Preferences file(s) location on disk

[fjchild]

I am using word 2010 in Windows 7

I had to install a new HD but am pretty well backed up.

I've copied over and told Word about all the docs and templates successfully.

I cannot locate the preferences file(s)' names nor where they are located on the disk.

Also, is normal.dot still used? I can't locate a new one. Where would that be?

Life would be much easier if I could copy over my ribbons, macros, shortcuts, etc.

Please advise.

[macropod]

See: https://www.msofficeforums.com/word/...locations.html

[fjchild]

macropod,

Thank you for all of that but in Win 7, I do not seem to have any Documents and Settings folders. I guess it was too easy to have them in one place. I seasrched the whole disk for Word.qat and for normal.* but no luck.

Small changes I made to Quick Access Toolbar were retained but I don't find the file. I tried changing the system date to Jan 1, 2013 and searched for files created that day but no success in that either.

Any other thoughts?

[macropod]

If you paste the filepaths into Windows Explorer's Address Bar, it will find them, regardless of whether you have a Documents and Settings folder (AKA Documents folder). Windows 7 is smart enough to understand what you mean. You ordinarily won't find these folders because they're hidden.

[Charles Kenyon]

Originally Posted by fjchild

I am using word 2010 in Windows 7

I had to install a new HD but am pretty well backed up.

I've copied over and told Word about all the docs and templates successfully.

I cannot locate the preferences file(s)' names nor where they are located on the disk.

Also, is normal.dot still used? I can't locate a new one. Where would that be?

Life would be much easier if I could copy over my ribbons, macros, shortcuts, etc.

Please advise.

See also https://www.msofficeforums.com/word/...data-file.html

Normal.dotm may not exist if you have made no changes to your defaults. See Normal Template in Microsoft Word - How to Open for help in locating it. Instructions for finding the file path are also in the first reference above.

If both installations were Word 2010 your customizations to the QAT would be in the file Word.officeUI and to the Ribbon would be in the file Word14.customUI. If your Ribbon customization was done using XML and not through the Word interface, it would be stored in templates and documents.

For AutoCorrect, see the utility referenced in the first link.

[Charles Kenyon]

See also the article "What files do I need to back up?” at: http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/General/FilesToBackup.htm
This was written for earlier versions but has some good insights.

[fjchild]

Originally Posted by Charles Kenyon

See also the article "What files do I need to back up?” at: http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/General/FilesToBackup.htm
This was written for earlier versions but has some good insights.

THat looked like a good idea & I tried. After pasting 'application.NormalTemplate.OpenAsDocument' I got
"The macros in this project are disabled"
?

[Charles Kenyon]

Originally Posted by fjchild

THat looked like a good idea & I tried. After pasting 'application.NormalTemplate.OpenAsDocument' I got
"The macros in this project are disabled"
?

That has to do with your security settings. The immediate window is not in any project.

[fjchild]

I'm still trying to get my new HD to behave. I'm using the same Win 7 64-bit and Office 2010 as before. Especially as regards Word and Excel.

By trial and error, I finally got my macros and templates to be usable in both (and, BTW, the contacts and calendar in Outlook which saved me months of re-doing.)

In spite of the above suggestions I can't finf any .qat or Word.officeUI files in any of my back-up or copy files. Further, even after making changes to Word's ribbon, I don't find either on the new HD. I find STARTUP but it is empty. Changes to the ribbon are retained, though in the new Word.
Any further thoughts where I might look?

[Charles Kenyon]

There will not be any .qat file with Word 2010 unless you had an installation of Word 2007 as well. The file is Word.officeUI. They both go in the same folder. That folder is a hidden system folder. On my system, that folder is:
C:\Users\Charles K. Kenyon\AppData\Local\Microsoft\OFFICE

If you modified your QAT, that file will exist. The ribbon modification file is separate and is named Word14.customUI; it will be in the same folder as the Word.officeUI file. This is for modifications to the Ribbon made through the Word 2010 interface. There is no analog file in Word 2007.

The Startup folder will be empty until someone puts something in it. Many programs put templates in this file or otherwise install Add-Ins. Note there may be two different startup folders, both of which work with Word. One is the (optional) one set in Word preferences, the other is in the Office program folders and will be in all caps.

If you did not see my comments in the thread https://www.msofficeforums.com/word/...locations.html you should revisit it.

[fjchild]

Thanks again, Charles. This is pretty confusing to me but I am trying to go through it a bit at a time. Problem is I just don't get any sense of logic or consistency to where these things are and what they're called. I did read that file and your good comments - that left me trying to figure out which applied to which Word.

Further, when I first searched for Word.officeUI using Windows explorer, it found zero. I guess it doesn't want it found, like the User directory, itself. Hard to guess what the findable sub-directory will be when you can't enter the main one. Maybe I'm getting old, here. I was able to use the first word processors that came out and make them do what I wanted, not just the defaults; Word (for DOS) was no problem. Later & later versions became more complex and secretive but I could still get them to behave. This one just throws me.

Yes, both the old and new disks have 2010. I don't find word14.customUI anywhere but Word.officeUI is certainly where you said and is the ribbon.

I appreciate you and your colleagues trying to be helpful.

One of the worst issaues I've had in this was my back-up program pretended to back up all the defaults and settings but lied. It only backed up some. (Seem to have that one fixed now.)

[Charles Kenyon]

To get to files in hidden and system folders in a Windows search on my system I need to search for the file. When it reports back as not found, I click on the button for advanced search. Then I check the box to search in hidden, system, and non-indexed folders.