KB191940 - WD2000: "User Options" File Location Path Has No Function

Article ID: 191940

Article Last Modified on 6/11/2002

Microsoft Word 2000 Standard Edition

This article was previously published under Q191940

IMPORTANT: This article contains information about modifying the registry. Before you modify the registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that you understand how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For information about how to back up, restore, and edit the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows Registry

SUMMARY

The User options setting is no longer used as in some earlier versions of Microsoft Word. If a path is set for User options, the path is ignored by Word and has no effect.

To show the User options setting, use the following steps:

On the Tools menu, click Options.
Click the File Locations tab.
In the File types list, select User options. The path for User options will be displayed under Location.

NOTE: The Location path for User options is blank by default. This option is not used in Word 2000.

MORE INFORMATION

The purpose of the User options file location in some earlier versions of Word is to point to the location of the Winword.opt file. Winword.opt is a binary file that some earlier versions of Word for Windows use to store user preference settings. Most user preferences are set when you click Options on the Tools menu and make changes to the various tabs. Word 2000 does not use an .opt file to store user preferences; instead, Word uses the Windows Registry to store the settings of user preferences.

WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

In Word 2000, user preferences are stored in the Windows Registry in the following registry keys:

   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\9.0\Word\Data

   -and-

   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\9.0\Word\Options

NOTE: If a path is set for User options, an INI-PATH string value will be set in the Options registry key; however, because Word no longer uses this setting, it will be ignored.

Keywords: kbinfo KB191940