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RE: Need advice on MS Word (if anyone can stand it)



>(1) When I boot up the program, a "document1" appears on the screen by
>default; if I want to get rid of it (as I always do), MSW insists on
Saving
>it first, so there's one more duff file on my hard drive to find and
kill.
>I want the boot-up default to be a blank screen with no file: how do I
get
>that?

I second (or *third*, by now) Nathan Sivin's recommendation to get a Word
6.0 manual. There are just too many things that are obscure enough,
bizarre enough, counterintuitive enough, etc., to make them unlikely that
you'll ever figure them out on your own. One that I've found especially
helpful (not to mention readable) is Woody Leonard's *The Underground
Guide to Word for Windows.* I think Woody may be also the author of the
*Annoyances* book that's been mentioned.

But to answer the question, I don't know of any way to eliminate that
"document1" when Word is started. I've tried several workarounds in the
past, but to no avail. Surprisingly, Word's Auto___ macros can't seem to
touch it. However, I have a partial solution, which is a way to just
"Abort" the "document1" (or any other file on the screen for that
matter). This will eliminate the other hassle you describe. The solution
is to create a macro for aborting a file. This is simply an extension of
the FileClose command that passes an additional value to the command--the
end result being that you don't get the dialog box asking if you want to
save changes; instead, the file is just closed without saving changes
(i.e., aborted). Here's how to create a macro with "abort" functionality:
1) Under tools, click Macro
2) Type in a name (such as "Abort") for the macro you're going to create.
Click Create.
3) You'll get a macro screen with the text "Sub MAIN[return][return]End
Sub". On the middle (blank) line, type "FileClose 2" (without the
quotes).
4) Now Close the macro window, saving the changes.
5) Your macro is complete and has been stored.
6) Use Tools/Customize to assign the macro to a key combination and/or
toolbar button. I think the Help system documentation should be an
adequate resource for how to do this.

If you want a "Store" macro, it's the same thing, only use a different
macro name and "FileClose 1".

>In fact, is there ANY straightforward way to erase/delete a file while
>working within MSW?
Yes, via an add-on. I don't remember where I found it, but I've used it
for years. It's a file you stick in Word's startup directory (Check
Tools/Options/File Locations to determine where that is); anything in
this directory is automatically loaded when you start Word. The add-on
adds a "Delete..." item under the File menu. Selecting this brings up a
dialog box from which you can select, then delete, files. (I don't know
why MS left this functionality out. Perhaps it's along the same
philosophical lines by which the default toolbar has an "Open" toolbar
button but no "Close" button.) I've attached the file (17K), called
WDDEL.WLL. If you don't want it from me (the E-mail virus thing and all
that) you should be able to find it on the Web by searching for
WDDEL(.WLL).

Someone else on the list said that one could call up the Open box,
highlight a file, then press Delete. That doesn't work for me; YMMV.

>At this point, I scream "Where's *.DFL?" If I go to Help and ask about
>Defaults, I get told to go to Tools and then to Customize; but I don't
>_have_ a Customize -- instead I have something called Customize Add Menu
>Shortcut...
The so-called .DFL file is under Tools/Options. There's lots of good
stuff there; Woody's aforementioned book guides you through helpful
settings. Two especially sage changes to make are under Save: (1) Uncheck
the box for "Allow fast saves"--this default setting tends to corrupt
files; (2) Check the box for "Prompt to save Normal.dot." Since
normal.dot controls all the interface and functionality in Word,
shouldn't the user have control over whether it is altered or not? Seems
like a no-brainer to me. (BTW, if you've created the above macro(s), they
will have been stored in normal.dot, which counts as a "change." So when
you exit Word you'll be asked if you want to save changes to normal.dot.
You'll probably want to avoid rewriting the macros, so click Yes.)

If you have no Tools/Customize, then perhaps you don't actually have Word
6.0? I mean, no offense, but I've had people insist to me that they had
Word 6.0 for Office 97; if you have Office 97 you have Word 97, which is
two versions removed from 6.0. Another possibility is that your
installation of Word has had a virus. One in particular, CAP, is a mostly
harmless virus, but it removes the Customize line from under Tools (and a
few other such menu items). Once you've removed the virus, you can
restore these menu options by simply deleting normal.dot (shock!), then
restarting Word--Word rebuilds a "factory issue" normal.dot from scratch
if it's missing; your menu items will thus be restored.

>Needless to say, none of these problems *is* a problem in XyW.
Right-o. (-:
So back to good ol' Xy.

--TLO
Timothy_Olson@xxxxxxxx

Attachment: WDDEL.WLL
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