For some reason all my Word documents now show as Wordpad documents. Also, when I go to Start/Programs, Word no longer shows as a program. I can access Word through my desktop - do I just need to reinstall it? if I do will I lose my saved docs? Thanks.
First ensure that Word is the program associated with Word documents:1) Right-click any file with the .doc extension and click 'Open with'
2) Click Word as the program to open the file
3) Click to place a tick in the box to Always use the selected program to open this kind of file
4) Click OK to close the window
When you've done this, click or double-click on a Word document to open it and it should open in Word, not Wordpad.
Secondly, for the missing shortcut in Start –> All programs:1) Right-click on the Word icon on your desktop and choose 'Properties'
2) On the Shortcut tab you'll see a box named 'target'. Make a note of the contents of the box, which is the path to the Word executable file (you might find it easier to copy the entire line and paste it into Notepad or something so you can easily view it).
3) Close the Properties dialogue box
4) Now right-click on the Start button and choose 'Explore'
5) In the window that opens you'll see the Programs sub-folder under the listing 'Start Menu' in the left-hand pane
6) Click on Programs in the left-hand pane, then move the mouse pointer over the right-hand pane and right-click over an empty area and choose 'New' and then 'Shortcut'
7) In the new window that opens, type or paste the path to the Word executable file into the box
8) Click next and name the shortcut 'Word' or whatever you like
9) Click finish and close Explorer
You'll now see the new shortcut under Start –> All programs. It'll be right at the end…if you want to move it either right-click somewhere in the listing and select 'sort by name' for an alphabetical list, or left-click and HOLD DOWN over the new Word shortcut and drag it to wherever you want in the list.
I was able to restore the shortcut in the start menu per your instructions - thanks! However, when I try to change a document so that it opens with Word instead of Wordpad, it doesn't "take". It keeps its Wordpad icon and still indicates it's being opened with Wordpad. I should probably mention I'm running Word 97 - any other ideas? Thanks.
Hi bobkelly - try this:
Go Start –> My Computer - or if you prefer, open Windows Explorer
Click 'Tools' on the menu bar then choose 'Folder options' and select the 'File types' tab. Wait while Windows populates the list of all file types on your computer.
Scroll down the list to find 'Microsoft Word Document' [hint…if you click on any of the entries at the top of the list and then type 'm' and 'i' in quick succession on the keyboard the cursor will jump to the first of the entries beginning 'mi'].
Click on 'Microsoft Word Document' to highlight it. At the bottom of the screen the line 'Opens with' should say winword.
Even if it does, I'd suggest clicking the 'Change' button and browsing to the Word executable path you found when looking at the Properties of the desktop icon (it will be a path of folders leading to the executable 'winword.exe'. Save your changes.
Now try clicking/double-clicking to open a Word doc again. If it still opens in Wordpad, reboot the computer and try opening it again.
Let us know if it works….or if it fails, in which case we'll try something else.
Cheers……
Everything seems to be okay with 1 minor issue that doesn't affect things (as far as I know). When I open Word and click File/Open, all my documents come up with the notepad icon next to them and a .doc extension. If I remember right, they used to have the Word (W) icon with no extension. Is this a big deal? Why did this happen, and do I need to correct it? The documents seem to open in Word fine. Thanks.
Hi bobkelly
If they only look wrong when using Word/File/Open, you might try this:
Search your computer for normal.dot (the default template for Word).
Delete all instances of it that you find. Word will recreate the template when you next use it. The only problem with this is that if you have customised the toolbars or added macros etc, you will lose all that and have to redo it.
However, if the icons also look wrong if you view the Word document files in Windows Explorer or when opening the folder they are in, a different approach will be needed.
Cheers….
PS..yes, you are right, the files do have the 'W' icon when viewed in Word/File/Open. As long as they open in Word it's not really a problem but it's an irritation that personally I would want to fix.
Cheers…