[mso] Re: Word 2002 - Creating A New Template Tab
- From: "Greg Chapman" <greg@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <mso@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 25 Jan 2003 02:09:52 -0600
I'm stepping into this late as there has been just way too much to do
and not enough hours for it all.
There's another part of this problem that I think people aren't used to
yet. That's the idea of User Profiles which has been around for a long
time but anyone who has had Windows 9x as their OS for a long time isn't
prepared for it. So, at the risk of being OT, it might be good to
explain how this concept affects Office applications (and many others).
First, User Profiles is just a shorthand way of saying that Windows
NT/2000/XP are built with the idea that many different people may use a
single computer. Windows 9x had a crippled version of this idea
available but the only people I ever saw put up with the frustration of
9x's version were IT geeks who had no choice.
In Windows NT, the path to a particular user's profile was in 2 places:
First, it was found in c:\winnt\profiles\<user log on name>. The second
place only existed if you were a member of a Windows NT domain and the
geeks had enabled Roaming Profiles. In that case, the profiles were all
stored on the Domain Controllers, too. Nope, very few of us have
anything like this running at home...can't blame them for that, either.
Bear in mind that Win2000 and newer systems also have similar provisions
for roaming profiles under the Active Directory scheme as well.
Windows 2000 brought a shift in the paradigm by moving the User Profiles
from c:\winnt to c:\document and settings. Windows XP carries on the new
tradition so you should expect to see nearly everything your Office
installation is concerned with in one of the many folders found under
c:\documents and settings\<your logon name>.
So what the heck does this have to do with Office? Office apps are user
specific. Yes, they are. There are only a few settings that are specific
to the whole computer and, of those, only a couple have anything to do
with file locations. The first file location setting that comes to mind
for Word as being user-generic is the Workgroup Templates folder. That
one is designed for multiple users who must work on documents together
to be able to always use the same version of the templates they use in
their work. An update to the template they use, then, only needs to be
copied out to that location for them all to see it from their computer.
This is also the cause of a lot of fouled up normal.dot files as many IT
people thought they could get good control over viruses by setting a
password protected normal.dot file in that location and then set the
Default File and Default Template folders to be the same location as the
Workgroup Templates folder on all their users' systems. Bad idea. It
created more damaged normal.dot files than the viruses did.
So if Office apps are so darned geared toward the individual, doesn't
that mean that a machine with 3 different users on it might have 3
different locations for templates, 3 different copies of normal.dot,
etc.? Absolutely, it does and that's exactly why your normal.dot is
broken and crashes Word but your wife seems to be able to run it just
fine when she logs in!
As you all noted, The Application Data folder is hidden by default and
you won't be able to search for files there with explorer until you set
it to let you view hidden files and folders. In addition, the Search
Tool went completely Tango Uniform starting with Win2000 and the
improvements to the tool that XP was expected to bring turned into even
more bugs instead. Don't trust the Windows Search tool! Besides, it uses
the same settings as Explorer so if you haven't enabled the viewing of
hidden files/folders, the Search tool won't look in those places either.
There's a better alternative and it has been around since BillyG first
convinced IBM to sell a PC with Microsoft operating systems on board.
Simply open a command prompt (CMD.EXE for you Winnt/2000/XP owners). By
default, you should note that the command prompt has opened to your user
profile path (c:\documents and settings\<your logon name>. At the
prompt, type the following and press enter:
Dir <filename> /s
Where <filename> should be replaced with the name of the file you're
hunting. The /s option tells the DIR command to also look for the files
in all subfolders below the folder in which it started looking (your
User Profile path, in other words).
This method is practically guaranteed to tell you where the file
is...including normal.dot.
As a quick reference, here are some default locations you should become
familiar with:
TEMP file folder - c:\documents and settings\<your logon name>\Local
Settings\Temp
IE Favorites -c:\documents and settings\<your logon name>\Local
Settings\Favorites
IE Temporary Internet Files -c:\documents and settings\<your logon
name>\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files
IE History-c:\documents and settings\<your logon name>\Local
Settings\History
Word Startup Path-c:\documents and settings\<your logon
name>\Application Data\Microsoft\Word\Startup
User Templates -c:\documents and settings\<your logon name>\Application
Data\Microsoft\Templates
Those are the places I visit most often when I pick up a digital mop and
go to clean my system. You'll notice that each of those paths has one
location in common; c:\documents and settings\<your logon name> . So the
trick is to remember that all these things are treated as user specific,
even if there's only one user for the computer. That should make a few
things clearer in general and I hope it was close enough to the proper
topic as to be useful.
Greg Chapman
http://www.mousetrax.com
"Counting in binary is as easy as 01, 10, 11!
With thinking this clear, is coding really a good idea?"
> -----Original Message-----
> From: mso-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> [mailto:mso-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Dian Chapman
> Sent: Friday, January 24, 2003 10:12 AM
> To: mso@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [mso] Re: Word 2002 - Creating A New Template Tab
>
>
>
> >>The *hitch* is that Application Data is a hidden folder, so
> in XP you
> need to show your hidden folders to see it...do this:
>
> Thanks...now there's a one for me. The FIRST thing I always
> do in a new OS is turn on my hidden folder and file
> extensions. So I never notice which files/folders are hidden.
> I know I SHOULD pay attention to the fact that they are
> lighter than the rest...but do I. No.<g>
>
>
> Dian Chapman
> Technical Consultant, Instructor,
> Microsoft MVP & TechTrax Editor
>
> Word AutoForm/VBA eBook: http://www.mousetrax.com/books.html
> Tutorial web site: http://www.mousetrax.com/techpage.html
> TechTrax Ezine: http://www.mousetrax.com/techtrax/
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: mso-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> [mailto:mso-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Linda F. Johnson
> Sent: Friday, January 24, 2003 10:04 AM
> To: mso@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [mso] Re: Word 2002 - Creating A New Template Tab
>
>
>
> Ok PJM...here's the deal
>
> In XP, the path is:
>
> C:\Documents and Settings\<your user name>\Application
> Data\Microsoft\Templates
>
> The *hitch* is that Application Data is a hidden folder, so
> in XP you need to show your hidden folders to see it...do this:
>
> go into My Computer and click on the Tools menu and choose
> Folder Options. In there, click on the View Tab and put a
> check where it says "Show hidden files and folders" and
> UNCHECK "Hide extensions for known file types" and "Hide
> protected operating system files". Now, when you search for
> it, you should find it.
>
> Linda
> Publisher ~ ABC ~ All 'Bout Computers
> Owner ~ Linda's Computer Stop http://personal-computer-tutor.com
> FREE MS Office eBook Tutorial
> http://personal-computer-tutor.com/library.htm
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: mso-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> [mailto:mso-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of PMillen@xxxxxxx
> Sent: Friday, January 24, 2003 10:59 AM
> To: mso@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [mso] Re: Word 2002 - Creating A New Template Tab
>
>
> Dian,
>
> You suggested that I, <<SHOULD be going to c:\windows (or
> Documents and
> Settings...depending on the version)...then user name\application
> data\microsoft\templates.>>
>
> I'm using Windows XP. I have c:\Documents and Settings\User
> Name (mine) and
>
> then other folders, none which appear to contain anything
> about templates.
>
> Suggestions?
>
> PJM
>
>
>
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