MS Word - Can you stop MS Word from opening a blank document when it starts?

seamus

Howdy,
I have a user who likes to print off his emails when he gets into work, including their attachments. Quite often they're Word attachments. When you print off an email in Outlook, and tell it print the attachments, it opens a new instance of each application for each document. So if I've 4 word documents, it opens Word, prints the first document, closes Word, opens Word, prints the second document, and so on.

Now, due to a POS bespoke application we have that's integrated with Word, each time Word shuts down after printing an email it prompts you to resave normal.dot. If he has 10 word attachments on a mail, this is a pain in the ass.

I've discovered that the problem is with Word opening up with a blank doc by default. Each time a new instance of Word is spawned, it creates a new blank doc, which is then promptly shut down, causing Word to have conniptions. Each instance tries to open and resave normal.dot before its predecessor has released the lock on it.

The workaround here, as you've maybe guessed, is to open an instance of Word, and then print the mail. Thus, each new instance of word doesn't spawn a blank doc and try to kill it again, the parent process maintains control of normal.dot.

But this isn't ideal (it's that kind of user). I would like to be able to set it as default, that every time word is started, wherever, that it doesn't start with a new blank document. There's a switch you can use, but that only forces it for instances of word opened using the switch, not all instances.

Thanks if anyone can give any help.

uberwolf

what version of office/word?

seamus

2003

Capt'n Midnight

seamus wrote:

Now, due to a POS bespoke application we have that's integrated with Word,

'nuff said
Find corner , cry.

I would have said remove normal.dot or check back with the vender about it. With excel we've the opposite problem - it won't open an attachment unless there is another excel window opened first.

Would it be possible to install word viewer and change the associations so that Open was MsWord and Print was WordViewer ? ( I wouldn't bet on outlook not ignoring that since it's also "an office family member" )

seamus

Cheers Cap'n.

I'm going to check it on a machine tomorrow that doesn't have the bespoke app installed, so I can point the blame at this application (the guy can't complain since he insisted on having it) and leave him with the workaround.

Renton

Hey seamus,

try having a look at this

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q210565/

you might be able to change the file associations in windows explorer for .DOC files and add one of these command line switches.

You could try /w or /x

/w Starts a new instance of Word with a blank document. Documents opened in each instance of Word will not appear as choices in the Window menu of the other instances.

/x Starts a new instance of Word from the operating shell (for example, to print in Word). This instance of Word responds to only one DDE request and ignores all other DDE requests and multi-instances. If you are starting a new instance of Word in the operating environment (for example, in Windows), it is recommended that you use the /w switch, which starts a fully functioning instance.

seamus wrote:

Howdy,
I have a user who likes to print off his emails when he gets into work, including their attachments. Quite often they're Word attachments. When you print off an email in Outlook, and tell it print the attachments, it opens a new instance of each application for each document. So if I've 4 word documents, it opens Word, prints the first document, closes Word, opens Word, prints the second document, and so on.

Now, due to a POS bespoke application we have that's integrated with Word, each time Word shuts down after printing an email it prompts you to resave normal.dot. If he has 10 word attachments on a mail, this is a pain in the ass.

I've discovered that the problem is with Word opening up with a blank doc by default. Each time a new instance of Word is spawned, it creates a new blank doc, which is then promptly shut down, causing Word to have conniptions. Each instance tries to open and resave normal.dot before its predecessor has released the lock on it.

The workaround here, as you've maybe guessed, is to open an instance of Word, and then print the mail. Thus, each new instance of word doesn't spawn a blank doc and try to kill it again, the parent process maintains control of normal.dot.

But this isn't ideal (it's that kind of user). I would like to be able to set it as default, that every time word is started, wherever, that it doesn't start with a new blank document. There's a switch you can use, but that only forces it for instances of word opened using the switch, not all instances.

Thanks if anyone can give any help.

seamus

Cheers Renton, I didn't think of that. On my own machine here at home, the /n switch is already set in the file association, so I'll have to see how it's set up in work.