This week I will pick a question from a dedicated reader, try to explain it and provide a resolution to the problem. Loyal reader Shirley writes: When I open my computer, Word has taken it into its head, so to speak, to open and show a long-deleted document. I've gone to settings but haven't been successful in finding how to stop this aberration. I am not sure this is a computer related question. It seems to be more of a religious, philosophical or metaphysical question. Is there life after deletion? Does a good file influence the present long after it is gone? Or perhaps a file, after meeting its demise in a horrible manner such as being cut down in its prime with a delete button, haunts the very physical place it previously existed in. (Martha, call an exorcist)
It could be something much simpler. Sometimes a person, who writes with great passion, such as myself, can be so enamored with their work that in their mind they see a favorite and beloved document even though it isn’t really there. (This is called phantom reading.)Moving from the existential to the mundane, there is the possibility that the secret document forwarder, (this is for all you conspiracy theorist out there) that sends all deleted documents to the Department of Homeland Security for analysis under the Patriot Act, has developed a minor malfunction and your deleted document simply got stuck in your computer. If this is the case, consider yourself very fortunate.
Now that we have covered the most likely causes for your problem there are a few far more boring possibilities. As you remember, there was a time when MS Word would open automatically to a new and empty document. This empty document is actually a template of a blank page. In the hidden recesses of the program, this magical empty template is named Normal.dot for Word 2003 and Normal.dotm in 2007. This template is marked as a READ only file. READ only simply prevents the file from being modified. Yes, I know that all of you out there, type into this template and modify it. But what actually happens is that Normal.dotm opens, renames itself Document1.docx. That way when the document is saved, either by you or autosave, it is saved as Document1.docx instead of changing the template Normal.dotm. The next time that MS Word is opened Normal.dotm pops up again as a new blank sheet, renames itself and is ready to receive your literary outpouring. What I believe happened in this case, is that Normal.dotm forgot to rename itself Document1.doc. So your document became a Normal.dotm clone with bad genes. Now every time MS Word opens, it pulls up and displays this misbegotten aberration as you so aptly put it. Fortunately there is a way to correct this problem. If using XP, Vista or Win 7 click on Start and then search. Type in Normal.dot (Word 2003) or Normal.dotm (Word 2007) in the look for files. Click search. Once the file is found, right click on the file, a menu will appear, and at the bottom of the menu, click on Properties. About half way down the Properties window there is a section labeled Location: it will have the path to the Normal.dot template displayed. It will look something like C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates if using WIN XP or C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates, Vista / Win 7. Record this location for later reference. At the bottom of the properties page, make sure that the Read Only box is not checked. Close the Properties window.
Open MS Word. Once the devilish document is open, delete all the text so that you have a blank document. Now click on File, Save As and give the document the File name, Normal. Save it as file type Document Template (*.dotm) Make sure to navigate the Save In so that you are saving the new Normal.dotm in the same place as the old Normal.dotm. In the example above that would be C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates, yours may be something different. A message will appear warning you that a file with that name already exists, do you really, really, really want to overwrite it? Click yes.
Another way to achieve the same end is to search the computer for Normal.dotm and delete it. Now open MS Word and the program upon not finding normal.dotm will proceed to create a fresh new normal.dotm and Word will open with our familiar blank page just waiting for us to pour out the prose we wish to express.
When posting questions, please provide as much information as possible. Operating System, Program version, hardware installed and a step-by-step description of the problem. Questions of general interest will become blog topics from time to time.
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