Picture Resizes When Exiting Word 6.0 Picture Editor

• Microsoft Word for Windows, versions 6.0, 6.0a, 6.0c

SYMPTOMS

You double-click a picture in Word 6.0, it opens in the Word Picture Editor, and when you close it, your picture has changed size.

CAUSE

If you set your default picture editor to MSDraw and then remove MSDraw from your system or move it to a different location, the Word 6.0 Picture Editor will be loaded when you double-click a picture. When you close the Word 6.0 Picture Editor, your picture will have changed size because the Picture Editor scales pictures differently than MSDraw.

(Note: To set your default picture editor, choose Options Edit from the Tools menu.)

SOLUTION

Update the REG.DAT file by remerging the WINWORD6.REG file located in the Word for Windows directory. Here are the steps to do this:

1. From Program Manager, choose Run from the File menu.

2. On the command line, type "regedit" (without the quotation marks) and choose the OK button.

3. From the File menu of the Registration Editor, choose Merge Registration File.

4. Change to the Word for Windows directory, select WINWORD6.REG, and choose OK.

   A message should appear telling you the information has been successfully merged.

5. Exit Windows and restart Windows to read the updated information.

MORE INFORMATION

This problem occurs because the REG.DAT file is no longer up to date once you remove MSDraw from your system or move it to a different location. When you double-click a picture in Word, your system tries to find the default editor, MSDraw, but cannot. Therefore, it defaults to the Word 6.0 Picture Editor.

Since the REG.DAT file still indicates that MSDraw is the editor, the picture is handled as if it were in MSDraw, even though it is actually loaded into the Word 6.0 Picture Editor. MSDraw and the Word 6.0 Picture Editor scale pictures differently, so when you close the Picture Editor, the picture gets improperly scaled.

References: Importing and Creating Graphics: Changing the Default Editing Application