Microsoft KB Archive/327871

= WD2002: Compare and Merge Documents Feature Shows Inaccurate Changes =

Article ID: 327871

Article Last Modified on 4/7/2006

-

APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Word 2002 Standard Edition

-



This article was previously published under Q327871



SYMPTOMS
When you use the Compare and Merge Documents feature in Microsoft Word to compare a revised document with the original version of a document, inaccurately marked changes appear in the revised document.



CAUSE
This problem may occur when the Random Security Identifiers (RSIDs) are missing from the documents that are being compared or merged.

RSIDs may be missing when any one of the following conditions is true in at least one of the documents that is being compared or merged:
 * At least one of the documents has been edited and saved in an earlier version of Microsoft Word.

-or-
 * At least one of the documents has been saved as Web Page (*.htm; *.html) or as Web Page, Filtered (*.htm; *.html).

-or-
 * The Store random number to improve merge accuracy option is turned off.



Service Pack Information
This problem is corrected in Office XP Service Pack 3.To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Microsoft Office XP. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

307841 How to obtain the latest Office XP Service Pack

Hotfix Information
A supported fix is now available from Microsoft, but it is only intended to correct the problem described in this article. Only apply it to systems that are experiencing this specific problem. This fix may receive additional testing to further ensure product quality. Therefore, if you are not severely affected by this problem, Microsoft recommends that you wait for the next Microsoft Office XP service pack that contains this fix.

To resolve this problem immediately, contact Microsoft Product Support Services to obtain the fix. For a complete list of Microsoft Product Support Services phone numbers and information about support costs, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;EN-US;CNTACTMS

Note In special cases, charges that are ordinarily incurred for support calls may be canceled if a Microsoft Support Professional determines that a specific update will resolve your problem. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for the specific update in question.

The global version of this fix has the file attributes (or later) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in coordinated universal time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time tool in Control Panel.   Date         Time   Size       File Name 10-Jan-2003 08:01  5,856,560  Winword.msp 10-Jan-2003 08:48  6,626,108  Winwordff.msp After the hotfix is installed, the following files will have the listed attributes or later:   Date         Time   Version      Size        File Name 09-Jan-2003 22:31  10.0.4907.0  10,598,984  Winword.exe This fix is a post-Office XP Service Pack 2 (SP-2) fix. To install the fix, you must have Office XP SP-2 installed. For additional information about Office XP SP-2, click the following article number to see the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

325671 OFFXP: Overview of the Office XP Service Pack 2

Additionally, you may have to install Windows Installer 2.0 to install this fix. For additional information about the Windows Installer requirement for post-Office XP SP-2 fixes, click the following article number to see the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

330537 OFFXP: Office XP Updates and Patches Released After September 2002 May Require Windows Installer 2.0



WORKAROUND
To maintain accuracy when you compare and merge documents:  Create and make changes to documents in Word 2002. Do not use an earlier version of Microsoft Word to make editing changes to a document that you want to compare or merge.

-and- Make sure that the Store random number to improve merge accuracy option is turned on in Microsoft Word for each person who will make changes to the document that you want to compare or merge.

To verify that the Store random number to improve merge accuracy option is turned on, follow these steps:  On the Tools menu, click Options. Click the Security tab, and then make sure that the Store random number to improve merge accuracy check box is selected. Click OK to close the Options dialog box.</li></ol>

Note By default, the Store random number to improve merge accuracy option is turned on when you install Microsoft Word.</li></ul>

<div class="status_section">

STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article. This problem was first corrected in Office XP Service Pack 3.

<div class="moreinformation_section">

MORE INFORMATION
When you compare and merge documents, Word uses randomly generated numbers (RSIDs) to track related documents. Although these numbers are hidden, they may be used to demonstrate that two documents are related. Word may fail to merge any existing revisions to a document when the RSIDs for a document are missing.

Additional query words: kb2hr1

Keywords: kbbug kbfix kbqfe kbofficexppresp3fix kbhotfixserver KB327871

-

[mailto:TECHNET@MICROSOFT.COM Send feedback to Microsoft]

© Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.