HOW TO: Ignore User Settings When You Start Word 2000

This step-by-step article describes how to ignore user option settings when you start Word 2000.

With the /a switch, you can start Word without loading the following components:

• The global template (Normal.dot)
• Any add-in templates in the Startup folder
• Any add-in libraries (.dll files)
• User settings stored in the Data key in the Windows registry

NOTE: When you start Word with the /a switch, changes that you make in Word that affect any of these components are not written to disk when you quit Word, and the changes are lost.

Start Word with the /a Switch

To start Word with the /a switch, follow these steps:

1. On the taskbar, click Start, and then click Run.
2. In the Run dialog box, click Browse.
3. Browse to the folder that contains Winword.exe, (typically C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office), click Winword.exe, and then click Open.
   
   This fills in the Open box in the Run dialog box.
4. In the Open box, place the insertion point after winword.exe.
   
   NOTE: The path to the Winword.exe file in the Run dialog box is enclosed in quotation marks. Be sure to place the insertion point to the right of the closing quotation mark.
5. Press SPACEBAR, and then type /a.
   
   The statement in the Open box should now resemble the following:
   
   "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Winword.exe" /a
6. Click OK to start Word with the /a switch.

For additional information, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: