When you install Word 2000, the Templates folder from previous versions of Office is renamed "Old Office Templates" and the templates that came with earlier versions of Word are kept there. If you have not modified these templates, such as the Contemporary Letter template in Word 97, then you should use the new versions of the templates in Word 2000.

If you have modified templates that came with an earlier version of Word, you can continue to use them, but you should also keep the newer version of the templates on your hard disk drive. The Word 2000 wizards are designed to work with the Word 2000 templates.

If you added your own toolbars, macros, styles, or AutoText entries to templates that came with earlier versions of Word, you can copy these items to Word 2000 templates. Rename your former templates, install the new templates, and then use the Organizer to copy these items to the new templates.

Macros in templates from earlier versions of Word will work in Word 2000. However, if you are using a version of Word that is earlier than Word 97 and you open a template and then save it in Word 2000 format, you will not be able to use it in previous versions of Word without converting it.

More information

For more information about troubleshooting templates in your Office program, type troubleshoot templates in the Office Assistant or on the Answer Wizard tab in your Office program Help, and then click Search.