I was unable to locate normal.dotm or a template. Now what?

hmm...can you give a little more info about what youd id and saw/did not see? don't copy and paste the location that I gave (that was just an example), but make sure you search for it.

I don't think the normal template should be hidden, but just in case you can try opening any folder first, then in the Organize tab at the top left of the window, choose Folder Options. Then click the View tab and select Show hidden files and folders. Again though I don't think that should make a difference in this case...