Saving Normal.dot

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On one of my computers MS Word 2000 saves the nomal.dot file every time I exit Word. The normal.dot file is 400k. Why is this template being saved on every exit? I have 2 other computers with Word 2000 and the normal.dot file is not saved on exit and it is much smaller 20K on one and 100k on the other. Why is this?

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The only add-in is palmapp.dot. This is on my other machines which does not save normal.dot on exit. However, the copy of Word 2000 on the machine that is saving normal.dot was installed with Works Suite 2000, but I don’t see any add-in that could be causing this save.

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My experience has been that the Works Add-in does not appear in the list of Add-ins in Word at Tools>Templates and Add-ins, but it is still there.

To overcome the problem go to Control Panel>Add/Remove Programs, find Works Add-in and remove it from there, as BAM suggests.

This should stop you from being prompted to save Normal.dot.

Note that removing the Works Add-in does not affect the functionality of Works, it just prevents you from invoking Works from within Word.

Hope this helps.

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Looking at the list in Control Panel Add/Remove, I don’t see a Works Add-in for Word. MS Works is there. I am not prompted to save normal.dot on exiting Word. It just does it everytime. If it is not harming anything, maybe I’ll just let things be are they are.

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Hi Jim:

I just saw this post. The saving of the normal.dot file could be from a macro running each time you start Word.

1. Start Word.
2. Press Alt+F8.
3. Look at the list of macros, especially if you have one named AutoExec.

You may be changing Word features each time you start Word. With a 400K normal.dot compared to what you have on your other machines, there must be some modifications to the factory normal.dot. You could rename normal.dot & start Word to see if the normal.dot template is causing this.

Hope this helps.

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Phil,
I did Alt+F8 and the only macro is Auto_Close. That appears in my other machines which do not save normal.dot on every close. The Edit button is grayed out so I can not see the code. The normal.dot file is definitely being revised at every close as the date changes each time. I renamed normal.dot and let Word create a new one. Any other suggestions

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Hi Jim:

I assume you tried all the other suggestions. It sounds to me like an add-in, as BAM suggested (or a virus). Normal.dot doesn’t come with an Auto_Close macro, so it’s coming from somewhere. It’s not in normal.dot, because the Edit is greyed out. So there must be an add-in. Have you removed everything from your startup folder AND renamed normal.dot? After you save the new normal.dot, it should be much smaller than 400 KB. What happens when you do that?

Also, what did you install that put the Auto_Close macro there? Is there something that puts a button on a toolbar or something similar–like WinFax Pro?

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Hi Jim:

When I read your first post, I made a presumption that these are your personal machines, not workstations on a network. Is this correct?

I ask, because if the one with the 400k normal is a workstation on a network, while the others are stand-alone(s) or resident on a different network, what you may be dealing with is admin policies. With admin policies an IT department can disable various functions in Word’s startup and, depending on the network the login script may be copying the normal from a network location which prevents end-users from altering various items.

If my presumption was correct, and the 400k file is on a machine which you routinely use to create other templates or macros through VBA, it could simply be that you need to compile normal. I don’t know why it happens, but after a slew of working on writing in the VBA editor (accessed through Word), even if I haven’t put anything in Normal, it bloats. So, open the macros module in normal, add a comment on some blank line (just type an apostrophe at the beginning of the line… but make sure it’s blank), then click on Debug / Compile Normal, exit VBA editor and Word (saving normal on close) and see if there’s an appreciable difference.

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Thanks this may have solved the problem. There was no Works Suite Add-in in Control Panel Add/Remove, but after running the COM Add-in utility I found the Works Add-in. I unchecked it in the dialog box, and I no longer get the “saving normal.dot” as Word closes.

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It’s located at C:Program FilesMicrosoft Workswkwdaddn.dll

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Hi,

You are mistaken about this (at least for Word 97, Word 2000). Normal.dot only gets saved if (1) it didn’t exist when Word was started, or (2) something made changes to it. Since normal.dot is a favorite target of viruses (viri?), having Word notify you is usually a good thing to do.

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It is always wise to assume *nothing* is obvious. It is also wise to accept correction gracefully.

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