What I'm saying is, by default, what you are encountering should not happen
and you aren't encountering a bug in the product. I'm not saying it isn't a
bug -- I suspect the issue lies in an add-in or perhaps a document/template
that contains macros. All it takes is a single line of code to alter your
style properties. If you opened a previously created document, or a document
created by someone else, a macro stored in the document could have easily
modified your Normal template and altered a style or styles. The only way to
rule this out is to recreate your Normal template as I previously noted.
If your new laptops came preinstalled with any software at all (even the
operating system) then you can't rule out add-ins either. I encountered a
nasty bug on a new Dell laptop that should have had only the operating
system installed and the bug appeared after installing Office. Of course it
wasn't what you are encountering but it was indeed caused by an add-in and
many others, also using Dell laptops, encountered the same bug. However, if
it doesn't occur on the same laptop with Word 2003 installed then that may
not be the case.
You can send me a sample file if you'd like -- I'd be happy to take a look
at it -- but I'm fairly certain I'd find a style has been set to Update
Automatically. It won't tell me the underlying cause but, as previously
noted, I suspect the problem is in your Normal.dotm since it also occurred
on new documents. Note that Word 2003 uses Normal.dot which might explain
why you aren't encountering the same problem in that version.
If you'd like us to help you with this issue we're happy to help. Do note
this is a peer-to-peer newsgroup and we don't work for Microsoft. We're
simply folks like you, voluntarily here to learn about Word and share what
we know with others.
Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email cannot be acknowledged.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP
Coauthor of Word 2007 Inside Out:
http://www.microsoft.com/MSPress/boo...x#AboutTheBook
Word FAQ:
http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine:
http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site:
http://mvps.org/
"xcelatit" wrote in message
...
So you are saying that if I have normal style and add bullets, or I bold
one
word everything in normal style is bolded and bulleted?
Thats what happens .
I disagree its a malfunction add-in or a normal.dot because word 2007 was
installed on two of my brand new hp laptops that didnt have anything
installed on them and both laptops do the same thing,
I didnt have time to diagnose a problem for microsoft. The product should
install clean and have no problems.
Now if microsoft wants to pay me a consultant fee per hour I would be
happy
to assist them debuging there own failing product.
I already uninstalled office pro 2007 and installed office 2003 pro .
I don't have such an issue with 2003. I have noticed in word 2003 if I
don't have a 'return' when selecting a section then apply numbering,
that
the whole paragraph applies and the style i have auto formating off,
so maybe this is more than auto formatting?
I would be happy to email a partial file.
"Beth Melton" wrote:
As Suzanne noted, Word does not do this by default (no version ever has).
Now, the ability to implement what you are seeing can be added but
typically
it's not used the extreme in which you are seeing.
Some background:
Word utilizes styles for formatting. If you want certain portions of your
document to always be formatted exactly the same, such as heading
paragraphs, then you can set a style to automatically update. This means
if
you change a format that same format will be applied to the other
paragraphs/characters in the document that have the same style definition
applied. It's actually a 'good' thing and saves time when used properly.
Additionally, when you copy/paste between documents the styles are also
copied -- along with the automatically update instruction -- which
explains
why copying to a new document doesn't correct the issue.
If you are seeing the reformat occur throughout new documents then
chances
are you are encountering one of two issues:
- Your Normal template (used to create new documents) contains styles
with
the automatically update option added. To see if this is the case, locate
Normal.dotm and rename it to OldNormal.dom. Word will create a new one
upon
restarting.
- If the above doesn't correct the issue then you could have a
malfunctioning add-in that is adding the automatically update option. To
see
if this is the case, exit Word, hold your Ctrl key and start Word again.
Continue holding Ctrl until you are prompted to start in Safe Mode. If
the
issue doesn't occur then post back and we'll provide you with information
on
how to check for add-ins and disable them.