I don't have any definite idea of the cause or why the problem appears on
some but not all PCs. As I said earlier, though, I think the cause lies in
the Data key in the registry. Instructions for backing up the key and
replacing it with a fresh one are given at
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Customizat...eySettings.htm. If it works for
one of your PCs, it should work for all of them.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org

DCLegal wrote:
It's funny...we are on a network here at work. I went around to
several of my coworkers and several have the same problem while
others don't. Presumably we all have the same install as it is all on
the corporate license. However, this fact leads me to believe that
the problem is bigger than just my pc.

Thoughts?
Thanks

Those instructions were written on the assumption of a single-user
PC. Leave the other Normal.dot templates alone, and work only on the
one in your own branch of the Documents and Settings folder. (The
others shouldn't even be visible to you unless you're a member of
the Administrators group.) If there's a Normal.dot in the All Users
branch, I'd recommend removing that one.

Does the same problem appear when you're logged in as one of the
other users? If so, that's evidence that the problem isn't in
Normal.dot -- it would be quite unusual to see the same damage in
two or more separate files. In that case, I'd concentrate on the
Data key in the registry.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org

DCLegal wrote:
I note that the directions say to ensure that there's only 1
"normal.dot" document; my computer is set for multiple users -
myself, the default user, our IT guy, and the "administrator"...each
has its own file. Should I delete all but my own?

Thanks.

DCLegal wrote:
I am in the tools/options/spelling&grammar dialog box. Under
"grammar", "settings", there is a "Require" option. Under
"Punctuation required with quotes, all the options appear to be
selectable (not greyed out), however, only "don't check" or
"outside" are selectable. It will not allow me to select "inside"
which is the option I need for MLA. I've tried verifiying that
English is the selected language for my document, to no avail.

I have used it before on other computers, so I know it's
viable...any help is appreciated.

Thanks.

I can confirm that the "inside" choice should be selectable.

I suppose it's possible that there's some damage in your Normal.dot
template that's causing the problem, although it usually isn't that
localized. It's worth a try, though, to use the /a startup switch
as described in
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/AppErrors/...peningWord.htm, step 2a.
If that helps, continue through steps 2b and 2c.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org