I just noticed that was three posts in a row from Wisconsinites telling you to stick with what ya got.
We cheeseheads are nothing if not practical.
Eve what model Toshiba laptop do you have?
If you’ve got a brand-new computer that came with MS Works (I’m guessing version 7.0), you’ve already got Word 2002. The word processor in Works is absolutely identical to Word; there are no features left out whatsoever. You don’t need to buy anything else.
To check what version you’ve got, launch Works, then, on the tool bar, select Help, then About… That should show you the version number you’ve got (I don’t have Works, but I’m guessing that this info is in the same place it appears in every other MS application).
Just visit the MS website and make sure you’ve got the latest updates/patches for Works.
Well, I am going to learn how to use what’s on there, thanks. The big question will be how to make documents at home out of text I put onto a CD here at work. I’ll figure it out eventually, hit-or-miss.
Eve, luv. Former Wisconsinite (so I’m practical!) and current tech writer checking in. Don’t buy Word just yet (even though you’ve already stated you’re not going to).
First off, since it’s a Microsoft and word processing product, I’d be hanged if Works doesn’t have the capabilities to save in .doc or .rtf format. Don’t worry about the jargon - these are just file extensions that Word can open easily. To check, go to File --> Save As and check what options are available in the Save as Type pull-down list. If .doc or .rtf is listed, no worries, you’re golden. You can save your files in either of these formats and Word will open them, usually preserving most formatting.
As for the work to home issue, Copy and Paste is your friend, regardless of what the text was produced in. It’d be easier and faster to just open the stuff natively in the correct application, but if you can’t do that, copy and paste works just as well.
Feel free to email me if you’d like - I believe it’s in the profile.
Snicks
What format is the text on the CD? Are they simply text files? If so, then you can load text files directly into Word, no problem. Or you can use cut-and-paste to paste the text into a new (or existing) Word document.
If the text on the CD was created with a different word processor, Word may not be able to read the file, but cut and paste may work. You may need to save the file as a text document before you put it on the CD.
What is the extension of the file that contains the text on the CD?
Actually, If you just want a typewriter on your computer - go for WordPad, which is included in Windows. It’ll handle almost everything you need right now, without a gazillion options that’ll just make you frustrated. Once you’re familiar with that, you can open the written document in Word, and then create the indexes, columns and what have you.
Mind you, Word is NOT a good publishing tool, whatever Microsoft try to sell us. Sure, it’s possible to do columns, include pictures and do webpages with it. But I wouldn’t do it, and I’ve worked with word since 1991.
Wordpad and Notepad don’t necessarily have a spell check. Notepad doesn’t have a lot of options to put documents into a good manuscript format.
Damn, I forgot about Spell-Check . . . I’ll have to see if this program has it.
Works and Word (not Wordpad) both have a spellchecker. Eve, you can check the version of your word processor by going to the help menu at the top of the screen and then clicking the “About (insert your word processors name here)” function. That will help us give you better advice. If you do it on your browser for example, it will say Internet Explore Version 1.1 or whatever number in the dialogue box that pops up.