Cannot associate .docx/.xlsx with Office 2013 programs

When you have more than one version of Word installed, you can't use the built-in methods to correct the file associations. If there is any chance that you will be using Word 2007, you will need to create NoReReg keys in the Registry to keep the two versions from constantly fighting over which is the top dog; see http://jay-freedman.info/norereg.html.

To make Word 2013 the dominant program, you will need to reregister it manually. To do this, you must first find the complete path to the winword.exe executable. You will then need to run a command such as:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\OFFICE15\WINWORD.EXE" /r

To do this, open the Run box (you can use the Windows logo key +R or see http://youtu.be/bNEfnhSn2Ag

The path shown above is the one for Windows 7; yours may be different. You can do the same thing for Excel, substituting the path for Excel.exe in the Office15 folder and using the /regserver switch.

For more on running side-by-side Word versions, see http://www.gmayor.com/Toolbars_in_word_2007.htm (note that the original purpose of this article drives the first portion of it, but if you persevere, there is valuable information farther down).

Dear Suzanne

I was actually working very fine previously on Word 2013 along side word 2007 installed. But this problem came just a week ago.

I tried the the re-register thing "/r" but it did not work. I can still open word 13 but I need to open it but clicking the word 13 icon and not the file itself. If I try opening the file it opens in word 2007.

I am currently working on my thesis and so its of prime concern that any of the solutions do not corrupt the file or make any permanent changes in the MS Office.

Also do you think restoring my system to a previous date when I created any restore point will help, as earlier everything was fine. What settings will be affected by that?

In order to run 2 versions of Office on the same computer you have to have the "NoReReg" key as described by Suzanne. It is required to suppress the "configuring" process when you switch between versions.  After you have the NoReReg key added to the registry for both versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint you can do an Office Repair to Office 2013 to set the defaults to point to 2013. 

At least that is the way it is supposed to work.

Doing Office Repair will not corrupt any of your data files, and will only fix any issues with Office.

**********

There is a known problem with December Windows updates and Office, but the reports mention different symptoms

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/12/23/microsoft_patch_mashes_office_forms_and_macros/

Now comes news that MS14-082, one of December's seven fixes, can cause Office to misbehave.

Microsoft's mea culpa reports problems with ActiveX forms and broken macros when both Office 2013 and Office 2007 are present.

Thesis

Since you are working on an extremely high value (to you) and extremely time sensitive document you must take extreme steps to protect your document.

You have to be paranoid. Assume that Word will carp out on you at the worst possible time (like right before a time sensitive deadline!). Why do I say this. Because we get MANY paniced postings asking for help with lost or corrupt thesis files around Xmass and end of term in April!

This file you are working on is HIGH VALUE (to you). You MUST take extra steps to protect the time and creativity you have invested in this file. You MUST make frequent backups.

A good general rule for backups is:

o at least 3 copies of any file,

o at least 2 different storage mediums (say on your hard drive plus at least one of the following: thumb drive, DVD or the cloud),

o at least 1 copy offsite -- in case of fire etc!  (ie the “cloud” meets this requirement, so does using a thumb drive moved to a different building, or a server in a different building)

    Steve Gibson

PS: yes “correct” the plural of medium is media, but I don’t speak latin! <grin>

You can do your backups manually or make use of automated tools.  A strategy I have used is timed backups during the editing session (5 minute). Then the final end of day save is copied to second medium. I rotate the “second” medium with an Offsite copy.  Once a week I go in and clean up the 5 minute incremental backups to keep just the end of day copy (to free up space!)

I have used the “autohistory” tool at codeplex. It is easy to use, but like any automated process it uses up a lot of space.

Unfortunately, although Office apps have been around since the the mid 1980’s, MS has not figured out that we need a good “Autosave” backup feature. In the past there was a “versions” feature in some office apps, but it only kept incremental copies of files, not full files. Win7 has a file “versions” feature, but it is tied into “System Recovery Points”. Not very useful.  The following links tell how to setup macros that run automatically and use SAVEAS to save full copies of the file with the date/time included in the file name. You have to manually delete the “extra” backup files, but you control the process rather than Windows or Office. It is a bit more work, but I find it worth it for very important files that are changing frequently.

https://autohistory.codeplex.com/

Creates a Date&Timestamped copy of file every time you perform a normal Save. You can access any of the older versions. It creates a folder for each document affected. You have to the option of creating a single “universal” backup location.  The History is located in a NEW GROUP on the View Tab.

http://www.gmayor.com/automatically_backup.htm

Graham has created an addin that does something MS should have done 20+ years ago.

<snip>

Contrary to popular opinion, Word has no integral means of automatically saving the current document, nor of backing-up the current document. What it does have is an option to save AutoRecover information after a specific and configurable interval and an option to save a backup copy of the previously saved version of the document with the default file extension of WBK (and although there is no reason to do so, Word also allows the option to change this extension to the user’s choice). This is not a true backup in as much as it is not a copy of the current version of the document.

A function to create a true automatic backup is provided by the Save In Two Places add-in which is detailed in a separate page, There is also available from this web site a complementary add-in which provides numbered versions of a document. Again that has its own web page.

</snip>

http://www.gmayor.com/save_numbered_versions.htm

http://www.gmayor.com/SaveVersionsAdd-In.htm

http://www.word.mvps.org/FAQs/MacrosVBA/SaveIncrementedFilename.htm

http://word.tips.net/T001469_Saving_Everything.html

http://wordribbon.tips.net/T011760_Controlling_Names_of_Backup_Files.html

http://www.gmayor.com/SaveInTwoPlacesAddIn.htm

Performs a normal save in one location, then does a DOS copy to the second location (ie USB)

http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=731710&seqNum=5

http://www.winsupersite.com/article/windows8/windows-8-tip-enable-file-history-143579

http://www.greatcirclelearning.com/software/zapps-apps/zapps-apps-collection

The zAPPs-apps Collection adds functionality to Microsoft Office Word, PowerPoint and Excel to automate common work tasks and automatically save local copies of your files. Your ability to reuse content is optimized, your ability to work with images is enhanced, and copies of your files are saved locally every time you save so that you can instantly go back to a usable copy if you have a crash or overwrite content you need. The zAPPs-apps Collection streamlines and accelerates your work process.

The Collection contains 16 tools that run in Excel, PowerPoint and Word to help you:

http://blogs.technet.com/b/office2010/archive/2009/09/22/helping-you-recover-your-work-in-office-2010.aspx

http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=731710

http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=731710&seqNum=2

http://www.msofficetuneup.com/2008/06/01/making-backups-as-you-work-in-word-2007/

Even if you’re using the macros earlier in the chapter to save your work frequently, you can still lose data if your hard drive crashes. So we’ve all learned from hard experience not only to save our work regularly, but also to make periodic backup copies. The macro I use most often in Word is one that does both in a single procedure! That is, the macro not only saves your work, but it also makes a backup copy on another drive, such as a removable disk, a second hard drive, or a network folder. Listing 1 shows the code.

Listing 1 A Procedure That Creates a Backup Copy of the Active Document on Another Drive

The backupFile and currFile variables are strings that store the full pathnames for the active document and the backup version of the document. Use the BACKUP_FOLDER constant to specify the folder in which you want the backup stored.

The procedures first check to see if the backup operation is necessary. In other words, if the document has no unsaved changes (the Saved property returns True) or if it’s a new, unsaved document (the Path property returns “”), bail out of the procedure (by running Exit Sub).

Otherwise, a new Bookmark object is created to save the current position in the document, screen updating is turned off, and the file is saved.

We’re now ready to perform the backup. First, the currFile variable is used to store the full pathname of the document, and the pathname of the backup file is built with the fol­lowing statement:

backupFile = BACKUP_FOLDER + .Name

This is used to save the file to the specified folder. The actual backup takes place via the SaveAs method, which saves the document to the path given by backupFile. From there, the procedure closes the backup file, reopens the original file, and uses the GoTo method to return to the original position within the document.

TIP

Using a Bookmarkobject to reset the insertion point is useful because it takes you back to the exact point in the document where you were before the backup started. However, you may be interested only in returning to the last position within the document where an edit occurred. If that’s the case, use the following statement in place of the Selection.GoTo statement:
Application.GoBack
Note, however, that there’s a bug in the GoBackmethod, whereby Word doesn’t save the last edit position (technically, it’s a hidden bookmark named \PrevSel1) in some cases. Specifically, when you exit Word, if you elect to save changes in the last document that gets closed, Word doesn’t save the last edit position in that document.

     http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=731710&seqNum=5

http://word.tips.net/T000427_Saving_in_Document_Format_from_a_Macro.html

http://www.labnol.org/software/google-docs-with-microsoft-office/18815/

Although using the cloud does not inherently include timed backup, it does provide a useful backup function. Saving copies to the cloud eliminates the danger of losing your physical local copies, ie losing a HD or USB Thumb drive.

http://word.tips.net/T000157_A_Real_AutoSave.html

http://excel.tips.net/T002774_Saving_in_Multiple_Locations.html

http://excel.tips.net/T003042_Saving_in_Two_Locations.html

If the drive letter assigned to your USB drive is always the same, you can use code like the following in the ThisWorkbook module.

Change the “J” to the appropriate drive letter.

If the drive letter may change but the volume label is always the same, use code like the following in the ThisWorkbook code module:

Change VolumeName to the appropriate volume name.

In the last issue of WordTips there were a number of readers that got the idea that I was suggesting that people should use the FastSave feature. In fact, I got quite a bit of feedback on that tip, some of it quite pointed. (According to one reader, I was even “irresponsible.” Another stated that I was doing a disservice to readers.)

I am sorry if I gave the impression that I thought FastSave is a great idea. That is far from the truth; I do not. There are several other “features” of Word that I think are ill conceived or totally unnecessary, as well. It doesn’t change the fact that they are features and people can use them, if they desire. WordTips are not designed to promote one method of doing something over another, but to provide alternative ideas that people can incorporate into their Word use, if they so desire.

With that being said, let me point out specifically why you should not use the FastSave feature.

• Other word processors may not be able to open Word documents saved with the FastSave feature enabled. For instance, WordPerfect says it can open Word documents, yet some versions of WordPerfect cannot open FastSaved Word documents.
• Third-party software designed to work with Word documents (such as some grammar checkers, document management programs, and desktop publishing software) will not work correctly with FastSaved Word documents.
• Find File (either in Word or in Windows) may not work correctly with FastSaved Word documents.
• FastSave results in more complex files being saved on disk. Any time you increase complexity, you run the risk of corrupting the files easier.
• FastSaved files take up more disk space.
• There have been reports of macro viruses “living on” in FastSaved documents, even though you thought you had them removed.
• The list could go on and on, but you get the idea. In short, unless you have a specific need to use FastSave (such as if you are only creating simple documents using Word 6 on a slow 286 machine), it is probably a good idea to turn it off. The FastSave feature is turned on by default in all versions of Word, even in the original Word 97. Only if you are using Word 97 SR-1 is it turned off by default.

As a side note, according to the Microsoft Knowledge Base there are several circumstances under which a FastSave is not done by Word, even if you have enabled the feature. These circumstances include the following:

• When you save a document for the first time. (This makes sense, right?) This includes when you choose Save As to save under a new name or in a new location.
• When your document is saved on a network server or remote volume. (Word only performs a FastSave to a local volume.)
• When Word reaches the limit of how much information it can save using the FastSave option. In this case Word does a normal save, and then again starts using FastSave for future saves.

Nuff said? (I hate it when I’m irresponsible.)

http://excelribbon.tips.net/T011079_Saving_All_Open_Workbooks.html

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/131333   (this tip is old, I didn’t test it)

http://skp.mvps.org/seqsave.htm

Here is an article about doing various types of file and system backups in Win 8/8.1

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wiki/windows_8-files/windows-881-total-backup-system-what-ms-forgot-to/06f16f5e-6e82-4332-b39e-7d674d8fea28?tm=1414346084295