Unfortunately, some proprietary platforms seem to run two instances of MSword (as best as I can tell) which prevents you from saving your normal dot. My post was addressed specifically to those who are encountering that problem. An Autoclose/AutoExit macro should save the normal dot for you, and may be the ONLY way you can save it, even if you have selected the prompt for normal save on your options toolbar.
In any case, autoclose and/or autoexit macro that saves your normal dot will ensure that most, if not all of your recent autocorrect/autotext/macros present in your normal dot are saved, should you have an unexpected power failure or crash, or if you are using a template that is provided to you by an employer -- a template which may have been programmed in such a way as to prevent your normal dot from being when you exit word.
In any case, whether or not the "prompt to save normal template" is selected really shouldn't affect whether or not the normal is saved, the normal should automatically be saved as you exit MsWord. The fact that normal.dot doesn't always save is, or worse vanishes entirely, is just one of these weird idiosyncracies which sometimes makes word (which really is a pretty wonderful program) so frustrating to use. (Hint, back up your normal.dot -- frequently!)
In my experience, the only time that a template reliably does not save is if you are writing macros (as opposed to recording macros) and if you fail to manually save your changes inside your Editor before exiting word.
I have had the experience more than once of opening word to find that my newly programmed template is gone -- sometimes representing many hours of work -- and that is where "the prompt to save" toolbar option really can be useful.
In short, I am fully aware of the "prompt to save normal" in the options toolbar (and mine is selected to prompt) and if I had thought this was best solution for the professional medical transcriptionist, I would not have bothered posting this information in the first place.
So to make a long post short: The best solution to make absolutely sure your normal dot is saved is to use autoclose and/or autoexit macros that instruct word to save your normal template, and don't just depend on the "save normal prompt" on your toolbar. Regard it as an extra precaution, which is what it really is, don't depend on it, it can get unselected, and poof your normal.dot is gone!
For someone who just writes an occasional letter or term paper on with MSword the occasional loss of the normal.dot, albeit aggravating, probably isn't all that serious, but for the MT who depends on her paycheck to support her family, losing her normal dot and its 37,954 autocorrect entries is a real economic hardship. She just might appreciate knowing that there is something she can do to prevent this from happening, even though you happen to think it is "complicated."
Isn't this forum here to provide fellow MTs with useful information they can use or not as they please? Medical transcription after all, isn't a game or a hobby, it is real grown-up work, and it is prudent to take the time do real grown up things to maintain the tools of the trade.
Unlike some posts I have seen, particularly on the word-help forum that just make me want to scream, I will not post useless or wrong information -- even if it is "complicated" -- after all it's just information. Writing autoclose/autoexit macros to save your normal dot are not pointless or useless exercises; and in any case you can disregard my posts, or not, as you please.
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No I'm not making it harder. you shouldn't rely on the 'prompt to save' as your only def - TheMacroDiva
