- Creating New Documents
- Using the New Document Task Pane
- Basic Editing
- Saving Your Documents
- Saving an Existing File in Its Current Location
- Using Word's New Program and File Recovery Features
- Using AutoRecover to Recover Information from Damaged Files
- Retrieving Your Documents
- Finding the File You're Seeking
- Performing a Basic Search for Specific Text
- Switching Among Files You've Opened
- Troubleshooting
Using AutoRecover to Recover Information from Damaged Files
By default, Word stores AutoRecover information about your document every 10 minutes. Word uses this AutoRecover to attempt to restore your files in the event of a system crash or power failure.
It's important to understand that AutoRecover information isn't a substitute for saving your file regularly; in fact, Microsoft changed the name of this feature from Automatic Save to emphasize this. You should still save regularly, for two reasons. First, if you save regularly, your saved file may contain more up-to-date information than the AutoRecover file. Second, AutoRecover files aren't foolproof; they can't always be used to generate reliable, complete files.
If you're concerned about the stability of your system, you can tell Word to create AutoRecover files more often. Conversely, if you find that Word slows down to create AutoRecover files too frequently, you can tell Word to create them less often. The schedule Word uses to create AutoRecover files is set in the Save tab of the Options dialog box. To change how often AutoRecover saves a file, choose Tools, Options and click the Save tab. Then, in the Save AutoRecover Info Every scroll box, enter a new setting from 1 to 120 minutes.
NOTE
By default, AutoRecover files are stored in the \Application Data\Microsoft\Word subfolder of your Windows folder. You can change this through the File Locations tab of the Tools, Options dialog box. If you do change it, however, use a local folder on your own computer, rather than a location on a network server, to maximize reliability.
Creating Automatic Backups
If you want, every time you save your file, Word can rename the previously saved version with the .bak extension, ensuring that you always have a fairly recent backup of your work. This, too, is controlled from the Save tab of the Options dialog box. Check the Always Create Backup Copy check box.
When you use this feature, Word disables Fast Saves, so your saves will be somewhat slower, especially if you are working with long documents.
NOTE
Fast Saves are fast for the same reason it's faster to throw your clothes on the chair rather than hang them in the closet. With Fast Saves, Word doesn't actually put the changes where they belong; it simply makes a list of the changes that will be integrated the next time Word saves normally. (In fact, if you open a Fast Saved file in a text editor such as Notepad, you may well see text you thought you deleted.) When the list of changes gets very long, Word does a normal save to put things back in order.
CAUTION
If you're using Fast Saves, turn it off before you save a Word file that will be exported to another program. Other software may not understand Word's Fast Saves "to-do lists."
Also be aware that because Fast Save may not immediately delete information from your document that you think you've deleted, it can be a security risk.
To turn off Fast Saves, choose Tools, Options and click the Save tab; then clear the Allow Fast Saves check box.
Saving Local Backups
If you typically save to a network drive or a removable disk such as a Zip disk, you can tell Word to automatically save a duplicate copy of your file on your local hard disk. To do so, choose Tools, Options and click the Save tab; then check the Make Local Copy of Files Stored on Network or Removable Drives check box.
Microsoft Office Application Recovery
If Word stops responding, Office XP includes a tool you can use to try to kick start Word: Microsoft Office Application Recovery. To run it, choose Start, Programs, Microsoft Office Tools, Microsoft Office Application Recovery. The Microsoft Office Application Recovery dialog box appears (see Figure 3.18).
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Any Office XP application that Windows reports as frozen is listed in this dialog box. To attempt to start Word running again, select Word from the list and click Recover Application. To close Word, click End Application.
Figure 3.18 Using Microsoft Office Application Recovery, you can attempt to get an unresponsive Word to start working again, or simply exit Word.
If Microsoft Office Application Recovery cannot recover Word, try closing it instead, using the End Application command. If you can't close it through the Application Recovery applet, in Windows 2000 and NT 4.0 you can press Ctrl+Alt+Del, select Microsoft Word from the Windows Task Manager, and choose End Task. In Windows 98 and Me, press Ctrl+Alt+Del, select Microsoft Word from the Close Program dialog box, and choose End Task.
Using Office Safe Mode
Over the years, Word users have sometimes encountered startup problems—and these startup problems have often been caused by errant add-ins or extensions, or damaged templates. Word 2002 and Office XP now contain a Safe Mode that allows Word to start, while disabling a component causing a problem.
In Automated Safe Mode, Word encounters a problem that prevents startup, it displays a message identifying the component that appears to be causing it and offers you an opportunity to disable that component. If you disable the component, Word typically starts. Of course, you won't have access to the capabilities of that component.
To view a list of the components Word has currently disabled, choose Help, About Microsoft Word and click the Disabled Items button.
If any components are listed in the Disabled Items dialog box, you can select one and click Enable to manually enable it. In certain cases, the component may then work properly. However, if you re-enable an item that Word has trouble with loading at startup, the item may be automatically disabled again the next time you start Word.
Keep in mind that Safe Mode disables certain Word features. Most notably, your interface and AutoCorrect customizations aren't loaded, and you can't save new or changed templates. For a more detailed list of Safe Mode restrictions, search the Help system for "Safe Mode."
NOTE
If a component is disabled, visit the component provider's Web site to see whether a fix, workaround, or new version is available.
TIP
You can start any Office application in Safe Mode manually. Press the Ctrl button while you're starting Word. (Microsoft calls this User-Initiated Safe Mode.)