MTips E-Zine

Newsletter for MT’s using MS Word

Vol 1 No 6 May 14, 2001

Laura Bryan Editor

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Table of Contents:

1. Feature Article: Blueprints: Building a Perfect Document Every Time, Part II

2. QuickTakes-Keyboarding Tips: The Logo Key

3. Technical Advice: Automating Routine Tasks, Part II

4. Bloopers Did You Ever Feel Like This?

5. Other Sites To See

Blueprints: Building a Perfect Document Every Time

Part II The Necessary Normal

To continue our series on templates, we will discuss the normal template (a.k.a. normal.dot). The normal template is a global template—Word uses it with every document you create. Even if you load a document template, the normal template works in conjunction with the document template. While the normal template is vital, it also tends to be unstable and easily corrupted. Since the normal template is so important, I highly recommend you keep a current backup of this file. Make it a part of your routine to back up this file to a floppy drive, a remote location on the C drive or a networked drive. I will describe one way to back up your normal.dot, and Bob’s technical article below offers another way.

To back up your normal.dot, close Word and then place a floppy disk in the A drive. From the Desktop, press F3 to open Find Files. Change "Look in" to C and type normal.dot in the "Named" box. Click Find. When the normal.dot file appears in the pane below, right click the file icon and select Send to / 3 ½ Floppy A drive. If you see more than one copy of the normal.dot, choose the file with the following path name:

Word 97 C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Templates

Word 2000 C:\Windows\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates

It is not uncommon for the normal.dot to become corrupted. This will cause Word to act "quirky" or even lock up. This frustrating behavior is easily remedied if you have a current backup. With Word closed, replace the normal.dot with the uncorrupted backup copy: Place the disk with the backup copy in the A drive. Open Explorer (Window key+E) and select the A drive. Select normal.dot and copy the file (CTL+C). Change the directory to the appropriate folder as above and place the cursor in the right-hand pane of Explorer. Paste the file in the Templates folder (CTL+V). Windows will ask you if you want to replace the normal.dot file—answer yes.

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Next open seminar is scheduled for

in Mesquite, Texas (a suburb of Dallas)

(Non-medical or Technology & Workplace)

Sign up now to reserve your spot!

Call 1-877-320-1241 or see the web site for details:

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QuickTakes-Keyboarding Tips

The Logo Key

Here are a few useful keystrokes for working in Windows98 and ME using the Windows logo key : Window key+D will toggle to/from the Windows Desktop (i.e. minimize/restore all programs). Window+E will open Explorer. Window+F will open Find files or folders. These keystrokes are very convenient because they can be used anytime/anywhere—you do not have to go to the Desktop first.

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I will be speaking in Riverside, California on June 23^rd

at the AAMT Orange-Empire Chapter

Workshop

Details to follow in the next newsletter

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Technical Advice

From Bob’s PCWerks

Automating Routine Tasks

Last time, we explored the Startup Folder and introduced the Task Manager. In this issue, we will create (or download) a simple backup routine for the normal.dot and custom.dic and automate it using the Task Manager. The Task Manager can be used to run any "executable" or program file on the computer, including ".bat" (batch files) created in Notepad.

Open Notepad (Start/Programs/Accessories/Notepad) and copy/paste the text below. Start with "@echo" and finish at "end."

For Word 97:

@echo

cd\

md norms

copy c:\progra~1\Common~1\micros~1\proof\custom.dic c:\norms /y

copy c:\progra~1\Micros~1\Templa~1\normal.dot C:\norms /y

rem finished copying files

end

If you are using Office 2000:

@echo

cd\

md norms

copy c:\windows\applic~1\micros~1\proof\custom.dic c:\norms /y

copy c:\windows\applic~1\micros~1\templa~1\normal.dot C:\norms /y

rem finished copying files

end

Save this Notepad file with the .bat extension. NOTE: Be sure to change the "Save as type" to "All Files (*.*)" and then name the file "97backup.bat" or "2kbackup.bat" (depending on your version of Word). Save to your Desktop or to the C drive. Next, open the "Scheduled Tasks" folder (Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Scheduled Tasks). Drag the icon for the batch file you just created from the Desktop (or C drive) into the Scheduled Tasks folder. You will see that it will automatically be assigned a run schedule. You can accept the default schedule, or you can right click on the batch file icon, then left click on Properties to change the schedule. (If you place the .bat file on your Desktop, you cannot move or delete the icon—it must remain in its original location when you dragged the icon to the Scheduler.)

The routine you just created copies the custom dictionary and the normal.dot to a folder on the C drive called "norms." Next time we will learn how to modify this routine to copy to a floppy disk or to a different folder.

If you are having trouble creating or naming the batch files, click on the links below and download the samples. Download to the Desktop and proceed as above.

This Week’s Blooper

Sometimes bloopers can feel very close to home! Hope you all had a wonderful Mother’s Day and didn’t feel like this:

"She lost her cool this week and apparently blew up her husband and daughter."

"She states she's been wondering whether or not the Prozac is helping her depression. I'm going to try cutting her in half and see if that makes any difference."

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Coming Soon!

Make It Your Own-Productivity Manual for MS Word

Available June 1

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Other Sites to See:

BigBook—Searchable yellow pages from the entire US

This gets my vote for the most clever name for a web site:

"Shrink Rap"

A psychology web site

MTWerks is your resource for using MSWord for Medical Transcription.

We hope you enjoy your subscription to MTips E-Zine. If you like the information here, check out our book "Make It Your Own-Productivity Manual for MS Word" which is full of ideas for working faster and smarter! Great for "Newbies" and Veterans, alike. To learn more about the book or the "Make It Your Own Productivity Seminar", see

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