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Word 2003 resetting default printer
I'm having the problem I've seen others report here; I use three different
printers (2 hardware, 1 software PDF creator), and whenever I use one of the non-default printers for two or three print jobs from inside Word, it resets the system default printer to the one I'm using temporarily. Word 2000 never did this. Neither does Wordperfect. Firefox keeps the last printer used as its own, internal default printer, but it doesn't change the system default printer. Why does Microsoft have to assail us with these infuriating bugs? Graham, I've seen your macro toolbar workaround, and it's not what I need for this situation. I need to know if there's some way to keep Word from resetting the default printer, which it has no business doing. I'm on SP2 of Office 2003. Have any of the hotfixes issued since SP2 addressed this problem? RB |
#2
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Word 2003 resetting default printer
Word has always retained the last used printer setting - the *Active*
Printer - until Word is closed (which will mean closing Outlook also if you have Word as your e-mail editor) It should not change the Windows *default* printer. The macro solution that you dismiss will return the *active* printer to what it was before the print job. -- Graham Mayor - Word MVP My web site www.gmayor.com Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org Nyco_ork wrote: I'm having the problem I've seen others report here; I use three different printers (2 hardware, 1 software PDF creator), and whenever I use one of the non-default printers for two or three print jobs from inside Word, it resets the system default printer to the one I'm using temporarily. Word 2000 never did this. Neither does Wordperfect. Firefox keeps the last printer used as its own, internal default printer, but it doesn't change the system default printer. Why does Microsoft have to assail us with these infuriating bugs? Graham, I've seen your macro toolbar workaround, and it's not what I need for this situation. I need to know if there's some way to keep Word from resetting the default printer, which it has no business doing. I'm on SP2 of Office 2003. Have any of the hotfixes issued since SP2 addressed this problem? RB |
#3
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Word 2003 resetting default printer
Graham,
I'm not "dismissing" the macro solution lightly, or because I'm too lazy to copy the macros you've so kindly provided. The fact is, there's something wrong here. I don't have a situation where Word keeps the last used printer setting during a session, which would be fine with me. (And I don't use Outlook, BTW.) The problem is that when I close Word, then go to another application, I discover (sometimes too late) that Word has changed the system default printer. That's why the macros don't solve my problem. The change of setting affects more than Word or Office programs; it affects all my programs. The other thing is that different printers have different font metrics, and if the default printer has been changed without my knowledge, and I'm doing some final formatting, I might be dealing with misleading font metrics onscreen. For instance, I use 3 centered em-dashes as a marker for "section" changes in my final copies -- not Word section boundaries, but places in the text where I want the thought to break. My default printer is a black-and-white laser printer. With that driver active, the 3 centered em-dashes print (and show onscreen) as a single short line, which is what I want. The inkjet which I use as a temporary printer -- for printing markups in color -- prints them as 3 separate em-dashes. There are other differences as well. Text lines break in different places, and so on. The same difficulties arise in other programs. What I am now forced to do, which I never had to do in all the years I used Word 2000, is double-check which printer is active whenever I try to print in any program I'm using. Since you say Word shouldn't be changing the default system printer, it must be a bug. Am I the only one experiencing the problem? I assume Microsoft will continue servicing and updating Word 2003 for a while longer, even though they've come out with 2007. Is there any way of converting this thread to a "notify Microsoft" thread, so they are aware of it? Maybe the bug only happens with certain printers. My inkjet is an Epson 2000P, and my laser is a Brother MFC-7820N. "Graham Mayor" wrote: Word has always retained the last used printer setting - the *Active* Printer - until Word is closed (which will mean closing Outlook also if you have Word as your e-mail editor) It should not change the Windows *default* printer. The macro solution that you dismiss will return the *active* printer to what it was before the print job. -- Graham Mayor - Word MVP My web site www.gmayor.com Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org Nyco_ork wrote: I'm having the problem I've seen others report here; I use three different printers (2 hardware, 1 software PDF creator), and whenever I use one of the non-default printers for two or three print jobs from inside Word, it resets the system default printer to the one I'm using temporarily. Word 2000 never did this. Neither does Wordperfect. Firefox keeps the last printer used as its own, internal default printer, but it doesn't change the system default printer. Why does Microsoft have to assail us with these infuriating bugs? Graham, I've seen your macro toolbar workaround, and it's not what I need for this situation. I need to know if there's some way to keep Word from resetting the default printer, which it has no business doing. I'm on SP2 of Office 2003. Have any of the hotfixes issued since SP2 addressed this problem? RB |
#4
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Word 2003 resetting default printer
If it is a bug, I had not come across it. Nor do I think that 'notifying
Microsoft' via this forum will achieve anything. Since checking this out I have noticed that if you set the active printer by macro - eg ActivePrinter = "HP LaserJet 4050 Series PCL" This changes the default printer. I cannot recall this happening previously. Changing the active printer via the file print dialog doesn't change the default printer. Do you or your fellow users use macros to change the active printer? If so, then whether or not this is a bug you could set the ActivePrinter command to point to the correct default printer in an autoopen and autonew macro in the document template or normal.dot in your profile. You wouldn't then get tripped up by someone else's settings. The macros on my web site that change the activeprinter for a print task record the current printer before printing to the required printer, then change it back to what it had been before. If your fellow users are using macros that change the active printer then they could be modified to achieve this. -- Graham Mayor - Word MVP My web site www.gmayor.com Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org Nyco_ork wrote: Graham, I'm not "dismissing" the macro solution lightly, or because I'm too lazy to copy the macros you've so kindly provided. The fact is, there's something wrong here. I don't have a situation where Word keeps the last used printer setting during a session, which would be fine with me. (And I don't use Outlook, BTW.) The problem is that when I close Word, then go to another application, I discover (sometimes too late) that Word has changed the system default printer. That's why the macros don't solve my problem. The change of setting affects more than Word or Office programs; it affects all my programs. The other thing is that different printers have different font metrics, and if the default printer has been changed without my knowledge, and I'm doing some final formatting, I might be dealing with misleading font metrics onscreen. For instance, I use 3 centered em-dashes as a marker for "section" changes in my final copies -- not Word section boundaries, but places in the text where I want the thought to break. My default printer is a black-and-white laser printer. With that driver active, the 3 centered em-dashes print (and show onscreen) as a single short line, which is what I want. The inkjet which I use as a temporary printer -- for printing markups in color -- prints them as 3 separate em-dashes. There are other differences as well. Text lines break in different places, and so on. The same difficulties arise in other programs. What I am now forced to do, which I never had to do in all the years I used Word 2000, is double-check which printer is active whenever I try to print in any program I'm using. Since you say Word shouldn't be changing the default system printer, it must be a bug. Am I the only one experiencing the problem? I assume Microsoft will continue servicing and updating Word 2003 for a while longer, even though they've come out with 2007. Is there any way of converting this thread to a "notify Microsoft" thread, so they are aware of it? Maybe the bug only happens with certain printers. My inkjet is an Epson 2000P, and my laser is a Brother MFC-7820N. "Graham Mayor" wrote: Word has always retained the last used printer setting - the *Active* Printer - until Word is closed (which will mean closing Outlook also if you have Word as your e-mail editor) It should not change the Windows *default* printer. The macro solution that you dismiss will return the *active* printer to what it was before the print job. -- Graham Mayor - Word MVP My web site www.gmayor.com Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org Nyco_ork wrote: I'm having the problem I've seen others report here; I use three different printers (2 hardware, 1 software PDF creator), and whenever I use one of the non-default printers for two or three print jobs from inside Word, it resets the system default printer to the one I'm using temporarily. Word 2000 never did this. Neither does Wordperfect. Firefox keeps the last printer used as its own, internal default printer, but it doesn't change the system default printer. Why does Microsoft have to assail us with these infuriating bugs? Graham, I've seen your macro toolbar workaround, and it's not what I need for this situation. I need to know if there's some way to keep Word from resetting the default printer, which it has no business doing. I'm on SP2 of Office 2003. Have any of the hotfixes issued since SP2 addressed this problem? RB |
#5
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Word 2003 resetting default printer
Graham,
I work alone. I don't have any "fellow users," so no one else is doing anything that could cause this. FWIW, I don't mind going into the printer dialogue when I print; in fact, I never use the printer icon on the main toolbar, since I work with such long documents. I'd be sending 300 pages to the printer with every print job. I usually print one or two, or several pages, per job. Even when I print an entire manuscript I have to go into the dialogue to change some printer settings -- toner saver, that sort of thing. So the issue for me is not having a one-button way to select the active printer. Since I'm already in the printer dialogue I can easily select the printer I want to use. The issue is simply one of what happens when Word changes the system default printer behind my back. Richard "Graham Mayor" wrote: If it is a bug, I had not come across it. Nor do I think that 'notifying Microsoft' via this forum will achieve anything. Since checking this out I have noticed that if you set the active printer by macro - eg ActivePrinter = "HP LaserJet 4050 Series PCL" This changes the default printer. I cannot recall this happening previously. Changing the active printer via the file print dialog doesn't change the default printer. Do you or your fellow users use macros to change the active printer? If so, then whether or not this is a bug you could set the ActivePrinter command to point to the correct default printer in an autoopen and autonew macro in the document template or normal.dot in your profile. You wouldn't then get tripped up by someone else's settings. The macros on my web site that change the activeprinter for a print task record the current printer before printing to the required printer, then change it back to what it had been before. If your fellow users are using macros that change the active printer then they could be modified to achieve this. -- Graham Mayor - Word MVP My web site www.gmayor.com Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org Nyco_ork wrote: Graham, I'm not "dismissing" the macro solution lightly, or because I'm too lazy to copy the macros you've so kindly provided. The fact is, there's something wrong here. I don't have a situation where Word keeps the last used printer setting during a session, which would be fine with me. (And I don't use Outlook, BTW.) The problem is that when I close Word, then go to another application, I discover (sometimes too late) that Word has changed the system default printer. That's why the macros don't solve my problem. The change of setting affects more than Word or Office programs; it affects all my programs. The other thing is that different printers have different font metrics, and if the default printer has been changed without my knowledge, and I'm doing some final formatting, I might be dealing with misleading font metrics onscreen. For instance, I use 3 centered em-dashes as a marker for "section" changes in my final copies -- not Word section boundaries, but places in the text where I want the thought to break. My default printer is a black-and-white laser printer. With that driver active, the 3 centered em-dashes print (and show onscreen) as a single short line, which is what I want. The inkjet which I use as a temporary printer -- for printing markups in color -- prints them as 3 separate em-dashes. There are other differences as well. Text lines break in different places, and so on. The same difficulties arise in other programs. What I am now forced to do, which I never had to do in all the years I used Word 2000, is double-check which printer is active whenever I try to print in any program I'm using. Since you say Word shouldn't be changing the default system printer, it must be a bug. Am I the only one experiencing the problem? I assume Microsoft will continue servicing and updating Word 2003 for a while longer, even though they've come out with 2007. Is there any way of converting this thread to a "notify Microsoft" thread, so they are aware of it? Maybe the bug only happens with certain printers. My inkjet is an Epson 2000P, and my laser is a Brother MFC-7820N. "Graham Mayor" wrote: Word has always retained the last used printer setting - the *Active* Printer - until Word is closed (which will mean closing Outlook also if you have Word as your e-mail editor) It should not change the Windows *default* printer. The macro solution that you dismiss will return the *active* printer to what it was before the print job. -- Graham Mayor - Word MVP My web site www.gmayor.com Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org Nyco_ork wrote: I'm having the problem I've seen others report here; I use three different printers (2 hardware, 1 software PDF creator), and whenever I use one of the non-default printers for two or three print jobs from inside Word, it resets the system default printer to the one I'm using temporarily. Word 2000 never did this. Neither does Wordperfect. Firefox keeps the last printer used as its own, internal default printer, but it doesn't change the system default printer. Why does Microsoft have to assail us with these infuriating bugs? Graham, I've seen your macro toolbar workaround, and it's not what I need for this situation. I need to know if there's some way to keep Word from resetting the default printer, which it has no business doing. I'm on SP2 of Office 2003. Have any of the hotfixes issued since SP2 addressed this problem? RB |
#6
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Word 2003 resetting default printer
The only other possibilities that I can think of are adverse interaction
from a third party add-in or a minor corruption of the normal.dot template. Check whether the problem still exists if you start Word in its safe mode - hold CTRL whilst starting Word. If not, then see http://www.gmayor.com/what_to_do_when_word_crashes.htm then http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/AppErrors/...peningWord.htm -- Graham Mayor - Word MVP My web site www.gmayor.com Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org Nyco_ork wrote: Graham, I work alone. I don't have any "fellow users," so no one else is doing anything that could cause this. FWIW, I don't mind going into the printer dialogue when I print; in fact, I never use the printer icon on the main toolbar, since I work with such long documents. I'd be sending 300 pages to the printer with every print job. I usually print one or two, or several pages, per job. Even when I print an entire manuscript I have to go into the dialogue to change some printer settings -- toner saver, that sort of thing. So the issue for me is not having a one-button way to select the active printer. Since I'm already in the printer dialogue I can easily select the printer I want to use. The issue is simply one of what happens when Word changes the system default printer behind my back. Richard "Graham Mayor" wrote: If it is a bug, I had not come across it. Nor do I think that 'notifying Microsoft' via this forum will achieve anything. Since checking this out I have noticed that if you set the active printer by macro - eg ActivePrinter = "HP LaserJet 4050 Series PCL" This changes the default printer. I cannot recall this happening previously. Changing the active printer via the file print dialog doesn't change the default printer. Do you or your fellow users use macros to change the active printer? If so, then whether or not this is a bug you could set the ActivePrinter command to point to the correct default printer in an autoopen and autonew macro in the document template or normal.dot in your profile. You wouldn't then get tripped up by someone else's settings. The macros on my web site that change the activeprinter for a print task record the current printer before printing to the required printer, then change it back to what it had been before. If your fellow users are using macros that change the active printer then they could be modified to achieve this. -- Graham Mayor - Word MVP My web site www.gmayor.com Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org Nyco_ork wrote: Graham, I'm not "dismissing" the macro solution lightly, or because I'm too lazy to copy the macros you've so kindly provided. The fact is, there's something wrong here. I don't have a situation where Word keeps the last used printer setting during a session, which would be fine with me. (And I don't use Outlook, BTW.) The problem is that when I close Word, then go to another application, I discover (sometimes too late) that Word has changed the system default printer. That's why the macros don't solve my problem. The change of setting affects more than Word or Office programs; it affects all my programs. The other thing is that different printers have different font metrics, and if the default printer has been changed without my knowledge, and I'm doing some final formatting, I might be dealing with misleading font metrics onscreen. For instance, I use 3 centered em-dashes as a marker for "section" changes in my final copies -- not Word section boundaries, but places in the text where I want the thought to break. My default printer is a black-and-white laser printer. With that driver active, the 3 centered em-dashes print (and show onscreen) as a single short line, which is what I want. The inkjet which I use as a temporary printer -- for printing markups in color -- prints them as 3 separate em-dashes. There are other differences as well. Text lines break in different places, and so on. The same difficulties arise in other programs. What I am now forced to do, which I never had to do in all the years I used Word 2000, is double-check which printer is active whenever I try to print in any program I'm using. Since you say Word shouldn't be changing the default system printer, it must be a bug. Am I the only one experiencing the problem? I assume Microsoft will continue servicing and updating Word 2003 for a while longer, even though they've come out with 2007. Is there any way of converting this thread to a "notify Microsoft" thread, so they are aware of it? Maybe the bug only happens with certain printers. My inkjet is an Epson 2000P, and my laser is a Brother MFC-7820N. "Graham Mayor" wrote: Word has always retained the last used printer setting - the *Active* Printer - until Word is closed (which will mean closing Outlook also if you have Word as your e-mail editor) It should not change the Windows *default* printer. The macro solution that you dismiss will return the *active* printer to what it was before the print job. -- Graham Mayor - Word MVP My web site www.gmayor.com Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org Nyco_ork wrote: I'm having the problem I've seen others report here; I use three different printers (2 hardware, 1 software PDF creator), and whenever I use one of the non-default printers for two or three print jobs from inside Word, it resets the system default printer to the one I'm using temporarily. Word 2000 never did this. Neither does Wordperfect. Firefox keeps the last printer used as its own, internal default printer, but it doesn't change the system default printer. Why does Microsoft have to assail us with these infuriating bugs? Graham, I've seen your macro toolbar workaround, and it's not what I need for this situation. I need to know if there's some way to keep Word from resetting the default printer, which it has no business doing. I'm on SP2 of Office 2003. Have any of the hotfixes issued since SP2 addressed this problem? RB |
#7
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Word 2003 resetting default printer
Graham,
I don't use any third-party add-ins. I've opened Word in Safe Mode, and I've tried the Winword /a command line load. I won't say they have no effect. This is not something that happens consistently, which is what makes it maddening. It happens some sessions and not others. I read both papers on the links you provided, and those don't describe any problems I'm having. I'll just keep my eye on it, try Safe Mode again the next time it happens, maybe build a new Normal.dot from scratch (not easy; I have a lot of non-built in Styles). Thanks for giving it your best, as always. Richard "Graham Mayor" wrote: The only other possibilities that I can think of are adverse interaction from a third party add-in or a minor corruption of the normal.dot template. Check whether the problem still exists if you start Word in its safe mode - hold CTRL whilst starting Word. If not, then see http://www.gmayor.com/what_to_do_when_word_crashes.htm then http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/AppErrors/...peningWord.htm -- Graham Mayor - Word MVP My web site www.gmayor.com Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org |
#8
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Word 2003 resetting default printer
You can use the organizer to copy your styles etc from an old renamed
normal.dot to a new clean one. Word will create that when you rename the old suspect one. -- Graham Mayor - Word MVP My web site www.gmayor.com Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org Nyco_ork wrote: Graham, I don't use any third-party add-ins. I've opened Word in Safe Mode, and I've tried the Winword /a command line load. I won't say they have no effect. This is not something that happens consistently, which is what makes it maddening. It happens some sessions and not others. I read both papers on the links you provided, and those don't describe any problems I'm having. I'll just keep my eye on it, try Safe Mode again the next time it happens, maybe build a new Normal.dot from scratch (not easy; I have a lot of non-built in Styles). Thanks for giving it your best, as always. Richard "Graham Mayor" wrote: The only other possibilities that I can think of are adverse interaction from a third party add-in or a minor corruption of the normal.dot template. Check whether the problem still exists if you start Word in its safe mode - hold CTRL whilst starting Word. If not, then see http://www.gmayor.com/what_to_do_when_word_crashes.htm then http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/AppErrors/...peningWord.htm -- Graham Mayor - Word MVP My web site www.gmayor.com Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org |
#9
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Word 2003 resetting default printer
Graham, I set up a registry audit for the key that handles the default
printer. I let it run for several weeks, and checked the audit results every time the default printer got changed on me. The culprit is definitely Word 2003. Here is one of the entries from the security event log: ================= Event Type: Success Audit Event Source: Security Event Category: Object Access Event ID: 560 Date: 3/11/2007 Time: 6:09:44 PM User: RBEESON\Richard Beeson Computer: RBEESON Description: Object Open: Object Server: Security Object Type: Key Object Name: \REGISTRY\USER\S-1-5-21-4113303836-3277439761-1653462319-1004\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows Handle ID: 300 Operation ID: {0,712789} Process ID: 3996 Image File Name: D:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE11\WINWORD.EXE Primary User Name: Richard Beeson Primary Domain: RBEESON Primary Logon ID: (0x0,0x13F96) Client User Name: - Client Domain: - Client Logon ID: - Accesses: READ_CONTROL Query key value Set key value Create sub-key Enumerate sub-keys Notify about changes to keys Privileges: - Restricted Sid Count: 0 For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp. =========================== "Graham Mayor" wrote: You can use the organizer to copy your styles etc from an old renamed normal.dot to a new clean one. Word will create that when you rename the old suspect one. -- Graham Mayor - Word MVP My web site www.gmayor.com Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org Nyco_ork wrote: Graham, I don't use any third-party add-ins. I've opened Word in Safe Mode, and I've tried the Winword /a command line load. I won't say they have no effect. This is not something that happens consistently, which is what makes it maddening. It happens some sessions and not others. I read both papers on the links you provided, and those don't describe any problems I'm having. I'll just keep my eye on it, try Safe Mode again the next time it happens, maybe build a new Normal.dot from scratch (not easy; I have a lot of non-built in Styles). Thanks for giving it your best, as always. Richard "Graham Mayor" wrote: The only other possibilities that I can think of are adverse interaction from a third party add-in or a minor corruption of the normal.dot template. Check whether the problem still exists if you start Word in its safe mode - hold CTRL whilst starting Word. If not, then see http://www.gmayor.com/what_to_do_when_word_crashes.htm then http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/AppErrors/...peningWord.htm -- Graham Mayor - Word MVP My web site www.gmayor.com Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org |
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