No Word Settings in 2004?

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René Logeais - 02 Nov 2005 19:28 GMT

I don't seem to be able to find the Word Settings for Word 2004.
Normally, they would be in the Preferences folder, but I don't see them
(although I can see Excel Settings, Entourage Settings, PowerPoint
Settings and Microsoft Office Settings).
It's a bit annoying because trashing those settings cures a lot of ills
in Word (and having a saved set of uncorrupted settings is a time saver).
I know that with Office 2004, Microsoft has moved the Normal template
from the Preferences to Documents, but even there I don't find the
settings.

René

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Daiya Mitchell - 02 Nov 2005 19:44 GMT

It should be in a Microsoft folder inside the preferences folder.

~/Library/Preferences/Microsoft/com.microsoft.Word.prefs.plist

I suspect you are looking at the wrong files, MS changed all the names from
Office X to Office 2004. If you still see "Excel Settings" etc, I'm
guessing you are running Office X and Office 2004 side-by-side?

See also:
http://word.mvps.org/MacWordNew/DamagedPrefs.htm
(hit refresh a few times in Safari, or use a different browser)

Side note, just for the archives: Normal template used to be in
Applications/MS Office/Templates, not in Preferences. Now it is in
~/Documents/MS User Data

> I don't seem to be able to find the Word Settings for Word 2004.
> Normally, they would be in the Preferences folder, but I don't see them
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
>
> René

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Daiya Mitchell, MVP Mac/Word
Word FAQ: http://www.word.mvps.org/
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René Logeais - 02 Nov 2005 23:41 GMT

OK, that's what I suspected; and I do have Word X installed so that
makes sense now.

> ~/Library/Preferences/Microsoft/com.microsoft.Word.prefs.plist

> I suspect you are looking at the wrong files, MS changed all the names from
> Office X to Office 2004. If you still see "Excel Settings" etc, I'm
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> Applications/MS Office/Templates, not in Preferences. Now it is in
> ~/Documents/MS User Data

Oooopps, my bad! It was indeed in the templates folder.

> > I don't seem to be able to find the Word Settings for Word 2004.
> > Normally, they would be in the Preferences folder, but I don't see them
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
> >
> > René

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Daiya Mitchell - 03 Nov 2005 01:05 GMT

So are you all set now? You can find everything you need?

I do know that the ~/library/prefs/microsoft folder is a lot emptier on
first installation than after you've been using the program for a while, so
if you have *never* launched Word 2004, the .plist file for it may not exist
yet.

> OK, that's what I suspected; and I do have Word X installed so that
> makes sense now.
[quoted text clipped - 21 lines]
>>>
>>> René

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Daiya Mitchell, MVP Mac/Word
Word FAQ: http://www.word.mvps.org/
MacWord Tips: <http://www.word.mvps.org/MacWordNew/>
What's an MVP? A volunteer! Read the FAQ: http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/

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Clive Huggan - 03 Nov 2005 12:06 GMT

René,

You might find it worthwhile to make a once-off move to a single, more
convenient location (the Microsoft User Data folder) for the settings
folders. (Having only one folder to back up reduces the likelihood of making
a mistake if you don¹t use automatic backup software, or if you want to do a
manual backup immediately after making some major changes to settings.)

Further information is on pages 50-51 of some notes on the way I use Word
for the Mac, titled "Bend Word to Your Will", which are available as a free
download from the Word MVPs' website
(http://word.mvps.org/MacWordNew/Bend/BendWord.htm).

[Note: "Bend Word to your will" is designed to be used electronically and
most subjects are self-contained dictionary-style entries. Be sure to read
the front end so you can use the document to best advantage and select the
right settings for reading it.]

Cheers,

Clive Huggan
Canberra, Australia
(My time zone is at least 7 hours different from the US and Europe, so my
follow-on responses to those regions can be delayed)
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On 3/11/05 5:44 AM, in article BF8E4913.4F6CC%daiyaNOSPAM@mvps.org.INVALID,

> It should be in a Microsoft folder inside the preferences folder.
>
[quoted text clipped - 24 lines]
>>
>> René

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Beth Rosengard - 03 Nov 2005 18:38 GMT

Hi Clive & René,

I would not recommend moving settings or prefs files to the MUD! If you
ever have to uninstall/reinstall Office, the prefs won't get uninstalled,
which means you won't get a clean reinstall (and that's the whole point).
And you'd have to leave aliases of the prefs files in the original location
or they'd be recreated anyway. Too confusing.

Also, if you later install a new version of Office, you'll probably confuse
the installer and end up with a munged installation. Not a good idea.

Do you do it that way, Clive?

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On 11/3/05 3:06 AM, in article
BF903A7F.1555F%REMOVETHISoffice@ANDTHISstrategists.com.au, "Clive Huggan"
<REMOVETHISoffice@ANDTHISstrategists.com.au> wrote:

> René,
>
[quoted text clipped - 67 lines]
>>>
>>> René

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Clive Huggan - 03 Nov 2005 22:09 GMT

Beth,

In essence, the originals are moved to the Microsoft User Data folder and
aliases are put in their place. So Word sees what it expects. The notes in
"Bend Word to Your Will" are very explicit on this, so there's not much room
for confusion.

I've never had to re-install Word, albeit I'm a very intensive user of it,
but if/when I install the next version I will first temporarily remove the
aliases and move the settings files back into their original place. But
even if that were not done, I am fairly confident that Word would simply
replace the present aliases with new "originals", and would therefore not
look further. I'd then follow my notes again.

My notes were the result of a lot of discussion with, IIRC, John McGimpsey
and Paul Berkowitz. Maybe they will comment too.

Cheers,

Clive
=======

On 4/11/05 4:38 AM, in article BF8F8B02.223BE%bethrosengard@earthlink.net,

> Hi Clive & René,
>
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
>
> Do you do it that way, Clive?

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Mac Forum / Applications / Word / November 2005

No Word Settings in 2004?