Normal.dot always updating

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I am helping a friend with her PC, on which she uses Word 2000.

For some reason, Word wants to update Normal.dot after each session.

So I let Word delete Normal.dot, and recreate it. I then turned on the “ask me to save normal.dot” option.

When I closed Word, it asked me to save normal.dot, to which I said “yes”. (Expected behavior.) But now each time I load and close Word – even if I don’t edit any documents, Word wants to update normal.dot. Strange.

I’ve checked for any macros in her installation, and found none.

Any ideas?

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Anything in the Word startup folder? Maybe an add-in program is causing a change in normal.dot.

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I have a toolbar button I made that activates an Arial template I made. I recorded it with the macro recorder. Whenever I use that button, Word tells me that changes have been made to Normal.dot, do I want to save? I’ve figured out it’s something in how the macro was recorded….I am no VBA guru. Perhaps something similar is happening to you. I just say no and get on with things (yes, I know I can correct it, I’ll get roundtuit someday )

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Balby,

If you record a macro, it goes into normal.dot (unless you specify otherwise). Customized buttons, styles and autotext will also go there unless otherwise specified.

It’s possible that running a macro will do one of these things, and then you will be prompted to save. It’s also possible that another macro which you don’t know about can do these things- when you don’t want them to.

If you haven’t done anything which might change the macro, it’s safer to answer “N” when asked if you want normal.dot saved.

If you never see this message, it may be because you have the option ubder “Tools, Option, Save, Prompt to save Normal template” is not checked. I like to leave it checked for safety.

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As I said, I do say No to the update, and I always run Word with the “Tools, Option, Save, Prompt to save Normal template” checked. Here is the macro I recorded, if you have any suggestions as to how I can rewrite it so I don’t get the prompt, I’d appreciate it. Thank you!

Sub Arial()
‘
‘ Arial Macro
‘ Macro recorded 11/21/00 by Ocean Spray
‘
Documents.Add Template:= _
“C:Program FilesMicrosoft OfficeTemplatesArial.dot”, NewTemplate:= _
False
CommandBars(“Ann’s Standard”).Controls(4).TooltipText = “New Arial Doc”
End Sub

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Hi Balby,

It looks like what’s happening is: the toolbar called “Ann’s Standard” is probably associated with (stored in) Normal.dot.
When you change the tooltip text you are making a change to Normal.dot.

If Ann’s Standard is a toolbar that needs to be available globally, it would probably be better to store it in a global template other than Normal.dot.

Hope this helps,
Gary

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Balby,

Following up from Gary- the toolbar is made available in a template, not in a document. You can add it to the normal template (by default) the way you are doing- or explicitly by adding the line in the middle:
CustomizationContext = NormalTemplate

If you want it template “Arial.dot”, then you need:
CustomizationContext = ActiveDocument.AttachedTemplate

It sounds as if you might be better to attach it to the template manually without code- but that depends on what you are trying to do.

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To manualy attach it, if it doesn’t run any macros, open your template and use the Organizer:
(Tools | Templates and Add-Ins… | Toolbars (tab)) to move it.
If it does run macros, you need to copy the macros as well, before you move the Toolbar! Based on your description, the macros will be in the Macro Module “New Macros.” in Normal.dot. If you already have a Module named “New Macros” in your template, rename it for now so you can copy the Module from Normal.dot to your template.

Then close the Organizer and save your template. Use the VBA Editor to look at the New Macros module in your template (not the one in Normal.dot). You should be able to spot the macros that you use for your toolbar. Delete any other macros and Ctrl-S to save your changes to the Template. If you already had macros in your template and had to rename “New Macros,” double-click on that module. For now, you will want to move all the macros to your new “New Macros” module. Then right-click on the Module that used to be “New Macros” and remove it. It will ask you if you want to export first; answer: No. With your insertion point back in the New Macros module of your template, press Ctrl-S to again save your template.

Then double click on the Module “New Macros” in Normal.dot and delete the macros that you left in your template. Ctrl-S to save your changes to Normal.dot.

Then use the Organizer to copy your toolbar to your template. Close the Organizer dialog box. Save and close your template.

Open a new blank document. Tools | Customize | Toolbars (1st Tab) and check Anne’s toolbar. Right-click on the selection and rename it Anne’s Old Toolbar. (We are doing this before deleting it. Want to check if new toolbar works and can’t really do that without changing the name.) Close the Customize dialog box.

If you put the text that Geoff suggested in your macro, create a new document from your template. Check to see if your toolbar functions the way you want it to. Type something in the document and then close it without saving it. You should be prompted as to whether your want to save the changes made to Arial.dot. Answer “Yes.”

Then Open Arial.dot and remove the macro that makes the changes to your user interface. You may want to have a macro that makes your toolbar visible.

I think the following will work:
Application.CommandBars (“Anne’s Toolbar”).Visible=True
(Just typing from memory here, if it doesn’t work, try recording a macro to display the toolbar and adapt the code in the VBA Editor.)

Save and close Arial.dot. Use it to create a new document again to make sure that the code changes work. Assuming they do, you can now use Tools | Customize (this time customizing Normal.dot) to delete “Anne’s Old Toolbar.” Quit Word and save your changes to Normal.dot. This should end your messages and give you a better template to use.

Next time, when you create your toolbar using the Customize command under the Tools menu, check to make sure that it is being saved in the template that will be using it rather than in Normal.dot. Likewise, make sure that any changes you make to that toolbar get saved in the template.

This way, if you pass your template on to someone else, they will have the benefit of your toolbar and macros.

You must have hit a hot button for me on this. Whew!

See: http://www.addbalance.com/usersguide/templates.htm%5B/url%5D for more on templates and Normal.dot.

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Actually, the toolbar is fine being in the local copy of Normal.dot, we don’t share that on the network, and no one else would be interested in using my toolbar. I initially responded because I had a similar situation. Now I am just curious on how to stop the ‘changes to normal.dot’ message, as I am sure it can be eliminated with proper code.

I am curious….why would changing the tooltip constantly create this message in one normal.dot? Wouldn’t it get updated once and then be done with it? As you can see, I am no VBA expert. Thanx for any help!

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balby,

The brute force approach- add this to the code after you make changes to the toolbar:
NormalTemplate.Save

Otherwise, check if the change is required:
if CommandBars(“Ann’s Standard”).Controls(4).TooltipText “New Arial Doc” then
CommandBars(“Ann’s Standard”).Controls(4).TooltipText = “New Arial Doc”
end if

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Thank you, Geoff, “NormalTemplate.Save” fixed it

This is a really great forum, I’m glad I found it.

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I’ve had a similar problem that just recently, evey time I close word the “Saving Normal.Dot” message and time bar appears at the bottom of the screen. I immediately assumed this was a word macro virus and scanned the normal.dot file with the latest McAfee virus scanner. Negative result. If I open a blank document and look at the loaded macros I find the following listed:
AddOurToolbar
DoPerfsForm
DoPrintWithLinks
GetStoredSettings

All of these have the Edit and Delete buttons grayed out. Even if I delete Normal.dot and restart Word, they re-appear. Are they harmless? Any suggestions on how to stop this resave happening each time I exit?

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I imagine your network guys have set up a macro called AddOurToolbar which adds a company toolbar. This is a change to normal.dot so of course normal.dot gets changed every time.

Unless the company toolbar is changed frequently this is an inefficient way of implementing it. It would be better to have the toolbar in a template in each user’s startup directory (company.dot) and run a macro once to display it. After this the toolbar can be updated by replacing company.dot in the logon script.

I am not certain what the other macros do but they are probably something similar. I.e. set up by the network administrator.

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Thanks for the hint. I also realised that I have Adobe PDF maker loaded. I tried turning off that toolbar, exiting Word, then restarting. That seemed to solve the problem of Normal.dot always saving on exit, even though the Macros still seem to be present. I have now turned the PDF toolbar back on and no longer notice the problem! Isn’t windows wonderful?

“Yesterday it worked
Today it is not working
Windows is like that”

– Computer Haiku c. 1999

Keith Graham (Damnlimey)

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Take a look under Tools/Templates and Add-Ins and see if you have a Stamps.com or Works Suite add-in.

Either of these will prompt the save of Normal.dot when exiting.

If you want to rid yourself of the prompt you can either uninstall the Add-Ins in the Control Panel and AddRemove programs, or move the templates/add-ins from the WordStartup folder and then move them back when you want them.

Of course you can always turn off the “Prompt to Save Normal”, but this is not recommended since you can still answer “No” when you haven’t made any changes to Normal.dot and prevent a possible virus.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Cheers!

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