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Below is just some of the feedback we received over the last month. Sorry, but we get so much feedback these days, we can't always publish it all. Also remember, feedback is for questions related to our articles. If you have technical question that are not related to articles posted in TechTrax, you can post your questions to a free support group. See this link for a list of recommended groups: http://www.mousetrax.com/resources.html.
Feedback
Elliott Mendelson from Roslyn, NY, writes...
I read your article that has to do with problems caused by corruption of Normal.dot (My problem is that, when I try to open a document in MY DOCUMENTS in Windows 98, the computer freezes, or a Fatal Error Message appears.) I renamed Normal.dot as Normal.OLD, as you suggested and restarted. However, the problem still persists and, in addition, when I try to find the files Normal.dot or Normal.OLD, it is claimed that no such files exist. What did I do wrong and how should I proceed? Any help would be much appreciated.
Dian Chapman, author of Normal.dot Template - Explained, writes...
The files ARE there, they're just in hidden folders. How were you able to
find them to rename in the first place if they are still in the default
hidden files? If you renamed it...then go to the same folder. If you DID
delete them both, just open Word and a new one will be created.
See this article for more info:
Why Does Explorer Think I Only Want to See My Documents
http://pubs.logicalexpressions.com/Pub0009/LPMArticle.asp?ID=189
As for the freezing...if renaming Normal didn't help, then check your video
driver by testing the hardware accelerator, as described in this article:
Maintaining Your Computer
http://www.mousetrax.com/maintain.html
The additional article here may also help, too...
Troubleshooting Computer (and MS Word) Errors
http://pubs.logicalexpressions.com/Pub0009/LPMArticle.asp?ID=507
Further reader reply...
Dear Mrs. Chapman:
Yes, when I opened the WORD program, the problem disappeared. I want to thank you very much for your help. Earlier, I had posted my problem on the NET-INTEGRATION FORUM of Spybot. I just added to that posting a message that the trouble had been eliminated and gave credit for the solution to you and Mouse Trax Computing Solutions.
Sincerely yours,
Elliott Mendelson
Further reply from Dian...
Thanks for the thanks and credit and glad you were able to get things working.
Cheers!
Dian ~
Feedback
Dov Levy from London, writes...
hi
i have this exact problem and when i got into the command console after pressing shift f10 it i typed NUSRMGR.CPL and it says 'user account not recpgnized' please help-what shold i type?
Is there another way to change the passwords from this console?
Thanks tons!
Vic Ferri, author of I Forgot My Administrator Password!, writes...
Try control userpasswords2
Vic
Feedback
Tim from Sydney, Australia, writes...
Hi Jonathon,
I've been looking for your article for months! Truly brillant (yet oh so simple) stuff, and it's saved me hours already (I only found it today).
I have two points of feedback -
1. I couldn't get the FileName:=strCode code to work - kept getting error code 5174. In the end I got it to work by adding the path in the previous line of code (strCode = ActiveDocument.Path & "\" & strCode). I think this may have something to do with my Word setup, or possibly even intranet setup. I don't know for sure, but I thought I'd let you know in case others are battling with the same issue
2. My business reps like the page numbering to have "Page 1 of 52"... etc, but your code doesn't seem to be able to sort this out. I've looked through the possible PageNumbers properties and tried to find NumPages stuff, but to no avail. Any ideas?
Jonathan West, author of Creating a Table of Contents Spanning Multiple Documents, writes...
Hi Tim
Thanks for the feedback, it's always great to hear when an article has
helped someone!
Regarding the error code 5174, the fact that it occurs when you are trying
to open the document, and it goes away when you set strCode to the full
pathname of the document you are opening suggests to me that for some reason
on your system the ChDir command isn't working as expected. I have no idea
why that might be, but thank you for describing the workaround you found. It
is what I would have done in the circumstances.
As for having a Page X of Y sequence running through a set of documents,
yes, this is possible, though it requires an extension to the code.
The first thing is that none of the PAGE, NUMPAGES & similar fields are any
use, because they all refer only to the page numbers in their individual
file. So we have to find an entirely different way of dealing with the
matter.
When you drop out of the main loop of the macro, the variable iLastPage does
in fact contain the page number of the last page of the entire document set.
This is the vital piece of information which needs somehow to be inserted
into all the documents. The way I would handle this is as follows.
For each chapter in the document, including the initial chapter containing
the ToC, go to File, Properties, click on the Custom tab, and insert a
LastPage property. Set the Type of the property to be "Number", and stick a
number in. It doesn't matter what number you choose, we are going to produce
an extension to the macro that will change it as needed.
Also, in the footer of each document, the "Page X of Y" text should look as
follows when you are displaying field codes
Page { PAGE } of { DOCPROPERTY "LastPage" }
The { } characters are field braces inserted by pressing Ctrl-F9.
Now, with the custom property we have a means of recording in each chapter
the last page number of the set, and with the DOCPROPERTY field, we have a
means of displaying it on every page. We know what the last page number is,
so now all that is needed is to get the correct value into each document.
This requires an extra loop in the macro, opening each chapter in turn again
and updating the value of the property.
The following code should do the needful. Insert it just before the final
ActiveDocument.Fields.Update line in the macro.
ActiveDocument.CustomDocumentProperties("LastPage") = iLastPage
For Each oField In ActiveDocument.Fields
If oField.Type = wdFieldRefDoc Then
strCode = Trim$(oField.Code)
strCode = Trim$(Mid$(strCode, InStr(strCode, " ")))
If LCase$(Left$(strCode, 2)) = "\f" Then
strCode = Trim$(Mid$(strCode, 3))
End If
If LCase$(Right$(strCode, 2)) = "\f" Then
strCode = Trim$(Left$(strCode, Len(strCode) - 2))
End If
If Asc(strCode) = 34 Then
strCode = Trim$(Mid$(strCode, 2, Len(strCode) - 2))
End If
ChDir ActiveDocument.Path
strCode = ActiveDocument.Path & "\" & strCode
Set oDoc = Documents.Open(FileName:=strCode)
oDoc.CustomDocumentProperties("LastPage") = iLastPage
oDoc.Close SaveChanges:=wdSaveChanges
End If
Next oField
Regards
Jonathan
Further reader reply...
Hi Jonathan / Dian,
Thanks for tip - it's much appreciated. As usual though, a Microsoft product has managed to completely baffle me. When I run the code, the LastPage property is not set to iLastPage and the field I created is not updated. So I put in a break point to try and work out why... and the property was successfully updated! The field never was though and I still have no idea why.
I did however, realise after sending my original email yesterday that manually putting in the "Page of" number for each document isn't actually all that difficult or time consuming... so until I manage to get your code to work on my machine, I simply have to stick to that!
Thanks again for your help!
Tim Cox
Business Analyst
Systems and Projects
Feedback
Dan (Going in Circles) from NY, writes...
I think that Beth Melton gave us a great article and it was very easy to understand, however, I ran into a small problem. My "Auto Hide" is grayed out and I can't figure out how to ungray it so I can use it. Do you happen to have any suggestions?
Beth Melton, author of What?? No Office Shortcut Bar for Office 2003??, writes...
Hi Dan,
I'm glad you found my article on the missing OSB for Office 2003 useful. :-)
I'm wondering if your AutoHide option is disabled because the toolbar is
floating instead of docked to one of the edges of the screen. Do you see a
close button in the right corner? If you do, then drag the toolbar to the
edge of the screen to dock it and see if that resolves the issue.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP
Feedback
A reader writes...
I find it amazing that you offer articles just at the right time. Tonight I had a friend call me with an Outlook problem. She is not computer savvy. Didn't know her Outlook or IE version info. She did write down the error code (0x8004201A) but not the message. I am sending her a link to your article. She can learn and you can be her next hero.
Dian Chapman, author of Troubleshooting Computer (and MS Word) Errors, write...
Thanks for the thanks and glad it helped!
Feedback
Mervi Baer from Chriatiansted, St Croix, US Virgin Islands, writes...
Re: Miss Dunn's passing
I understand your feelings about Ms. Dunn. I had two wonderful teachers in my life, one was a gentleman, Mr. Vaubel, who taught me in my school from the third grade through high school. He made learning FUN! The other was a college instructor, Al Hudson, who had the same effect on me. They are both gone, but I was able to contact them before they passed to thank them for helping me learn and tell them how much I enjoyed it.
You had a good experience. Thanks for sharing. It made me feel good.
Dian Chapman, Editor of TechTrax, writes...
Very cool...glad to know others have that same, nice opportunity. Glad you also got that chance to let them know how valuable they were! ;-)
By the way, I forgot to mention, previously, that the USVI is one of Greg's and my favorite places! You can see pictures from some of our trips there (including Greg flying us around in a Cessna) on our Flight page. See http://www.mousetrax.com/winds.html and click the couple USVI links.
Feedback
A reader writes...
Very helpful, My wife is also a creature of habit. Her school
uses photo editor and with my system I just never loaded it on the new
computer. Thanks again.
Herb Tyson, author of MS Photo Editor, Wherefore Art Thou?, writes...
MS PhotoEditor is one of those tools I take for granted. Prior to its being
dropped, I never really gave its existence much thought. But, I sure as heck
missed it when it was gone... but not for long. Ironically, there are some
aspects of Picture Manager that I now rely on — things that PhotoEditor
can't do (like autocorrecting 100 photos in one fell swoop). At some point
in the distant future, I can see myself installing Office 20, then adding
back pieces from Office 10, Office 11, Office 12... and so on, to recapture
everything that's become a habit.
Cheers,
Herb Tyson
http://www.herbtyson.com
Feedback
A reader writes...
I just installed office 2003 and I noticed that it left the shortcut bar link in the start menu. I found that you can simply remove all the old (non working) buttons and click & drag the new 2003 buttons from the start menu right into the shortcut bar. This works perfectly and very very simple. :)
Beth Melton, author of What?? No Office Shortcut Bar for Office 2003??, writes...
Thanks for your feedback!
Yes, utilizing the Office Shortcut Bar from a previous version of Office is
another option and typically if your copy of Office 2003 is an upgrade
version then the Office Shortcut bar will still be available. It can also be
installed if you still have a previous version of Office. Unfortunately not
everyone has an older version of the OSB available to them.
Do note that there are a few drawbacks to using the OSB from a previous
version. The primary drawback is using Office Update. The previous version
of Office will also be recognized and you will need to install unnecessary,
and typically large, updates in order to update Office 2003.
Plus the installation of the OSB requires approximately 37MB and utilizes
system resources.
If the previous version works for you then by all means use it! :-)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP
Feedback
A reader writes...
I am using a If statement that will do this: a name from a list of 12 names will be type, and the forumula will read it from taht name, but the If statements only go to 7: [editor's note...line breaks added or page formatting purposes only]
=IF(AND(Sheet2!A2=1),"snoop",IF(AND(Sheet2!A2=2),
"Buckeyes",IF(AND(Sheet2!A2=3),"Buckeyes3",IF(AND(Sheet2!A2=4),
"Buckeyes4",IF(AND(Sheet2!A2=5),"Buckeyes5",IF(AND(Sheet2!A2=6),
"Buckeyes6",IF(AND(Sheet2!A2=7),"Buckeyes7")))))))
But using and I want it to use all 12 names, what am I missing?
Linda Johnson, author of Introduction to IF Statements in Excel, writes...
I'm not quite sure I'm understanding what you want, but there is NO way to
get around the limit of 7 in an IF statement....sounds to me like you need a
VLOOKUP. Read my article on VLOOKUPS in TechTrax here:
http://pubs.logicalexpressions.com/Pub0009/LPMArticle.asp?ID=446
Linda
Linda's Computer Stop
http://personal-computer-tutor.com
Further reader reply...
ok how bout this..
I have numbers, 1 thru 500, that someone hits a number, like 249, they get
points.
So 1-50=1; 51-100=2, so on and so on to 500.
I tried a =if(a1>1,<=50, "1",if(a1>=51,<=100, "2" But I can only use 7 if
statements.
I know you can use And in this statement, but I cant get it to work.
Does this make sense?
Further reply from Linda...
Nope...like I said, you need a vlookup....you need to make a table and put
50, 100, 150, 200, etc. in the first column...then put 1, 2, 3, etc. in the
second column....read my article on vlookups and just replace the FALSE with
TRUE
Linda
Linda's Computer Stop
http://personal-computer-tutor.com
Feedback
Russell from Randolph AFB, Texas, writes...
Regarding: http://pubs.logicalexpressions.com/Pub0009/LPMArticle.asp?ID=115
Your script at the link above is what I've been looking for for a long time. I would like to pass this along to other Functional Systems Administrators within our organization with your permission.
I think the next logical step would be to wrap this script in an HTA of HTML code. An suggestions how this might be approached? Thanks for the great script..
Greg Chapman, author of How Do You Diagnose a Windows System?, writes...
Russell,
Thanks and absolutely feel free to pass the script to wherever you wish!
That's the beauty of script! We all steal from each other (all script
authors, that is) and those scripts that are useful survive. Those that
aren't, well, they get replaced.
The only thing the folks at TechTrax ask is that you mark the script with
the URL where you got it, giving credit to TechTrax, and reference the URL
when telling others about the script.
Me? I'm just glad someone else finds this stuff useful!
As for HTA I haven't given that approach much thought. Have you looked at http://msdn.microsoft.com/workshop/author/hta/overview/htaoverview.asp to
see how this might be implemented?
Greg Chapman
http://www.mousetrax.com
http://www.layer1wireless.com
Feedback
Mike Dixon from Melbourne / Victoria / AUST, writes...
I installed Excel TP Controller (I run Office 2002 under Windows XP) and though it's recorded as correctly installed, I can find no reference in the Excel application to the dialog box from where I can control the Task pane appearance as noted in your screenshots.
Could you please help ?? It's driving me nuts and uninstalling and reinstalling the TP controller has not helped at all.
Regards From Australia
Beth Melton, author of Take Control of your Task Pane!, writes...
Hi Mike,
You might check to see if your Macro Security is set to High which could be
preventing the macro that installs the add-in to run. Go to
Tools/Macro/Security and verify it is set to at least Medium. (I don't
advise setting it to Low, btw).
If that doesn't work then you might try adding the add-in manually. Go to
Tools/Add-ins, click the Browse command and navigate to file for the Task
Pane Controller. Unless you specified otherwise it should be located at:
C:\Program Files\Task Pane Controller for Excel.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP
Further reader reply...
Hi Beth,
Thanks very much for replying .....
The Macro security was set at medium and the "Add-in" dialog box already has
Task Pane Controller ticked ....... still no result ..... I run another
add-in (ASAP Utilities) and I don't believe that is interfering with the
Task Pane Controller.
Could you tell me how the Task Pane Controller pane (shown below) is
accessed (drop down menu ??) once you've launched EXCEL ? Perhaps if I can
understand more on that point, I might have some success.
Further reply from Beth...
Hi Mike,
The "Task Pane Controller" command, found under the Tools menu is added in
using a macro. It's possible one of your other add-ins is interfering with
the menu addition.
If you really want to troubleshoot the issue then unload your other add-in,
restart Excel and then see if the command appears.
Otherwise if you are sure it is added in then you can launch the controller
using the following macro:
Sub TaskPaneController()
frmDismissTaskPane.Show
End Sub
This can be placed in your Personal.xls workbook and then you can assign the
macro to a menu/command item.
If you need additional assistance with the macro aspect just let me know and
I can provide some specific instructions.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP
Feedback
Candi from N, writes...
This is my first visit to TechTrax and I will definately bookmark your site. I just finish undergrad and am entering into the professional job market for the first time. I recent received a job offer with a great company. During the interview I was told that my position would use excel quite a bit. So I have been searching the web to find some info to refesh my knowledge of some of the excel functions as well as tricks and short cuts to dazzle them. Your site has helped me so much! Just reading the articles about multiprojects and vlookup certainly helped. The articles on surface contouring and watermarks we so informative. I wasn't exposed to those applications in college and I took several courses centered on Excel. So all I can say is keep up the good work!
Dian Chapman, Editor of TechTrax, writes...
Hey Candi...
GREAT...thanks so much for the wonderful comments and I'm glad what we offer
helps! Congrats and good luck with the new job. By the way, you should check
out my Resources page on MouseTrax...lots of good info there, too. And you
can find a lot more tutorials on my TechPage on MouseTrax. See these two
links...
http://www.mousetrax.com/resources.html
http://www.mousetrax.com/techpage.html
Again, thanks for taking the time to pass along your comments. It's really
great to know we can help!
Dian D. Chapman, Technical Consultant
Microsoft MVP, MOS Certified
Editor/TechTrax Ezine
Feedback
A reader writes...
How can I request this this monthly letter be sent to me in MS-Word format, rather than HTML format? Please reply.
Dian Chapman, Editor of TechTrax, writes...
Hi...
Go here:
http://www.mousetrax.com/techtrax.asp#ChangeEmail
Enter your email address and delete your current subscription.
Then go here: http://www.mousetrax.com/techtrax.asp#subscribe and resubscribe, this time select the DOC format.
HOWEVER! Know that the doc version does not have images as it is optimized
especially for our blind subscribers. If that's not a problem, then go for
it.
But know that you can also set your browser to download the site to read
offline or you can copy the article into your own docs with images. If these
sound of interest to you, read these links:
http://www.mousetrax.com/techtrax.asp#offline
http://pubs.logicalexpressions.com/Pub0009/LPMArticle.asp?ID=487
Dian D. Chapman, Technical Consultant
Microsoft MVP, MOS Certified
Editor/TechTrax Ezine
Feedback
Rick from Co writes...
Greg,
I have utilized your script from mousetrax for hard and soft asset inventory and found that it does a very good job of gathering the data. I want to put the data gathered (specifically that in the OS directory structure) into a hardware asset spread sheet but cannot figure out a good way to combine the data from each text file into a single spread sheet or database. I am hoping you have already addressed this need and I can save myself a good deal of time.
In either case, excellent work on the script and thank you for your time.
Greg Chapman, author of Hard and Soft Asset Management with VBScript!, writes...
Thanks, Rick! I appreciate the compliments!
In fact, it was because I was having trouble with getting consistent columns in Excel that the script does what it does now. Another way of looking at it is that I got lazy. Here's the problem (which I'm sure you've already considered):
Example:
System A has a single processor, 2 Gigs of physical memory
System B has 2 processors, 3 Gigs of physical memory
If I want the spreadsheet to be completely dynamic, that means the parsed results in CSV format look like this:
System A, CPU0-Intel yada, 2G
System B, CPU0-Intel yada, CPU1-Intel yada, 3G
As soon as the processor count changed, the columns became skewed and the information in the 3rd column contains both processor and memory values. The only other choice was to force a static report in Excel with a rigid number of processors that could be reported, etc.
I didn't like either choice and then decided to look at using a relational DB. Unfortunately, my own ignorance got in the way there. How should I set the relationships? How many tables should I use ideally? If System A has 300 installed apps and System B has 200 and only 50 of those apps are common between them, how should the DB be designed so that I get accurate results on a query per application?
That's why I decided to just parse the results out into refined text files showing the single point of commonality per detailed element. Microsoft Word XP.txt, for example shows every system which has Microsoft Word XP registered as installed, etc.
You're right, there has to be another way to think of this problem and arrive at a solution more usable in Excel, Access, SQL, what have you but I simply haven't figured out what it would be yet. Have you any ideas that survive those specifications?
Thanks again!
Greg Chapman
http://www.mousetrax.com
http://www.layer1wireless.com
Feedback
Elise writes...
Herb, I had to write to you and tell what a great article you wrote. Very
informative, witty, and educational. In my job, I have to do a lot of
importing from other applications into MS Word and I was going crazy with
all of the "find the Edit menu option.click.find the "Paste Special"
option.click.find the "Unformatted text" option.click.". Seriously, ARGH.
But then, out of desperation & curiosity, I ran a Google search for "paste
special unformatted text" and lo and behold. your article popped up and
saved me.
Herb Tyson, author of Paste Special Unformatted Text At Your Fingertips, writes...
Hi, Elise,
I'm glad the article is saving you some time. Over the years, I've found
that the simplest macros I've written have had the biggest impact on tedium.
Cheers,
Herb Tyson
http://www.herbtyson.com
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