Microsoft KB Archive/112496

= WD: "The Global Template Is Already Open..." Error Starting Word =

Article ID: 112496

Article Last Modified on 1/18/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Word 6.0 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Word 6.0a
 * Microsoft Word 6.0c
 * Microsoft Word 95 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Word 95a
 * Microsoft Word 97 Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q112496



SYMPTOMS
The following series of error messages may occur when you start Word for Windows:

The global template, NORMAL.DOT, is already open as an add-in program.

Too many Word documents are open. Please close a window.

Word cannot open this document template.

You may have to click OK several times to close the last error message dialog box.



CAUSE
Case 1: These errors occur if the File Locations "Startup" setting points to the same location as the "User Templates" setting, which is the TEMPLATES subdirectory. (To view the Startup setting, click Options from the Tools menu and select the File Locations tab.)

For example, these errors occur if both your User Template and startup settings point to C:\WINWORD\TEMPLATE.

Case 2: This error can also be caused by the absence of a BUFFERS line in the CONFIG.SYS.



RESOLUTION
Case 1: Use the following instructions to change the Startup setting location to the STARTUP subdirectory:

 On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the File Locations Tab. In the File Types list, select Startup and then click the Modify button. In the Modify Locations dialog box, select the STARTUP directory and then click OK.

NOTE: The following are the default STARTUP directory paths:

Word 97: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Startup

Word 6.0 and 7.0: C:\Msoffice\Winword\Startup



Case 2: To correct the second cause of this problem, use a text editor to add the following line to the contents of the CONFIG.SYS file:

BUFFERS=30

NOTE: This is valid on a Windows 3.1x platform. Windows 95 does not require a CONFIG.SYS file, but will read it if one exists. If the BUFFERS statement is set too low, then the problem could exist on a Windows 95 platform. To resolve this, you can set BUFFERS=30 or remove the BUFFERS statement from the CONFIG.SYS file and Windows will set the default BUFFERS on a Windows 95 platform.

