| The working environment in Microsoft Office applications can easily be changed to a user 's preference. Some custom settings apply only to the open application; however, other settings modify all applications within the Microsoft Office suite. For example, the Default File Locations setting applies to all Microsoft Office applications. You set the file locations in the Options dialog box in Microsoft Word. In contrast, the default font used in the blank document template named Normal.dot affects only new Word documents. A common problem occurs when a user unintentionally modifies blank templates for Word, Excel, or PowerPoint. There is a simple solution to this problem. Office provides a fail-safe feature that re-creates the blank template if it cannot find the blank template while creating a new file. To remove all customizations to the blank template, including custom toolbars and menus , simply delete the old, blank template and allow the program to re-create the blank template when the program is opened.  | Re-creating a blank template removes all customized settings. For users who have not customized their application settings, this method solves their problem. However, power users who rely heavily on their customizations will not approve of the loss of their macros, custom toolbars, or menu modifications. Always back up the template file before you delete. This way, you have something to fall back on if the user was unaware a customization had been applied. |
Follow these steps to re-create the Normal.dot template for Microsoft Word: -
Click Start and then select Search.
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In the left pane, select All Files and Folders.
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In the All or Part of a File Name box, type normal.dot .
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In the Look In drop-down list, choose the drive where Microsoft Office XP is currently installed.
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Click Search to begin your search.  | If your search does not locate a Normal.dot template file, verify that your search includes system folders. To include system folders, click the More advanced options link in the Search Results window and check the Search System Folders option. After you have verified that the system folders are being searched and your search does not locate a Normal.dot template file, the search result then indicates that no modifications have been made to the blank template file in Microsoft Word. The Normal.dot file is stored in a file format only after customizations have been applied to the blank document or application window. | -
When the search is complete, right-click Normal.dot and then select Rename. If multiple Normal.dot files are located, you need to rename all files that have been found. | | If multiple people use the system that requires a new Normal.dot template file, you must verify the location of the Normal.dot template file for each individual user and rename that particular file Normal.old . | -
In the Name box, type Normal.old and press Enter. Rename any additional files that were located during the search.
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Open Microsoft Word. Word automatically creates the new Normal.dot template file.
Customizing Toolbars The method to customize toolbars is the same for all applications in the Microsoft Office suite. To access the Customize dialog box, shown in Figure 4.8, select View, point to Toolbars, click Customize, and then select the Toolbars tab. Figure 4.8. The Customize dialog box. 
| | An alternative method to open the Customize dialog box is to right-click an open toolbar and select Customize from the shortcut menu. |
Each Microsoft Office suite application has its own specific toolbars. You will notice similarities between the applications ”for example, the Standard toolbar. The Standard toolbar always contains the New, Open, Save, Cut, Copy, and Paste icons. However, the specific applications have additional icons that pertain to the program. Figure 4.9 shows the Standard toolbar for Microsoft Word, and Figure 4.10 shows the Standard toolbar for Microsoft Excel. Compare the two toolbars and notice that each toolbar has additional buttons specific to the particular program. Figure 4.9. The Standard toolbar for Microsoft Word. 
Figure 4.10. The Standard toolbar for Microsoft Excel. 
If a user is having a problem with a toolbar, be sure to open the troublesome application before troubleshooting the toolbar in question. Using the Toolbar tab of the Customize dialog box (refer to Figure 4.8), you can configure various settings that include Follow these steps to add a button to an existing toolbar: -
Click the View menu, point to Toolbars, and click Customize.
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In the Customize dialog box, click the Commands tab. Under Categories, select the category from which you want to add the button. | | To change which features are displayed in the Commands list, click a new category from the Category list on the left pane of the dialog box. | -
To add a button to a toolbar, drag a button from the Commands list to the desired toolbar.
| | When you use Full Screen view, all toolbars and menu bars are hidden. The Full Screen toolbar should appear floating within the application window unless the user has turned it off. To exit Full Screen view, press Escape to return to the previous program view. |
 | Make sure you are able to configure and customize built-in toolbars in all Office XP applications. |
Configuring Proofing Tools Microsoft Office Proofing Tools is an add-in that supplies a collection of tools, such as spelling and grammar checkers, thesauri , and AutoCorrect lists, for more than 45 languages. Microsoft Office comes with built-in proofing tools for commonly used languages. For example, the English version of Office includes proofing tools for French and Spanish, as well as English. By installing Office Proofing Tools, you add those same capabilities for many more languages. This makes it even easier to quickly and accurately enter and edit text in the languages you want, creating powerful, professional, and error-free documents. When you install Office Proofing Tools, the following tools are added to most Office programs: -
Spelling checkers and their accompanying dictionaries -
Grammar and writing style checkers -
Thesauri for checking synonyms -
Hyphenators -
AutoCorrect lists -
AutoSummarize -
Input Method Editors (IMEs) -
Word breakers -
Simplified/traditional Chinese translator -
Tools for working with Korean text, such as Hangul Hanja converter and Hanja dictionary -
Additional bilingual dictionaries Microsoft Office XP Proofing Tools is available for purchase at shop.microsoft.com or a licensed reseller. | | You should be comfortable configuring Office XP Proofing Tools. |
Personalizing Office Features Office includes many features that you can customize to users' particular needs. Some of the features were mentioned earlier in this chapter; however, another feature in particular is worth mentioning. You can customize the My Places bar of the Open dialog box to specific network drives, local drives , or folders by following these steps: -
Within any Office application, select the File menu and then select Open.
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Navigate to the folder or drive that you want to add to the My Places bar. Click the folder or drive to select the item.
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Click the Tools button on the toolbar and select Add to My Places (see Figure 4.11). The new button is displayed at the bottom of the My Places bar list. Figure 4.11. The Add to My Places menu option from the Tools button in the Open dialog box.  The Open dialog box default size is set up to show five default icons; however, you can resize the dialog box to display the additional icons. An alternative solution to enlarging the dialog box is to change the My Places bar view to small icons to display more icons. Saving Your Settings Wizard You can easily modify menus and toolbars to include additional options and buttons. However, a common end-user request is to locate a missing toolbar button. If you have verified that the option is not hidden because of the personalized toolbars, you need to add the button manually or reset the toolbar. You can reset the menus and toolbars to their original design by using the Customize dialog box. For power users who have customized the Office suite applications, these settings are an integral part of their working environment. Resetting the menus and toolbars will cause the loss of their efforts and create unhappy end users. To prevent the loss of customized settings, Office XP includes a new feature called the Save My Settings Wizard. You now can create a file of customized settings, including menu, toolbar, and template modifications. Store the file either locally or on the company network, and any time you need to re-apply a user's customizations to an Office XP-equipped computer, you can use that profile to re-create the work environment. To prepare the profile, click the Windows Start menu, choose All Programs, select Microsoft Office Tools, and then click Save My Settings Wizard. Save these settings locally, either to a company's network or to your own backup disk. The settings file is small enough to save on a floppy. If your hard drive melts down, and you need to reinstall Office, you can easily restore your settings from this file. As a backup and for those times when you want to personalize another edition of Office but don't want to haul around a disk, we also recommend saving your profile to Microsoft's secure online server. There's no charge (all you need is a Passport account), and Microsoft swears that it cannot access this information. You can retrieve this file using any Internet-connected computer and then use it to restore that PC's Office XP to your personal settings. Follow these instructions to save your current settings using the wizard: -
Close all applications from the Microsoft Office suite.
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Click the Start Menu, choose All Programs, select Microsoft Office Tools, and click the Save My Settings Wizard (refer to Figure 4.12). Figure 4.12. The Save My Settings Wizard menu option.  -
When the Welcome to the Save My Settings Wizard dialog box opens, click Next to begin the wizard.
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In the Save or Restore Settings dialog box, select the Save the Settings from This Machine option to back up your current customizations (refer to Figure 4.13). Then click Next. Figure 4.13. The Save or Restore Settings dialog box.  -
In the Choose to Save to the Web or a File dialog box, select the Save the Settings to a File option (refer to Figure 4.14). Figure 4.14. The Choose to Save to the Web or a File dialog box.  -
Click the Browse button to navigate to the location where you want to store your file.
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Type the name of the file and click Save.
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Click the Finish button to complete the wizard.
When you need to restore the settings stored in the backup file, you use the same wizard to complete this task. The following instructions explain how to restore the user's customizations: -
Close all applications from the Microsoft Office Suite.
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Click the Start Menu, choose All Programs, select Microsoft Office Tools, and click the Save My Settings Wizard (see Figure 4.12).
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When the Welcome to the Save My Settings Wizard dialog box opens, click Next to begin the wizard.
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In the Save or Restore Settings dialog box, select the Restore Previously Saved Settings to This Machine option to restore the customizations (see Figure 4.13). Then click Next.
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In the Choose to Restore from the Web or from a File dialog box, choose the location of the backup file was stored (see Figure 4.14).
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Click Finish to restore the Office XP customizations.
Answering End-User Questions Related to Customizing Office Applications When an end user calls with a question regarding customizing Office applications, you need to listen to the symptoms of the problem. Don't get caught up in the end user's ideas as to what is causing the problem. These ideas can send you off in the wrong direction. The symptoms always tell the whole story. Allow the end user to inform you of the problem and then start verifying the details after the explanation of the problem is complete. The number-one cause of a difficult call is to assume the end user has solved the problem. Listen to the symptoms, determine when the problem was first noticed, and then do not make any assumptions. Verify each fact. |
