How to change Word 2003 settings after you deploy Word 2003 on multiple desktop computers (913762)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Office Word 2003
Important This article contains information about how to modify the registry. Make sure to back up the registry before you modify it. Make sure that you know how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up, restore, and modify the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows registry

INTRODUCTION

This article describes how to change the settings in Microsoft Office Word 2003 after you deploy Word 2003 on multiple desktop computers.

MORE INFORMATION

Use one of the following methods to change the Word settings on a Word 2003 product that is deployed on a desktop.

Method 1: Use the Custom Maintenance Wizard to update your installation options

For more information about how to use the Custom Maintenance Wizard to update your installation options, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

308263 How to create a Custom Maintenance Wizard file for updating installation options after you deploy a custom installation of Office

Method 2: Rename the Word Data registry subkey or the Normal.dot template

If the default settings that are available in Word do not fit your requirements, you can change the default settings on the desktop computers by renaming the Normal.dot template or by renaming the registry data key.

Rename the Normal.dot template

To rename the Normal.dot template, follow these steps:
  1. Close all instances of Word that include Microsoft Outlook if Word is set as your e-mail editor.
  2. Click Start, and then click Search.
  3. In the Search Results dialog box, click All files and folders under What do you want to search for.
  4. In the All or part of the file name box, type Normal.dot.
  5. In the Look in box, select the local hard disk. If you want to use a template other than the Normal.dot template, select the location of that template.
  6. Click Search to search for the file.
  7. For each occurrence of Normal.dot that appears in the Search Results dialog box, right-click the file and then click Rename.
  8. Type a new name for the file, such as OldNormal.dot or Normal-1.dot, and then press ENTER.
  9. On the File menu, click Close to close the Search Results window.
  10. Restart the Word program. After you restart the Word program, a new global template (Normal.dot) is created that contains the Word default settings.

Rename the Word Data registry subkey

Warning Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly by using Registry Editor or by using another method. These problems might require that you reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that these problems can be solved. Modify the registry at your own risk.To rename the Word Data registry subkey, follow these steps:
  1. Close all Windows-based programs that are running.
  2. Click Start, click Run, type regedit in the Open box, and then click OK.
  3. In the left pane, locate the following registry key:

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Word

  4. Expand the Word subkey, and then click the Data subkey.
  5. On the Edit menu, click Rename.
  6. Type a new name for the file, such as OldData, and then press ENTER.
  7. On the File menu, click Exit to close Registry Editor.
  8. Restart the Word program. After you restart the Word program, the Word Data registry subkey is automatically recreated and all the default Word settings are reset.

Method 3: Configure and then deploy an updated Normal.dot template or Word Data registry subkey

If the updated settings that you want to use are stored in the Normal.dot template, you can create a Normal.dot template with those settings configured the way that you want. You can then deploy this Normal.dot template on the desktop computers.

If the updated settings that you want to use are stored in the Word Data registry subkey, you can configure Word the way that you want and then deploy the updated Word Data registry subkey on the desktop computers.

REFERENCES

For more information about how to reset user options and registry settings in Word, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

822005 How to reset user options and registry settings in Microsoft Office Word 2003, Microsoft Word 2002, and Microsoft Word 2000

For more information about the Word Data registry subkey, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

820919 How to troubleshoot problems that occur when you start or use Word 2003 or Word 2002

Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:3/23/2006
Keywords:kbhowto kbformat KB913762 kbAudEndUser
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