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Q196759: WD97: All Workstations Not Using Same Preferences/Options

Article: Q196759
Product(s): Word 97 for Windows
Version(s): WINDOWS:97
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): word97
Last Modified: 14-NOV-2000

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Word 97 for Windows 
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SYMPTOMS
========

After you install Word for Windows on a server, all or some of the workstations
may not use the option or preference settings you selected during Setup.
Instead, these workstations may all use the same set of defaults, such as the
default font or Most Recently Used (MRU) list on the File menu.

CAUSE
=====

This problem occurs if the Normal.dot file exists in the network server program
directory, instead of in the user directory that you specified during the
Workstation Setup.

Word (not Word Setup) creates the Normal.dot files in the server program
directory. This occurs if the network administrator (or someone who has read,
write, and create privileges in the Word program directory on the server) runs
Word from the server installation before running a Workstation Setup to install
Word on the workstation. Before you run the Workstation Setup, no references to
the file locations exist in the Windows program directory, so when you quit Word
the first time, it stores the Winword.opt and the Normal.dot files on the server
in the directory where the Winword.exe program is located (the default
location).

After the Normal.dot file exists on the server, Word uses these files every time
it starts from any workstation, even if you have run a Workstation Setup and
created a reference that points to another Normal.dot location. This happens
because, as Word starts, it checks for these files in the directory where the
Winword.exe file resides. If it finds Winword.opt or Normal.dot in this
location, it uses those files and does not read your reference file to attempt
to find them in another location.

NOTE: In some cases, it is desirable to have everyone use the same Normal.dot
file and prevent any changes being made.

Infrequently, this problem also occurs if you ran the Workstation Setup at your
workstation while you were running Windows from a different location (that is,
from a location other than the one specified in your network logon script).

NOTE: Word Setup does not create the Normal.dot file. Word creates new versions
of this file any time you run the program and the file is not located.
Therefore, this is a network administration issue rather than a Word Setup
issue.

RESOLUTION
==========

Perform all three of the following steps to resolve this problem and restore
each user's preference and option settings in Word:

1. Quit all instances of Word running from the server. Rename or delete the
  Normal.dot files in the network server directory.

2. Make sure the Word program directory on the network server and all files in
  that directory are flagged as read-only and shareable. You should not have
  write privileges in this server directory before you perform the Workstation
  Setup at the workstation.

3. Make sure you run a Workstation installation of Word at every workstation
  where the user has administrative rights (that is, full access to the Word
  program directory on the server). This process references that point to the
  correct location for your user's Normal.dot file.

MORE INFORMATION
================

This section contains a description of the Normal.dot file and a discussion of
the network installation of Word as it pertains to the problem addressed in this
article.

Normal.dot
----------

The default document template that stores macros, toolbars, menus, keystrokes,
AutoText, and AutoCorrect entries. This file should be located in the user's
Template directory and is created after the user makes a change to one of the
items mentioned above. This file is not created by Setup. It is referenced in
the Windows registry file.

Overview: Network Setup of Word
-------------------------------

NOTE: This discussion assumes that you have a working knowledge of network
operations and terminology. For network-specific information, see your network
documentation.

To install Word so it runs from a network file server, go to a workstation and
connect to the file server. Run the administrator's installation of Word (type
"setup /a" at the command line). When Setup prompts you for the network
directory for the main Word program, specify a path on the file server. Setup
copies all the program files to this location.

IMPORTANT: DO NOT RUN WORD AT THIS POINT! If you do, the problems described at
the beginning of this article may occur. Before you run Word, you must first
perform the following two steps:

1. Set the access privileges to read-only and shared for the server directories
  in which you installed Word. Refer to your MS-DOS or network operating system
  documentation for more information.

2. Run the workstation installation of Word at each workstation. This registers
  the Word program with your local Windows installation and creates references
  to file locations. If you do not run a workstation installation before you
  run Word from the network server, Word runs, but some operations do not
  function correctly, such as the spelling checker, grammar checking, and
  object linking and embedding (OLE ).

NOTE: If you are running Windows from a network server, the first workstation
installation of Word makes all the necessary Windows-level changes. This means
you need all access privileges to the shared Windows program directory, and that
directory must not be read-only.

Additional query words: most-recently-used info

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Keywords          : word97 
Technology        : kbWordSearch kbWord97 kbWord97Search kbZNotKeyword2
Version           : WINDOWS:97
Issue type        : kbprb

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