Where has Normal.dot gone

  • Thread starter Thread starter Marsh
  • Start date Start date
M

Marsh

I am using Office 2003 on a newly acquired Windows Vista computer.
I am making a number of changes to Word - Autotext, macros, custom toolbar
and buttons, etc.
I want to backup normal.dot but can not find it, even with a search.
Where does it live?

Many thanks
Marsh
 
I can't say for sure about Vista, but under Windows XP, the folder where
Normal.dot is stored is a hidden one, so you have to explicitly search
hidden and system folders (or have them displayed in Windows Explorer if
you're looking manually).
 
The default location on Vista is C:\Users\<your name>\Application
Data\Microsoft\Templates. Like the one in Windows XP, the Application Data
folder (and thus everything under it) is hidden.

On either operating system, regardless of whether you've chosen to display
hidden folders in Windows Explorer (a.k.a. Computer), you can get there by
entering this in the address bar:

%appdata%\Microsoft\Templates

The expression %appdata% is an "environment variable" that points to the
Application Data folder for the current login profile, whatever name that
might contain.

The Vista search normally looks only at files in indexed folders. Since the
Application Data folder and its contents aren't indexed unless you
explicitly tell it to, you'd have to use Advanced Search and check the
option to search unindexed folders. That will set you up for a long wait.
:-(

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.
 
The precise path to Normal.dot is,

C:\Users\yourname\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Templates.

It took a while to figure this one out, but I needed it to help our users
back upthe normal template to their network home directory.
 
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