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Thread ID: 107432 2010-02-15 20:43:00 Track changes in MWord97 John H (8) Press F1
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858807 2010-02-15 20:43:00 Hi folks

This is driving me crazy and I hope you can help.

As you would expect, new documents open in MSWord97 with track changes turned off. However, there are a few documents on my PC that I use as precedents, and they always start up with track changes turned on when I don't want that to happen. The original original original versions of each of these docs way back when were evidently set up to open with track changes turned on by default.

I am stumped - where do I find a way of turning off that default setting for this kind of document? I can of course turn it off each time I open a document like this, but I would prefer to remove the default setting. Turning it off for a document and then saving the doc as something else does not remove the default track changes.

Any ideas? Thanks for any help. 		John H (8)
858808 2010-02-16 04:20:00 I had issues once, when opening older versions documents would save as .dot rather than .doc. So I fixed it via Tools - Options - file locations. So perhaps try modify settings within those Option tabs kahawai chaser (3545)
858809 2010-02-16 04:34:00 Thanks KC. I have gone through all the Options upside down and inside out, (and there are heaps in Word97) and I simply can't find any option that starts or stops this behaviour. :badpc:

Thanks for the idea. 		John H (8)
858810 2010-02-16 06:32:00 There are probably utilities to remove tracked changes like MS Word Accept or Reject (www.download3000.com) - but you have to pay (and maybe hope they work properly).

Or try importing/uploading online somewhere (e.g. Google Docs), which may remove unwanted settings/format. Then download/convert back to word. But back up first. Maybe get Abiword (http://www.abisource.com/)to import - export back, and hopefully the tacked features are removed. 		kahawai chaser (3545)
858811 2010-02-16 07:35:00 If you open up a precedent document (open the template . dot if there is one), turn off tracking, and save it, does that solve the issue? I think the track changes setting is simply saved in the document .

You'd need to do it for each document .

If it's not just the precedents but all documents that are affected you need to open up normal . dot and change the setting there before saving it again .

Do a backup of all the precedents somewhere safe before you start experimenting, I can't imagine what could go wrong but you never know . :)

cheers
W 		waldok (15185)
858812 2010-02-16 10:11:00 Have you tried accepting all changes first before turning it off? Jen (38)
858813 2010-02-16 19:53:00 Well, using your suggestions in an indirect way, I seem to have found a way out of the mess .

@Jen - that was my first port of call - I tried that several times, but it doesn't turn off track changes "permanently" . It is there each time I open a document like this .

@KC - I tried Abiword, but no go . When I imported it back, all the formatting had gone up the boohai, so it would have taken ages to restore that . Your first suggestion (MS Word Accept or Reject) didn't seem like a goer when I checked it out on its link . However, the idea of export/import was very helpful as you will see . . .

@waldok - that exact method didn't work, but a combination of your idea and KC's set me thinking . . .

I tried saving one of the precedents which was a . docx (with Track Changes off and all changes accepted) as . rtf, then re-opened it with Word . Track Changes came back, so no improvement there .

I then opened the Normal template and the precedent document, Control A copied all of the contents of the precedent document into the template, and saved it with a new title as . docx .

Voila! It works, and the Normal template is unaffected too . When I open the new version of the precedent document, Track Changes is not the default position any more .

So thank you all for your ideas - they weren't exact (although Waldok was 99% there), but together they set off a train of thought that sorted things out . I love this place, except when politics are being discussed!!! ;) 		John H (8)
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