Fixing Problems in Different Versions Microsoft Word

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 Tax Refund Scam
How to Avoid Spam
  Using System Restore
   Temporary Internet Files
     Non-stop Music on your PC

 Delete Normal.dot
  CAPS to lower case
   Remove Duplicate Files
     Red X Instead of a Picture

 Finding Lost Files
  Labels & Envelopes
   Make Your Own Icons
     Spreadsheet In PowerPoint

 Word Graphics to JPG
  Watermark a Document
    Add Music to Your Email
     Gmail, Outlook Express

  Rotate a Picture
   CYMK vs RGB Colors
     Adding Text to a Photo
      Crop and Resize Photos

  Blind Carbon Copies
   Move DBX Files to a New PC
     Copy Email Address Book
      Pics Blocked by OE

    MSWord Help
  1. Creating Labels & Envelopes with Word, Excel, & MSWorks
  2. Replacing NORMAL.DOC when MSWord Becomes Unstable
  3. Password Protecting Word & Excel Documents


    4. Pictures & Text Boxes
  4. Picture in a Text Box
  5. Placing Both Text & a Pic in a Text Box


    6. Other Document Types
  6. MSWord, Wordpad, Notepad, Google's Writely/Docs
  7. Converting Data between MSWord & PDF Files
  8. Show a Spreadsheet in PowerPoint (using Paint)
  9. Less Complicated Word Processing Programs


    10. Working with Columns
  10. Dividing a Page into Columns
  11. Lining Up Numbers in a Column


    12. Bullets & Page Numbering
  12. Using AutoCorrect for Bullets & Numbering
  13. Add Page Numbering to a Word Processing Document


    14. Telling a Story with Your PC
  14. Writing a Personal Memoir
  15. Creating a Newsletter
  16. MSWord Paragraph Formatting
  17. Convert CAPS to lower case (& vice versa)
  18. Sending a Family/Holiday Newsletter
  19. Automatic Backup of MSWord Documents
  20. Free Trials of MSWord 2007 & of WordPerfect Office X3


  21. Various Computer Audio Formats, such as WMA, WAV, MIDI, etc.
  22. Finding Free Downloadable Music Online
  23. Recover Songs from your Temporary Internet Files
  24. Converting Music Formats (WAV to MID, etc.)
  25. Converting Vinyl LPs & Audio Tapes to Digital Music Formats
  26. More on Converting Musical Collections to Digital Music Formats
  27. Playing Songs Continuously in Windows Media Player 11
Fixing Problems in Word 2003, 2007, and Earlier Versions (97 & 2000)

      Since Microsoft Word is the world’s most used word processing program, it’s not surprising that I receive lots of questions about it, including occasional complaints. Aneela Isaacs has Word 2007 and doesn’t like the extra steps required to cause a saved document to be compatible with earlier versions of Word. File name extensions of Word 2007 documents are .docx instead of the traditional .doc extension.

     To make a 2007 document readable by earlier versions, one normally has to click the "MSOffice" button, followed by clicking Save As>Word 97-2003 Document. However, I told Aneela she could put an icon on her Desktop that would create a blank document pre-saved in a pre-2007 format, along with a ".doc" extension.

     Here’s how:

     Follow the above instructions to create a new document named "Pre-2007 Format.doc" (or something similar). By default, the file will be saved in your "My Documents" folder (or Vista’s "Documents" folder).

     Next, open your "Documents" folder, right-click " Pre-2007 Format.doc" and choose Send to: Desktop (create shortcut). Henceforth, whenever you create a new document by clicking this icon, it will be preformatted in a traditional .doc style.

     However, it’s important to immediately give such a document a different name so that the name "Pre-2007 Format.doc" will be preserved and available to create subsequent pre-2007 files.

     The above procedure also works for creating icons to launch other documents that may otherwise require multiple steps. For instance, some versions of Microsoft Works require users to open the "Task Launcher" before they can select Word Processing or Spreadsheet or whatever. OpenOffice, likewise, requires that a similar task launcher be opened up front.

     Microsoft Office 2003 user Cathy Cupples complained that she couldn’t get certain margins to line up properly, but later wrote that she solved the problem by clicking on Help>Detect and Repair and followed the instructions.

     In Microsoft Office 2007 "Detect and Repair" was replaced by "MS Diagnostics." To fix a problem in Word click the MSOffice Button, and then click Word Options>Resources>Diagnose. Then click Continue>Start Diagnostics. Similar steps work in Excel and other Office programs.



A Universal Fix for All Versions of Word

     For all versions of Word there is a procedure that has solved many, many problems. A file named "normal.dot" (normal.dotx in Word 2007) has always contained Word’s default settings, such as font size, page margins, and etc. If this file is deleted, the next time Word is launched it will recreate the file with its original settings, which will frequently fix just about any Word problem that has appeared.

     Here’s what to do:

     Be sure that Word is NOT open, go to Start>Search>All Files & Folders, and type normal.dot into the Name or Partial Name field. Wait till the search finishes because it’s not uncommon for 3 or 4 normal.dot files to appear. Delete all of them and re-open Word. You may be amazed at the results.

     Another thing about Microsoft Word (and MSOffice) is that they contain the spell-checker for Outlook Express. If you don’t have a spell-checker there is a free one available at www.thesolutioncafe.com/public-spell-checker.html.

Free Anti-Virus Programs

      For several years we’ve been using and recommending a free anti-virus program named AVG. Well, the company discontinued its free Version 7.5, and we have been hearing conflicting reports about whether Version 8.0 is free or just a trial version that is free for 30 days.

      In any case, our experience with AVG 8.0 is that it's much bigger than 7.5 was (because of adding extra features such as anti-spy and anti-phishing tools) and that is very slow, taking several hours to scan each of our computers.

      Consequently, we decided to try some other free anti-virus programs that were recommended by various readers. After trying these programs, we settled on Avast (www.avast.com) which was recommended by Pat Williams. Pat told us she has used Avast for quite a while and she likes the way it works. We heartily agree.
     Another reader, Joan Kaye, recommended another free anti-virus program called Avira (www.avira.com).

Is It the Program or Is It You?

     Here’s something to consider regarding anti-virus software. Is it the program that is keeping you safe from viruses, or is it your computer behavior? Well, your behavior is really the best protection against a virus – especially in view of the fact that no AV program can be 100% effective all the time. New viruses are created and sent out every day, but it can be two or three days before your anti-virus provider finds out about them and sends you an update.

Scams regarding Free Programs

     Regarding free software, a current scam involves someone charging you for a fee program. Here’s how it works:

     A scammer creates a site that displays the name of a free program, such as, say, OpenOffice (the free MSOffice-compatible software suite). He then names the site something like, say, "www.your-openoffice.org". If you type "openoffice" or "open office" or "free office program" into Google, several sites will be listed that appear to be the actual OpenOffice site. However, only one will be legitimate – the others will try to charge you $30 to $50 to link you to the real site.

     Thus, if someone tries to charge you for Adobe Reader (PDF document reader) or Ad-Aware (anti-spyware program) or Irfanview (my favorite image-editing program) just go to my Home Page for the legitimate free links, along with links to many other useful free programs. Also, do NOT give your email address to such sites or you will be swamped with spam.

     And it goes without saying that you NEVER give out personal information, such as your social security number or a bank account number to anyone online. Nonetheless, we often give a credit card number to legitimate vendors, such as www.amazon.com. In fact, with gas prices what they are, buying merchandise online actually saves us money. Again, be on the lookout for scammer sites that pretend to be a legitimate site.

© Donald Ray Edrington - All Rights Reserved


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