Difference document in Word 2002

Hi ALL,

I just re-installed Word 2002 on a new PC and everything was working fine. Often times I need to compare two versions of the same document and produce a difference document with deleted words struck through and new words underlined. This worked fine.

Now for some reason I can't make it work. What I had done in the past was open the first document and save it under a different name then I go to Tools, Compare and Merge Documents and open the second document.

Before I got the marked up document showing both deleted and inserted words to get from the first document to the second. Now I get a merged document with words from both documents treated as inserted words and underlined. I've looked for some setting I may have messed up but haven't found anything.

I know this was working before, but now it isn't. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks,
Gerry

 

Gerryex--This should explain what to do with more recent versions of documents in Word
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1819538,00.asp

P.S. I am a subscriber to PCMag. I can access their archives, such as the one above. Please let me know if you cannot access this link for free.
Or you can go to a library and search for an article by John Dvorak titled
"Comparing Documents in Microsoft Word " which probably appeared in the May-July 2005 timeframe.

This reference also has some info
http://www.uis.harvard.edu/support_services/tips/compare_merge.pdf
but not near as much as the PCMag article.

 

Hi Welshjim,

THANKS!!!! That did it. Before I installed Word 2002 on my new PC I was in fact using Word 2000 and it was very easy to do a compare. When I initially started using Word 2002 that checkbox must have been checked and I was able to do the compare. Somehow I must have unchecked it by mistake and the COMPARE button became a MERGE button!!!


THANKS AGAIN,
Gerry

 

Gerryex--You are most welcome!
Thanks for posting back. Glad a suggestion helped.
If you have a moment, and are not a PCMag subscriber, were you able to access the PCMag article? I never know whether I am wasting people's time by posting links to PCMag.

 

Hi Jim,

Yes I was able to access the acticle. I am not a subcsriber to the web site, but I am a subscriber to the magazine.

Thanks again,
Gerry

P. S. I'm seriously considering dropping my subscription to PC Magazine as I really don't like the direction they are now going. Its more like a Popular Science type of magazine rather than a PC magazine!!

 

Gerryex--Thanks for your reply. It is good to know that you do not have to register your PCMag subscription to be able to access the articles on line.
I agree that PCMag has taken a couple of rather strange turns in the last two years. I used to think they were the magazine for moderately sophisticated PC users. But now...
I have kept my subscription only to be able to access the online content. Based on what you report, perhaps it is not necessary.
Perhaps the best magazine for me has become PCWorld. I used to feel they were too shallow. And Maximum PC's coverage has become too narrow.

 

Hi Jim,

Try Maximum PC. I have been a subscriber for several years and in my opinion it is the best PC magazine around. Its not as thick as some others but their articles have just the right combination of wit, technical info and how-to-do stuff. They're on-line at:

http://www.maximumpc.com/

I also get PCWorld, and while they're OK, Maximun PC is still much better!!

Thanks,
Gerry