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"I need to share a Word document with several co-workers. Is there a way to make a Word document read-only, so my co-workers can see the contents but can't change docment?"

Microsoft Word and other apps in Microsoft Office allow you to make read only files. Keep in mind this only prevents someone changing the read-only version of the document, not preventing them from saving a copy of the Word document and changing the copy. To make a Word document read-only follow a few simple steps.

"I have a .docx file someone sent me that I think is a Microsoft Word 2007 file. I have Word 2003, but it won't open the file. Is there a way I can open a Word 2007 file without the right version of Microsoft Word?"

Microsoft made some changes to Word when it came out with Word 2007 and carried many of those changes on into Word 2010. Among them was a change in the files created. Fortunately they didn't leave us all in the lurch - they provided software you can download to make those Word 2007 files work with older versions of Word. There are also some other options for opening those Word files if you don't have any version of Microsoft Office installed.

"How can I dedupe a list of information in Excel to display only unique data?"

The best way to delete duplicate entries from an Excel spreadsheet is to use the Advanced Filter. This feature is located on the Data tab in all recent versions of Microsoft Excel and makes it a snap to remove any duplicate data you might have in your spreadsheet workbook.

To remove duplicate entries from your spreadsheet, start by clicking the Advanced Filter button on the Data tab.

"When I go into a file in one of my folders I get a message that comes up as, 'There are more than 500 fonts in the system. Reduce the number of fonts or the display may be incorrect.' I don't know why that should come up as I have not added any more fonts or done any thing with the fonts."

That error message is typically associated with one of two types of files, either a Microsoft Works Spreadsheet or Microsoft Works Database file. I have seen it happen with some Microsoft Excel spreadsheets as well. Even if you never actively add or remove fonts from your system, many applications add additional fonts to your computer. Why a spreadsheet application displays an error if you have more than 500 fonts is something of a mystery, because in theory the application could be written to ignore all but a specific group of fonts needed for the software to work properly. In any event, there are a couple of ways to solve your font problem.

I had a Word document with extra font formatting buried in it. The primary font for the entire document was incorporated properly, but when I converted the file to PDF, the PDF properties kept referencing a second font. Somewhere a rogue font was formatting sections of my Microsoft Word file. I dug through all the sections of the Word file and found a few references to this other font, but I couldn't seem to eliminate it from the document. I was on the verge of tearing my hair out, when I realized, Find and Replace allows you to search for and replace fonts throughout your Word .doc and .docx files.

Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't care about an invisible font in a Word document, but it was keeping me from uploading the PDF I created into the Lulu.com print on demand service because this random font wasn't actually embedded in the document even though it showed up in the PDF. Read on to see how I solved the problem.

"How do you change the default table font on Microsoft Word 2007?"

The process for configuring default table styles in Microsoft Word 2007 is almost the same as the way it's done in previous versions. Finding the location of the style information is a little more confusing, but once you know where it is, the style configuration will look very familiar.

From the Home tab in the default Word 2007 view, look for the little arrow in the lower right corner and click on it.

Next click the Manage Styles button to see all available styles.

Locate Table Grid 1 in the list of styles and change the attributes you want to modify for the style. Be sure to set this to apply to all new documents based on the current template.

All new tables should be based on your new changes to the style.

"Came across your MediaBlab while searching for an Outlook to AOL calendar sync tool. Do you know of such a product? any info you have would be appreciated."

If you have a Blackberry or Palm OS device, you can set up something approximating an automatic sync of your AOL calendar and Outlook Calendar by passing data through your mobile device. If you don't have one of these two phone types, your options are limited to exporting calendar data from AOL or exporting calendar data from Outlook. You then import calendar data to Outlook or import calendar data to AOL, depending on where you exported the data from. Here's how both of these options work:

"How can I export my Outlook 2007 Calendar as an iCal file?"

Outlook 2007 makes publishing an iCal file a little confusing because the option isn't part of the Import and Export options. Instead of using the Import and Export wizard in Outlook, you need to be in the Calendar view and File > Save As.

By default, the Save As will export your calendar as an iCalendar .ics file of the current day.

Clicking the More Options button allows you to save as much of your calendar as you want to export as an iCalendar.

"I downloaded a font and I want to use it in Microsoft Word. The font is currently on my desktop, but it doesn't show up in the fonts list in Microsoft Word. How can I add this new font to Microsoft Word."

All Microsoft Office applications pull the available fonts list from the system fonts stored in the Windows directory. You need to install the font in the Windows Fonts folder in order to access the font from Word, PowerPoint, Excel or any of the other Microsoft Office applications.

"How can I clear the list of recent documents in my PowerPoint 2007 and Excel 2007?"

The process for clearing recent documents in Word 2007, Excel 2007, and PowerPoint 2007 remains very similar to the way it was done in Microsoft Office 2003 - the location of the menu item is merely different. With PowerPoint 2007 open, click on the Office icon at the top left of the screen, and then click on PowerPoint Options.

Click on the Advanced tab on the left hand side of the options menu, then locate the Display section of the Advanced options. Change the box next to Show this number of Recent Documents to 0 and click OK.

You can repeat this process in both Excel 2007 and Word 2007 to clear the list. If you want to show recent documents at some point in the future, simply change the number to something more than 0.