Word Annoyances: How to Fix the Most ANNOYING Things about Your Favorite Word Processor
OPENING AND SAVING

Wrest Back Control from Word 2004 Test Drive

The Annoyance:

I downloaded the Office 2004 Test Drive, installed it, test-drove it, and removed it. Now when I double-click a document to open it in Word X, the Finder tells me "The operation could not be completed." Arrgh! I'm asking to have a file opened, not my heart transplanted.

The Fix:

This error (see Figure 10-1) occurs because the Test Drive has grabbed your file associations and forgotten to give them back. Open a Finder window to a folder containing any Word document, right-click the document, choose Open With, and select the entry for Word X from the menu. Doing so restores the file association.

Figure 10-1. This inscrutable error message means that you need to restore Word X's associat on with Word documents.

BACK UP KEY FILES

If Word seems to be working fine, make sure it stays that way. Roll up your sleeves, quit Word, and back up the following to a safe location (for example, a CD or removable media):

  • Your Normal template from ~/Documents/Microsoft User Data/Normal (for Word 2004) or /Applications/Microsoft Office X/Templates/Normal (for Word X).

  • Your global templates and local templates. To see where these are stored, choose Word Preferences, click the File Locations tab, and view the "User templates readout.

  • Your Word preferences. For Word 2004, these are in ~/Library/Preferences/Microsoft/com.microsoft.Word.prefs. plist . For Word X, they are in ~/Library/Preferences/Microsoft/Word Settings (10) .

  • Your AutoCorrect entries. These are in ~/Library/Preferences/Microsoft/Microsoft Office ACL [English] .

  • Your custom dictionaries. These are in ~/Library/Preferences/Microsoft/Custom Dictionary . Remember to include any exclusion dictionaries you have created (see "Create an Exclusion Dictionary" in Chapter 5).

Murphy's Law dictates that backing up these files guarantees that you'll never need to use the backups but you'll doubtless agree that this is a satisfactory outcome!

Field the "Permission Currently Restricted" Error

The Annoyance:

I tried to open a document created in Word for Windows, but it displayed the message "Permission for this document is currently restricted."

The Fix:

Okay, you really are stuck this time. This message means that the document is protected with Windows-only information rights management.

The only fix is to have a Windows user unprotect the document for you by opening the document in Word 2003 and choosing File Permission Unrestricted Access. You cant unprotect it in Word for the Mac.

Avoid the "Unable to Save" Message When Saving to a Server

The Annoyance:

My Mac connects to a Windows server so that I can share files with my coworkers. I can open a file on the server, make changes, and save it a few times, but after a while, I get an "Unable to save: Disk full or too many files are open" message. This is my only open file in Word, no other application is running except Mail, and the server has about as much free space as Alaska. Someone is lying to me!

The Fix:

This is a communications issue between early versions of Panther (or Jaguar, if you're still using it) and Windows and Mac servers. If possible, upgrade to Mac OS X 10.3.3 or a later version. Failing that, choose Word Preferences, click the Save tab, uncheck the "Allow fast saves box, and check the "Always make backup copy" box. Doing so will usually let you save 50 times or more. To stay safe, close and reopen the document periodically, rather than leaving it open for long stretches.

Work Around the Erroneous "Disk Full" Error

The Annoyance:

Word X claims my Mac's disk is full when I know there's enough free space to hold half the Library of Congress. Why can't I save my file?

The Fix:

The brief answer is that Word has opened more temporary files than it can handle. These temporary files are mostly used for storing Undo information. The longer you spend editing a particular document without closing it, the more temporary files build up.

There's no easy fix, but there are two easy workarounds. First, if the document contains page numbers in the header and footer, edit in Normal view rather than Page Layout view. (Each recalculation of page numbers is added to the Undo list, making Word reach the OS's open-file limit sooner.) Second, close and reopen the document periodically to force Word to get rid of the temporary files.

If neither of these workarounds appeals to you, quit Word and steer your web browser to http://word.mvps.org/Downloads/FixDiskFullIssue.sit. When the file downloads automatically, let StuffIt unstuff it, and then drag the FixDiskFullIssue.dot template to your /Applications/Microsoft Office X/Office/Startup/Word folder. Restart Word and see if there's now a "Disk is Full error?" command on the File menu. If so, wait for the error to occur, choose this command, and click the OK button in the resulting dialog box (see Figure 10-2) to remove the temporary files.

Figure 10-2. The "Fix Disk Full Issue" command lets you remove excess temporary files that are burdening Word X.

If the "Disk is Full error?" command doesn't appear on the File menu, choose Tools Templates and Add-Ins, click the Add button, navigate to and select DiskIsFullIssue.dot , click the Open button, and then click the OK button. Check the File menu again to make sure the command is there.

Help Word Rediscover How to Write to Folders

The Annoyance:

Now I'm totally stuck. Word can't even create files in my user folder!

The Fix:

This problem most likely means that you need to repair your disk permissions and then restart Mac OS X. See "Repair Your Disk Permissions," earlier in this chapter, for instructions.

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