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Normal.dot is renamed to normal.dot.old on 1st install


chris9999

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I am attempting to complete a SOE for my client by tomorrow :blushing: and the final roadblock is a problem with Office 2002 installed on XPSP2.

On 1st run of Word the Normal.dot built for the environment is renamed to Normal.Dot.Old when word pauses to ask for the workgroup initials. On exit from Word a vanilla normal.dot with the default settings replaces it in the My Documents\Templates folder.

If I delete the new default one and rename the old one the client is successfuly able to work with the correct normal.dot but as up to 1000 clients will have to be educated about this I would prefer to fix it!!!

The build uses an MST created with the custom installation wizard and an OPS file created with the profile wizard which is a snapshot of the settings after installation and is reused to build the MST.

I have tried everything including modifying the OPW10adm.ini used by proflwiz to specifically exclude Normal.dot from the profile wizard OPS file creation but to no avail.

Can anyone shed any light on this behaviour??

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I've investigated further and installed Office 2002 SP3 just using the MST - ie no OPS input - just Microsoft default settings and Trust Installed addins and Templates is checked. I forgot to mention that the Normal.dot is copied onto to the C: drive in the templates folder after installation. Word is deciding that this normal.dot is "foreign" and renaming it. It occurs both in local admin installs and for restricted users so it cant be permission or rights related.

I've just copied the default normal.dot which Word created from the above into default user\My Documents\Templates and it does the same thing- so it cant be the normal.dot contents at fault - it is just the installer renaming the dot file to old - WHY??

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Office 2007 used the new Open XML format. Therefore, the Office 2003's normal.dot is the old version for 2007 to use. It will update the document template (i.e. 2003's normal.dot) to the newer version so that it can save documents correctly for the Open XML format.

The only way around this is to copy your old normal.dot to the folder "%userfprofile%\Application Data\Microsoft\Word\STARTUP\" and word will import the contents of the 2003 version of normal.dot.

Good luck.

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I understand your problem. I had custom made toolbars in 2003 and had a hell of a time getting them in 2007. The only way to do it was the method I mentioned above.

However, I was unware that you are using 2002. I don't think there is a difference between 2002 normal.dot and 2003 normal.dot. If that seems to be the only problem, try this: open the 2002 normal.dot using a computer that has 2003 loaded. Then use the method I mentioned.

Your customized toolbars should come up as a Add-in tab in the ribbon.

Or here is the help from 2007 on how to load a template temporarily:

Load or unload a template or add-in program
Templates can store styles, AutoText entries, AutoCorrect entries, macros, toolbars, custom menu settings, and shortcut keys. Loading a template makes it available as a global template that you can use while you work with documents based on any other template.

Add-ins are supplemental programs that you can install to extend the capabilities of Microsoft Office Word by adding custom commands and specialized features. An example of an add-in program might be a program designed and distributed by your company's IT department to highlight company names in any document you open on your computer.

What do you want to do?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Load templates or add-ins

Unload templates or add-ins

Make a template or add-in available whenever you start Word


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Load templates or add-ins
When you load a template or add-in, it remains loaded for the current Word session only. If you quit and then restart Word, the template or add-in is not automatically reloaded.

Click the Microsoft Office Button , and then click Word Options.
Click Add-Ins.
In the Manage list, select Word Add-ins, and then click Go.
Click the Templates tab.
Under Global templates and add-ins, select the check box next to the template or add-in that you want to load.
If the template or add-in you want does not appear in the box, click Add, switch to the folder that contains the template or add-in you want, click it, and then click OK.
Top of Page

Unload templates or add-ins
To conserve memory and increase the speed of Word, it's a good idea to unload templates and add-in programs you don't often use. When you unload a template or add-in that's located in your Startup folder, Word unloads the template for the current Word session but automatically reloads it the next time you start Word. When you unload a template or add-in located in any other folder, it is unavailable until you reload it. To delete a template or add-in from Word, you must remove the template or add-in from the Templates and Add-ins dialog box.

Click the Microsoft Office Button , and then click Word Options.
Click Add-Ins.
In the Manage list, select Word Add-ins, and then click Go.
Click the Templates tab.
Do one of the following:
To unload a template or add-in but leave it under Global templates and add-ins, clear the check box next to the name of the item.
To unload a template or add-in and remove it from the box under Global templates and add-ins, click the item in the box, and then click Remove.
Notes

The Remove button is unavailable when the template you select is located in your Startup folder.
When you unload a template or add-in, you do not remove it from your computer — you only make it unavailable. Where you've stored the template or add-in determines whether it's loaded when you start Word.
Top of Page

Make a template or add-in available whenever you start Word
To have a template or add-in available whenever you start Word, store the add-in or template in the Startup folder. By default, the Startup folder is located in one of the following folders:

Microsoft Windows Vista
c:\Users\user name\AppData\Microsoft\Word\STARTUP

Microsoft Windows Server 2003 or Microsoft Windows XP
c:\Documents and Settings\user name\Application Data\Microsoft\Word\STARTUP
If the location of the Startup folder has changed, you can find it by doing the following:

Click the Microsoft Office Button , and then click Word Options.
Click Advanced.
Under General, click File Locations.
Save the template that you want available when you start Word to the location that is listed for Startup.

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After extensive investigation I had given up on solving this and we had come up with a workaround involving renaming normal.dot.old back to normal.dot after the first install.

However thanks to the firm having Microsoft Premier Support we finally got a reply from a MS Engineer:

when using a Transform to deploy an existing Normal.Dot file, the following will occur and the Normal.Dot will be renamed to Normal.Dot.Old when someone uses word for the first time.

Step 9 of the Custom Installation Wizard "Change Office User Settings" has a section that allows the configuring of the Office Language, the setting in question is as follows;

Microsoft Office XP (user)

- Language Settings

- Enabled Languages - "Installed version of Microsoft Office"

If configured the "Installed Version of Microsoft Office" will cause the issue you are experiencing as the default language setting are stored at a document level (normal.dot) and not at an application level.

the transform had been configured to use English/Australian which was the cause of this obscure undocumented side effect!

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