This is a question from my wife. Is there a setting for some sort of
"autocomplete" when looking for a Word file?

Background: When I open the "Open" window for any folder (in Word 2003,
2002, 2000) I can start typing the first few letters of a file's name in the
"File Name" slot and Word completes it with the file name of the first file
what matches the typed letters. That's also what she did, too, that is,
until her office computer/network were upgraded, she says, to Windows XP.
Now she says that this Word feature no longer works. Instead she has to
scroll though the entire folder to find what she wants. It is a huge
folder, containing all the letters she has written about her medical
patients for the past several years. This means scrolling through a few
thousand files! She had the foresight to apply a naming scheme, featuring
the patient's last name and maybe first, too, and then the date. She always
knows the name she wants--that would be the patient she has in front of
her-- but hardly the date. But unless she types the full name of the file,
which she would not be able to remember, she has to waste a lot of time
scrolling through the folder. Many of her patients have long-term or
chronic conditions for which she treats them, so prior clinical information
is very important. Whenever she sees a patient after an initial
consultation she has to refer to her past letters about him or her. (Note:
She works at one of the premiere U.S. teaching hospitals which shall remain
unnamed; her folder of prior patient letters, usually to referring doctors
reciting all the patient's clinical and laboratory data and findings at the
time of the last visit/examination, is often the only "file" available to
her; not exactly high tech, of course)

Not a change in Word, but a change in the operating system. In
Windows XP, type the first few characters of the filename and
then a * and then press Enter.

Joe McGuire wrote:

This is a question from my wife. Is there a setting for some sort of
"autocomplete" when looking for a Word file?

Background: When I open the "Open" window for any folder (in Word 2003,
2002, 2000) I can start typing the first few letters of a file's name in the
"File Name" slot and Word completes it with the file name of the first file
what matches the typed letters. That's also what she did, too, that is,
until her office computer/network were upgraded, she says, to Windows XP.
Now she says that this Word feature no longer works. Instead she has to
scroll though the entire folder to find what she wants. It is a huge
folder, containing all the letters she has written about her medical
patients for the past several years. This means scrolling through a few
thousand files! She had the foresight to apply a naming scheme, featuring
the patient's last name and maybe first, too, and then the date. She always
knows the name she wants--that would be the patient she has in front of
her-- but hardly the date. But unless she types the full name of the file,
which she would not be able to remember, she has to waste a lot of time
scrolling through the folder. Many of her patients have long-term or
chronic conditions for which she treats them, so prior clinical information
is very important. Whenever she sees a patient after an initial
consultation she has to refer to her past letters about him or her. (Note:
She works at one of the premiere U.S. teaching hospitals which shall remain
unnamed; her folder of prior patient letters, usually to referring doctors
reciting all the patient's clinical and laboratory data and findings at the
time of the last visit/examination, is often the only "file" available to
her; not exactly high tech, of course)

Thanks. I will tell her to give it a try. However, I am using Windows XP
Professional on my home office computer (with Office 2003)and I don't seem
to have the problem. Then again my home office computer is not on a
network.


"garfield-n-odie" wrote in message
...
Not a change in Word, but a change in the operating system. In Windows
XP, type the first few characters of the filename and then a * and then
press Enter.

Joe McGuire wrote:

This is a question from my wife. Is there a setting for some sort of
"autocomplete" when looking for a Word file?

Background: When I open the "Open" window for any folder (in Word 2003,
2002, 2000) I can start typing the first few letters of a file's name in
the "File Name" slot and Word completes it with the file name of the
first file what matches the typed letters. That's also what she did,
too, that is, until her office computer/network were upgraded, she says,
to Windows XP. Now she says that this Word feature no longer works.
Instead she has to scroll though the entire folder to find what she
wants. It is a huge folder, containing all the letters she has written
about her medical patients for the past several years. This means
scrolling through a few thousand files! She had the foresight to apply a
naming scheme, featuring the patient's last name and maybe first, too,
and then the date. She always knows the name she wants--that would be
the patient she has in front of her-- but hardly the date. But unless
she types the full name of the file, which she would not be able to
remember, she has to waste a lot of time scrolling through the folder.
Many of her patients have long-term or chronic conditions for which she
treats them, so prior clinical information is very important. Whenever
she sees a patient after an initial consultation she has to refer to her
past letters about him or her. (Note: She works at one of the premiere
U.S. teaching hospitals which shall remain unnamed; her folder of prior
patient letters, usually to referring doctors reciting all the patient's
clinical and laboratory data and findings at the time of the last
visit/examination, is often the only "file" available to her; not exactly
high tech, of course)