Problem with Word 2004 for Mac (11.3.5)

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When I migrated from Tiger to Snow Leopard (10.6.2), ‘Word’ came across with the data. Although it is working, I’m being told by PC users that they cannot open my Word attachments. They are a mass of symbols. This applies to documents created before migration, and to new ones created after migration. I’ve had to send PDFs and these open OK, it seems.

Is this a known issue?

I've tried the "Windows friendly" option but it makes no difference. I’ve not yet tried a Word document sent to another Mac user.

I have the original Word disk ... would it help to uninstall Word and to reinstall from the disk?

Comments appreciated ...

M
 
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I haven't heard about this problem. Try running Word in Rosetta mode.
 
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I'd go for a reinstall.
 
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Are these all .doc files you're having problems with? (as opposed to .docx)
 
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Word problem ...

Thanks for the comments.

These are .doc files ... I had already come across the problem with .docx. Perhaps I should reinstall, as has been suggested.

What is Rosetta, pse? (I'd heard of this only with regard to translation / language learning.)

M
 
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Just check Word preferences and make sure default save is .doc. Maybe the move across reset it to .docx and most PC users are not aware what XML converters are. If no joy uninstall using the Office disc, do not simply drag to trash, and do a new install. MS Office does not transfer all that well.
 
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Check too that version number of Word you've given. I have Office 2004, and Word has been updated to 11.5.3 (081112). [is your notified version simply a typing error?]

Rosetta is a Classic emulator for running pre-Intel applications on an Intel machine, but it shouldn't be necessary if you have the latest update to MS Word. You might want to Google with 'Office 2004 Intel compatible'.
 
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Problem with Word 2004 ...

Well, I've uninstalled and done a reinstall from the original disk and this seems to have resolved the issue.

The version is 11.5.5 ... I suppose this is the latest version. I can't see anything else on the MS site.

Are there likely to be more up-dates?

Thanks again for the help ...

M
 
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Great!

The latest version for Word in Office 2004 is 11.5.6 (unless they've recently released 11.5.7, but I doubt it). To update all of your Office applications, use Microsoft AutoUpdate, which you should find in your Applications folder.
 
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How to save to desktop ... (?)

How can I arrange it so that new documents are saved to the desktop? Since I did the reinstall, they are being saved in the documents folder. I would have thought this option would be in Word Preferences ... but I can't see it.

M
 
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How can I arrange it so that new documents are saved to the desktop?

Yeah, this is a right p-i-t-a, MS doing your thinking for you. Save As gives you the option of choosing Desktop.
[Aside - I recall when being tutored in the use of MSWord, that one should choose Save As for a new document every time, and only to use Save when updating from editing.]
 
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Yeah, this is a right p-i-t-a, MS doing your thinking for you. Save As gives you the option of choosing Desktop.
[Aside - I recall when being tutored in the use of MSWord, that one should choose Save As for a new document every time, and only to use Save when updating from editing.]

OK ... but you get the same option via the "Save" icon. What I'd like to achieve is what I had before ... that is to say, when I went to save a new document for the first time, I didn't have to select "Desktop". The latter was what came up as the first option ... a kind of default situation.

Interesting about choosing "Save as" initially. I must say that I've never done this as a matter of course.

M
 
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I think it's OSX, not Word, that is making this choice. I noticed that right away when I switched from OS9 just two years ago.

The OS is trying to force us to organize our documents in the Documents Folder. That's very logical.

I don't know why you'd want every file saved to your Desktop initially. You can't possibly leave them all there, can you? Eventually, you must move them somewhere else. Make that somewhere else be your Documents Folder, and skip the moving. Let the Mac do it for you!
 
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Thanks for the explanation about OS X.

Well, it's just a matter of what I'm used to. My practice is to shift stuff from the desktop to the appropriate folders within Documents once every 2 or 3 days. I have a vast number of different folders and sub folders within Documents and it takes a while to think where stuff should go. I don't want to drill down into the appropriate folder when I'm doing a quick draft.

The other point is that I create a lot of short drafts and like to see these on the desktop. Most of these short drafts get trashed when I'm shifting desktop stuff into the appropriate folders.

Anyway, I can get used to selecting Desktop when I go to do the first save.

But I'm wondering about
I recall when being tutored in the use of MSWord, that one should choose Save As for a new document every time, and only to use Save when updating from editing.][/size]

I've always used "Save" ... for a straightforward document that I've just created (not something that needs a different filename). Is there a "best practice" in this respect?

Comments appreciated ...

M
 
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I'm almost sure that someone (not me) will know how to use Terminal to write a command line to make documents go, by default, to Desktop, a move which I prefer actually - accessibility being my principal rationale - and then I sort them later.

Remember toMacsh that MS Word came from Microsoft, and that company initially developed Word for Windows only, Mac was an afterthought, following intensive negotiation. Regular Windows users (of which I am no longer one, thankfully) will realise that the Mac world inherited the default location for documents, programmed into Word (Office), namely ... the Documents folder. MS saw no reason to change that for OS 9 - or X.
 
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Command (Apple icon key) D automatically saves the save location to the desktop.
 
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Good one Harry, absolutely right, but, for some reason, it doesn't always work. I've no idea why not, but it could be to do with ducks nesting upside down under water. ;D
 
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I think it really comes down to personal preference. I just tried both using Office 2004 and OS 10.5.8

Save directed me to the Documents folder.

SaveAs directed me to the Office 2004 folder.

Both gave me the opportunity to select another location.

Maybe a new habit is the answer for you. Use Save, but create a folder in Documents for "pending folder location" files. Try to make that the first folder listed. Does the old trick of putting a space before the name still work? Or use a number or AAA or something.
 

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