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Somehow on my wife computer the default Microsoft keyboard shortcut scheme was changed into some "legacy scheme". This is the 2nd time she managed to do it and the last time I was only able to resolve it by opening a new user account for her. This only applies to Word, other office applications still have the normal shortcuts. Any ideas?

Update: some more details. The OS is Windows 7 x64. Office 2000 is not fully compatible with it but it is good enough.
Now, it is possible to change the keyboard shortcuts one by one via "Customize Keyboard" but obviously this is not how she changed it in the first place. She is not an advanced user and doesn't go to the options menu. My wild speculations are:

  • Since Word keeps some of the settings in the files perhaps some file she opened changed the default settings.
  • Some mysterious keystroke sequence that her fingers tend to like.
  • Some website that manages to change it.

The 2 things I hope to find out are:

  1. How did she enter this mode.
  2. How do I revert it in a single shot by copying over some file or importing a registry file. So basically where does Word keep its keyboard shortcuts.

I did try to copy the normal.dot template from my account over hers but it didn't solve the issue.

4 Answers 4

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If it's happened recently then you could rollback to a System Restore point? Or use the Restore Point Manager to investigate if some installation caused it? (ie rollback to before the fault, then see what's been installed since)

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Does she have Word Perfect Mode enabled? Is there a WPM indicator in the bottom of the window that looks like it is enabled? Double click it to disable.

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  • No, there is no WPM indicator and the compatibility tab in 'Options' is set to Microsoft Word 2000
    – Gur
    Jan 13, 2012 at 20:14
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If your Windows language is not (only) English then read on:

Try to select English as the default keyboard language (control panel -> regional settings -> keyboard) and re-start word to see if the issue is gone (see https://superuser.com/a/659310/257859).

If you don't want to change the default keyboard language there is another workaround but this time you'll have to change the language of the menus and help of Word (see https://superuser.com/a/662368/257859)


BTW it's indeed a legacy scheme from Windows 3 era and it is called IBM Common User Access mode.

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Log in as Administrator, then go to your Wife's profile under C:\User\Wifey and delete the file ntuser.dat (you might need to enable show hidden files).

Log In with your Wife's account.

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