Am I being stupid? (Word doc question)

[seun]

I'm on Windows 7 at home and XP at work. Last night, I emailed myself a document at home which I planned on going over at work this morning, figuring it would look exactly the same on both systems. My email attachment has opened with all the comments and changes my editor and I made still on display - which is how it was before I worked on it. My edits are still there alongside the comments so I haven't lost a night's work, but it still doesn't look as I expected.

Am I missing something or is this because of the two different systems?

[EMaree]

Can you describe the difference between how it looks now and how it looked at home?

The only change that comes to mind is your comments will be in a different colour as those comments will be recognised as a seperate 'person' to your work PC.

[onesecondglance]

Which version of Word are you using, and is it the same version in both places?

Are you saying that you're seeing old edits alongside the new ones? On the Track Changes menu you can choose to show the "final" version with or without markup, or the "original" version with or without markup.

Also worth checking the "Show" options on the Track Changes menu, particularly the "Balloons" setting (I'm currently looking at Word 2003, so don't know if it's called something different on other versions). For instance, if you had "balloons" off, then a deletion would look like this:

Blah blah blah

But with them on it would display a bit like this:

Blah .blah

With the red bit linking to a floating comment showing the deleted text.

[Terie]

The Track Changes display settings are at the system level, not the document level, so if you have different display settings on your work PC from your home PC, they'll look different. The content will be the same, but the appearance will differ. To check the various settings, go to the Review tab, click the lower part of the Track Changes button, and select Change Tracking Options. Note the various settings and change as required to get your systems in sync. Also compare/change the settings in the dropdown boxes on the right side of the Tracking area (immediately to the right of the Track Changes button).

[seun]

Word at work is Word 2003. The one at home must be newer (as Windows 7 is newer than XP).

As for what it looks like, all the comments I dealt with and then deleted are back along with the changes I made. So this for example:

...an untidy pile of papers and a paperback book book.

The word 'book' wasn't in the original sentence. It was added and I accepted the change. But on this version of the document, it's displayed as it is above.

[seun]

Originally Posted by Terie

The Track Changes display settings are at the system level, not the document level, so if you have different display settings on your work PC from your home PC, they'll look different. The content will be the same, but the appearance will differ. To check the various settings, go to the Review tab, click the lower part of the Track Changes button, and select Change Tracking Options. Note the various settings and change as required to get your systems in sync. Also compare/change the settings in the dropdown boxes on the right side of the Tracking area (immediately to the right of the Track Changes button).

Give me a few minutes to play with this. Or maybe longer. Computers aren't my thing at all.

ETA: I've had a play and found where I can hide/delete the comments which is a start. What's worrying me is at least a couple of the changes I made last night appear to have vanished. Am thinking it might better to just leave this until I get home and can see the 'proper' document.

ETA2: Panic over. All is as it should be. I've got the doc without the comments and insertions all the place and my changes are where they should be. Thanks for your help, all.

[Terie]

Originally Posted by seun

Give me a few minutes to play with this. Or maybe longer. Computers aren't my thing at all.

ETA: I've had a play and found where I can hide/delete the comments which is a start. What's worrying me is at least a couple of the changes I made last night appear to have vanished. Am thinking it might better to just leave this until I get home and can see the 'proper' document.

ETA2: Panic over. All is as it should be. I've got the doc without the comments and insertions all the place and my changes are where they should be. Thanks for your help, all.

That last is probably a good idea, just to be safe.

The UI changes between 2003 and 2007 are, as you know, huge, and Track Changes (ahem) changed even more. You can actually work in both versions with Track Changes, but you'll have to practice a bit to get used to the differences.

As far as things seeming to have vanished, you might possibly have attached the file before saving? (Not that I've ever done anything like that, no never, not me [whistles tunelessly and gazes skyward].) Not saying you did, but that's pretty common -- and embarrassing when you're e-mailing to someone else, not yourself! If that's not the case, I could try to help you offlist. PM me, if you need more help. I'm pretty good at troubleshooting Word.

[seun]

Originally Posted by Terie

As far as things seeming to have vanished, you might possibly have attached the file before saving? (Not that I've ever done anything like that, no never, not me [whistles tunelessly and gazes skyward].) Not saying you did, but that's pretty common -- and embarrassing when you're e-mailing to someone else, not yourself! If that's not the case, I could try to help you offlist. PM me, if you need more help. I'm pretty good at troubleshooting Word.

Thanks. I think everything's OK, now. I closed it all down without saving any of my fiddling, went back to it and it looked as it should. Phew.

[Terie]

Originally Posted by seun

Thanks. I think everything's OK, now. I closed it all down without saving any of my fiddling, went back to it and it looked as it should. Phew.

Glad to hear it!

[Wilde_at_heart]

Originally Posted by seun

Give me a few minutes to play with this. Or maybe longer. Computers aren't my thing at all.

ETA: I've had a play and found where I can hide/delete the comments which is a start. What's worrying me is at least a couple of the changes I made last night appear to have vanished. Am thinking it might better to just leave this until I get home and can see the 'proper' document.

ETA2: Panic over. All is as it should be. I've got the doc without the comments and insertions all the place and my changes are where they should be. Thanks for your help, all.

Glad it got sorted. MS Word/Windows 7 always makes me feel stupid

I was scrolling with my mouse and accidentally must have clicked something in that dreaded ribbon because I got the same thing for a bit.