Hi Cole,

First, my sympathies for having to deal with stupid software.

As much as it hurts me to say it, yes, you can alter Windows Explorer to
open templates directly.

The GUI way is to open Windows Explorer, click Tools Folder Options File
Types, select the .DOT extension, click Advanced, click on the Open command,
and click the Set Default button.

If you have to roll this out to a lot of PCs, especially if their users
aren't experts, an easier way is to create a .REG file with the following
contents:

------ cut here ----------
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Word.Template.8\shell]
@="Open"
------ cut here ----------

Push this out to each PC and have the user double-click it, and answer Yes
to the prompt.

After using either of these methods, if you right-click a Word template in
Explorer, you should see that the Open command is bold, instead of the New
command which is the usual default action. Double-clicking the icon will
open the template instead of creating a new document.

Good luck!

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

wrote:
Doug - I don't think you read my post fully. I had already stated
that IF they right click on the template, then yes, it opens as a
template. Problem is, end-users will do what they will do, and create
constant issues for Tech Support to sort out. All issues will go
away if we can get the template to open as a template REGARDLESS of
how it is opened. The reason we must have them open templates as
templates is because the templates are accessed by a third-party
product (sdOffice) which passes data to the template to do a mail
merge. Without using templates, the sdOffice application encounters
constant messages of the document being in use... We already know it
SHOULD be as simple as being a training issue, but our hands are
tied. As Tech Support, we are told we must help them do things in
the wrong way.

So again, all our problems go away if we can perhaps parameterize the
Open to always open the Template as Template - EVEN if the end-user
uses Windows Explorer, and double-clicks on the document name (which
currently opens it as an unnamed '.doc' - as Templates are typically
expected to do.)

Thanks again. Kind regards,
Cole


Doug Robbins - Word MVP wrote:
If that is causing a problem, then almost certainly, your users
should NOT be opening templates. Seems to me like a bit of
education is in order for all of you.

That said, if you right click on a template in Windows explorer and
select Open, the template will be opened.

--
Hope this helps.

Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
services on a paid consulting basis.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP

wrote in message
oups.com...
Background:
We have users that get themselves tangled up by going into Windows
Explorer, opening a template via double clicking on it so it opens
as a '.doc'. Then they go to save it, and it cannot be saved as a
Template back to the same location and name. This causes constant
problems for us in tech support.

Is there a way to tweak settings so it does not matter whether they
double click on the template name or Right-click / Open in the
Explorer Window - it will still open the Template as a Template
(.dot)?

If they go into Word, click on Open and then they drill down to our
custom Templates folder where there are only templates, and they
either double click on one to open it, or highlight it and click on
Open - I believe this part works to open the Template as a Template
of the original Template name.

This would help us greatly! Thank you in advance for your
assistance. Kind regards,
Cole