When I try to use print to a file either in Word or on the Web, it saves it
to a .prn file but when I try to reopen it to see the result, I can't . It
shows an hourglass that tell the process start but it goes nowhere. What's
wrong may be it's me.
--
XP home , Office 97

any or all responses are gratefully accepted and thank you for your time

Running Compaq P3, 500Mhz
WIN XP home, Office 97
Dialup (no choice here)

You can't open a .prn file; only a printer can "read" it.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

"justamailman" wrote in message
...
When I try to use print to a file either in Word or on the Web, it saves
it
to a .prn file but when I try to reopen it to see the result, I can't . It
shows an hourglass that tell the process start but it goes nowhere. What's
wrong may be it's me.
--
XP home , Office 97

any or all responses are gratefully accepted and thank you for your time

Running Compaq P3, 500Mhz
WIN XP home, Office 97
Dialup (no choice here)

To print to a readable text file you need a driver that will do that, eg the
generic text driver.

--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org




justamailman wrote:
When I try to use print to a file either in Word or on the Web, it
saves it to a .prn file but when I try to reopen it to see the
result, I can't . It shows an hourglass that tell the process start
but it goes nowhere. What's wrong may be it's me.

Can someone explain to me the purpose of that print to a file option if I
can't open it to see it or even use it to print a result?
--
XP home , Office 97

any or all responses are gratefully accepted and thank you for your time

Running Compaq P3, 500Mhz
WIN XP home, Office 97
Dialup (no choice here)


"Graham Mayor" wrote:

To print to a readable text file you need a driver that will do that, eg the
generic text driver.

--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org




justamailman wrote:
When I try to use print to a file either in Word or on the Web, it
saves it to a .prn file but when I try to reopen it to see the
result, I can't . It shows an hourglass that tell the process start
but it goes nowhere. What's wrong may be it's me.

You can use it to print, but you have to "copy" the file to the printer (in
DOS). This is a convoluted way to print a document but was once used to
prepare a document for printing on a remote printer (such as at a commercial
print house). Now most users would convert to PDF instead. If you print to a
file with a Generic/Text Only printer selected, you will get a text file,
but it won't be of much use, either; the only benefit here is to get a
document that represents something that can otherwise be produced only by
printing (such as the lists of styles, shortcuts, AutoText, etc., that can
be selected in Word's Print dialog).

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

"justamailman" wrote in message
...
Can someone explain to me the purpose of that print to a file option if I
can't open it to see it or even use it to print a result?
--
XP home , Office 97

any or all responses are gratefully accepted and thank you for your time

Running Compaq P3, 500Mhz
WIN XP home, Office 97
Dialup (no choice here)


"Graham Mayor" wrote:

To print to a readable text file you need a driver that will do that, eg
the
generic text driver.

--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org




justamailman wrote:
When I try to use print to a file either in Word or on the Web, it
saves it to a .prn file but when I try to reopen it to see the
result, I can't . It shows an hourglass that tell the process start
but it goes nowhere. What's wrong may be it's me.

so as I understand there is not much use for regular user. I thought I could
use it to save a file quickly of something instead of copying opening a blank
document and than paste it on it
--
XP home , Office 97

any or all responses are gratefully accepted and thank you for your time

Running Compaq P3, 500Mhz
WIN XP home, Office 97
Dialup (no choice here)


"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:

You can use it to print, but you have to "copy" the file to the printer (in
DOS). This is a convoluted way to print a document but was once used to
prepare a document for printing on a remote printer (such as at a commercial
print house). Now most users would convert to PDF instead. If you print to a
file with a Generic/Text Only printer selected, you will get a text file,
but it won't be of much use, either; the only benefit here is to get a
document that represents something that can otherwise be produced only by
printing (such as the lists of styles, shortcuts, AutoText, etc., that can
be selected in Word's Print dialog).

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

"justamailman" wrote in message
...
Can someone explain to me the purpose of that print to a file option if I
can't open it to see it or even use it to print a result?
--
XP home , Office 97

any or all responses are gratefully accepted and thank you for your time

Running Compaq P3, 500Mhz
WIN XP home, Office 97
Dialup (no choice here)


"Graham Mayor" wrote:

To print to a readable text file you need a driver that will do that, eg
the
generic text driver.

--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org




justamailman wrote:
When I try to use print to a file either in Word or on the Web, it
saves it to a .prn file but when I try to reopen it to see the
result, I can't . It shows an hourglass that tell the process start
but it goes nowhere. What's wrong may be it's me.