Am running Office XP Pro and need to open a .doc document with these subject features, created in another application. Have tried opening a new document and set page layout for mirror margins and a gutter, but when opening the required document the layout defaults to singe page.
Does anyone have a thought on this result ?

Without macros this cannot be set for the view you want in the document. The two pages facing is a zoom setting. I should remain from one Word session to the next, on the same computer. It is not part of the document. Word is a program to produce words and images on paper. Display on the screen is to assist people in doing this, it is an aside, not the purpose of the program.

Consider using PowerPoint if you want that degree of control over what is displayed.