. How do I get rid of it?

The Fix:

Choose Tools Options, click the View tab, uncheck the Startup Task Pane box in the Show area, and then click the OK button.

If you find that the task pane doesn't obey the Startup Task Pane setting in Word 2003, change the Registry setting that controls it:

1. Close Word and create a system restore point before tackling the Registry: choose Start All Programs Accessories System Tools System Restore, click the "Create a restore point option, click the Next button, and follow through the prompts.

2. Choose Start Run, type regedit , and press Enter to open the Registry Editor.

3. Right-click the DoNotDismissFileNewTaskPane key, choose Delete from the shortcut menu, and click the OK button to confirm the deletion. Choose File Exit to close the Registry Editor.

4. Word Asks Whether to Save Changes to Normal.dot

   The Annoyance:

   When I close Word, it asks me whether I want to save changes to Normal.dot . What is Normal.dot , and why is it doing this to me? I haven't done anything to it.

   The Fix:

   You probably have done something to Normal.dot , but only inadvertently. Normal.dot , also called "the Normal template," is the default template on which Word bases documents unless you tell it to use another template. In addition to typical template items such as styles, page margins, and default font and paragraph settings, Normal.dot contains your formatted AutoCorrect entries and your AutoText entries. It's also a convenient place to store VBA items such as macros and user forms.

   If you've created a formatted AutoCorrect entry or an AutoText entry, or if you've changed your default font, page layout, or paragraph settings, you've changed Normal.dot . Similarly, if you've created or installed a VBA item, you may have changed Normal.dot . If Word prompts you to save it (see Figure 1-7), click the Yes button.

   Figure 1-7. You can prevent Word from prompting you to save Normal.dot.

   
   

   If you're not aware of having made any such changes, it's possible that your computer has a macro virus that has made a change against your will. If so, you won't want to save changes to Normal.dot . Check your computer for viruses immediately.

   If you want Word to save any changes to Normal.dot automatically without prompting you, choose Tools Options, click the Save tab, and uncheck the "Prompt to save Normal template box.

   Word Says Normal.dot "Is in Use by Another Application or User"

   The Annoyance:

   When I accept Word's offer to save Normal.dot , it says "This file is in use by another application or user." What's this all about? I'm alone here, and Word is the only application I'm running.

   The Fix:

   It's okay: Word is the other application, and you're the other user. This message usually means that you've got two separate instances of Word open (as opposed to having two documents open in separate windows in the same Word session). The instance you started first has a lock on Normal.dot , so the second instance (the one you're trying to close) can't save changes to Normal.dot .

   Click OK in the warning dialog box (see Figure 1-8). Word then displays the Save As dialog box so that you can save Normal.dot under a different name (or in a different folder) to preserve the changes you've made to it. You'll then need to merge these changes back into your original Normal.dot . Typically, this is worth the effort only if you've been creating VBA code in Normal.dot . If you've simply created an AutoText entry or performed a small customization, it's usually easier to do it again in your original Normal.dot .

   Figure 1-8. If Word claims Normal.dot is in use when you try to save changes, you probably have two instances of Word open.

   
   

   If you don't think you have two or more instances of Word open, click on each of your document windows in turn and pull down the Window menu to see what Word windows it lists. Any windows that are in another session of Word will not appear on the Window menu.

   ---

   Tip: If you really don't have two or more instances of Word open, a crash may have left a locking file for Normal.dot that makes Word think another instance is running. Quit Word and restart Windows to clear out the locking file automatically.

   ---