Ben Holt

Problem: Word has an extra page at the end that you can’t delete, and when you turn on the Show/Hide codes function a “Section Break (Next Page)” appears after your text.  In fact, every time you delete the Next Page Section Break, text moves to the last page.

Solution: Click after the section break (i.e. on the last page).  Go to File -> Page Setup … in the menu (in XP – in Later Versions, go to page setup). Click on the layout tab in the pop-up window.  Change the Section Start from “New Page” to “Continuous” using the drop down arrow.  Hit the OK button.  Phew!  See the Graphic to the Right

What happened: I have no idea.  But this allows you to change a section break’s behavior.  It appears that Word is insistent on always moving back any Next Page Section breaks if deleted.   However, if you change the behavior of the current break, its OK.

Hope that Helps.

–Ben

Sources: See Suzanne S. Barnhill’s comment on Wugnet

Problem – I had a list of claims in which I wanted a cross-reference to work in a cross reference window.  The fields were there, highlighted as field codes, but the claims didn’t show up in the cross-reference window.

Fix – Right click on the field and click “toggle field codes.”  Note the name after the “SEQ” or other three letter beginning.  Go to Insert -> Reference -> Caption.  Click on “New Label” button.  Add the name as it was spelled after the SEQ. Click OK.  Click Close.  Now go to Insert -> Reference -> Cross Reference and your name is now in the drop down box.  Select the name and you should see your sequence displayed in the main pane in the cross-reference box.  Phew!

Hope that helps!

–Ben

Source:  Comment on The Occasional Tech

Problem:

You’re at work and you and several reviewers have made changes to a document using track changes.  However, you don’t want to send the client a document showing internal editing, but just a coherent single author track changes document.

Solution:

You remove the author information in the privacy settings and all track changes show as one author.  In word 2003, it is under the menu Tools -> Options -> Security Tab -> “Remove personal information from file properties on save” checkbox.

DANGER:

Changes are still tracked.  So it looks like the editor corrected him/herself.  You will need to accept deleted insertions.

Hope that helps.

–Ben

Problem: When my boss started up his computer and/or clicked on a PDF file, he would have multiple PDF windows open.  It was almost like his computer was opening every PDF he had opened before.

Fix: Run disk cleanup in windows.  I’m told that on a mac, you should remove (and backup) a file called com.adobe.acrobat.90.sh.plist from the preverences folder.

For the windows solution:

1. Open the disk cleanup tool by going to Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Disk Cleanup
2. Choose “Files from all users on this computer”
3. Click Continue (if you have user access controls enabled – probably)
4. Choose the C: drive and wait for it to finish
5. Leave the default checked boxes (although you could try checking everything) – BE AWARE that this step will delete stuff.  Make sure you didn’t want anything its going to delete.
6. Click OK
7. Click Delete Files (if you’re sure) and wait for it to finish.
8. Try to open a PDF file.

What Happened: I’m not sure.  However, I suspect there was a temporary file or command line argument that should have been deleted, but got left alone.  Every time adobe acrobat (or adobe reader) started, it was fed that information and told to open those files.  This is normally useful, as when you click on a file, that filename is provided to acrobat or reader.  However, if the system doesn’t forget that filename, but instead adds to it – you can end up with multiple files opening.  I don’t know where those temporary files reside.  However, a disk cleanup seems to wipe them out.

Hope that helps,

–Ben

Disk Cleanup Page, Adobe Forum on a Similar Mac Problem, Techarena Forum (just note that deleting the recent file list didn’t fix it for me)

PROBLEM: PCLaw crashes right after you type in your password to your books.  In no way can you login.  You get the error message that “Windows Accounting Software for Lawyers has stopped working.”

FIX: Uninstall Internet Explorer 9, which should roll you back to Internet Explorer 8.  PCLaw cannot function with Internet Explorer 9 unless you have PCLaw v10 Service Pack 5 Hotfix 3.  Here’s the steps:

1. Go to the Control Panel
2. Go to Programs and Features
3. Click on Installed Updates (in the left pane)
4. Look under the Heading “Microsoft Windows”
5. Right click on Windows Internet Explorer 9
6. Select Uninstall
7. Click Yes
8. Click Continue
9. Restart Your Computer

Explanation: PCLaw most likely uses Internet Explorer for some things under the hood.  Apparently IE 9 breaks compatibility with the functionality of older versions of IE.  Luckily, it looks like those who run XP will not be hit by the problem, as IE 9 won’t run on XP.

Hope this helps,

–Ben

Sources:  Lexis PCLaw, Affinity Consulting, Microsoft Windows Support, Computerworld

I’m currently working with a company on the Utah Genius Website.  I needed a layout quickly, as our invitations were about to be sent out.  The company had used photoshop to do a proof of the layout, and we had settled on a good front page.  They gave me the JPG to use as a placeholder while they created the HTML and CSS.

So I put up the image and dreaded making an image map for it.  Luckily, I found a tool that would do HTML or HTML & CSS image mapping for me.  Its called image-maps.com.  It was quick, could work off of an online or uploaded image and gave me the code to modify at my whim.

They requested a donation, blog post, and link back.  However, none were required.  I decided to give the blog post (this post) and the link back, as its unobtrusive.

Thanks guys!

–Ben

Source:  UtahGenius.com, Image-Maps.com

PROBLEM:

If you’re like me, you discovered that the compatability pack for Office XP broke sometime earlier this year.  You can’t open DOCX or XLSX files from outlook.  You get a strange bunch of errors when opening DOCX and XLSX files and end up opening a file with a strange name in the temporary directory when it works.

FIX:

You have 3 choices:

1. upgrade to Office 2007 or 2010;
2. roll back update kb981715; or
3. find and install a prior version of mso.dll (not recommended).

I chose option 1, as it was was 160 bucks on newegg.  Totally worth more than it would be to dig and fix.  (it also requires a download of the install file, as there is no media)

As to option 2, rolling back the update can be difficult, because I couldn’t find the update.  I didn’t dig, but it may be included in a service pack or corrected by another update.

As to option 3, I don’t recommend it because dll’s frequently have to be registered on the system.  A find and replace could have very bad effects on your office – even breaking it.

WHY:

MS replaced mso.dll in the update.  However, as far as I can tell, permissions in Vista are messed up.  The program does not have the ability to fix bad registry settings and so ends up in a bad state.  The workarounds that I’ve been reading about sound arduous and annoying, if they work.  As Office XP is 8 years old, I’m guessing good old M$ doesn’t care if the old version is broken.

Hope that Helps.

–Ben

Sources:  Allen Browne; The Daily Reviewer; Geekpedia

Fix:  Change the Offline Printer’s Port to an Online Similar Printer’s Port.  As far I can tell, you can’t move the file / print job.  You can just trick the spooler to use a different port which is connected to a different printer.

• Find a printer that is the exact same model (or very, very close).
• Connect it to the computer and get it set up.
• Go to Printers in the Control Panel.
• Right click on the new Printer and select Properties.
• Click on the Ports Tab.
• Look at its port. (You may have to widen the column)
• Right click on the offline printer and select Properties.
• Click on the Ports Tab.
• Check the Box on the port that matches the new Printer’s Port
• Click Apply.
• Click OK.
• Right Click on the Offline Printer and say Use Printer Online
• Click on the Printer Menu
• Click on the Pause Printing Item (to uncheck it … If there’s no check leave it alone)
• Watch as the Print comes Out!

Problem:  I had a friend who had printed a success page from a web page that he submitted very important documents.  Unfortunately, he exited the browser before he made sure the printout came out.  Worse yet, the print was assigned to an offline printer that no longer existed (we replaced that printer a while back).  His print job was stuck in an offline printer spooler with no place to go.  He wanted to move the print job from one printer to another printer.

Hope that helps.

–Ben

Source:  Microsoft Answers

My parents had a program – Arts and Letters – that would not work on windows 7.  Luckily, Windows 7 professional and ultimate (not home editions) come with a free windows xp virtual mode.  It requires a download of three items.  I’ll explain more later, but here’s the website:

Windows XP Mode and Virtual PC

PS – Your installed printers are available, you just have to select the “tsport” port for them to work.  I had to do trial and error by printing a test page on each port until it came out.

PPS – You’ll need to click on the start menu option under Virtual PC for “Windows XP Mode” after installing the items from the previous link.  Do not create your own virtual machine.  The installation will be done for you by clicking “Windows XP Mode”

–Ben

Sources:  Microsoft

THE FIX:

Connect the drive to a friend’s laptop (or a sympathetic lab administrator) and ask them to access the files.  The person must have Administrative Rights on the computer.  Almost everyone’s personal laptop account has administrative rights.

Background:

My brother’s friend’s computer just up and died at Stanford.  He had an article due and was sweating that he couldn’t get it back.  He did everything right.  He got an external hard drive enclosure and put the drive in the enclosure.  He went to the library and hooked it up to a computer.

He tried to go into his “G:\Users\USERNAME\Documents” folder (in Vista and 7 – in XP its G:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\My Documents”).  However, he got the “Access Denied” error when he tried to go into “G:\Users\USERNAME”.

The Reason Why:

He was logged into a library computer as a “User” or a “Power User” without administrator permissions to files.  The files on his hard drive belonged to “USERNAME” on his laptop and not to “SCHOOL USERNAME” on the school computer.  Thus the library computer was respecting the file permissions.

So why doens’t this problem rear its ugly head with a jump drive?  I think its because removable media is marked as for everyone.  My guess is that User folders and system folders are the only ones protected.

Hope that helps.

–Ben

Sources:  TechSpot, Microsoft.com