While I think that the "FAQ" as outlined by swanoir was presented tongue in cheek ('the humus'), many of the subsequent comments and/or links to threads that could/should be included in a FAQ were presented in a more serious tone. And maybe they do make sense as a foundation to a real LD forum FAQ. But I've also sensed something else in these comments that may contribute to the apparent lack of communication between new posters seeking advice and those that regularly frequent this forum and offer it. And that is that the long checklist provided by Miss R must be (or should be) answered in detail before posting. Well, of course not! But it is definitely something worth reviewing and giving some thought to. This checklist, or something very similar, is what most designers utilize when first meeting with a prospective client. It gives them a feeling for what the client wants to do with the property, how they intend to use it, what they hope to get out of it and how much effort (time/$$) are they are intending to put into it. Hopefully, reviewing an outline or checklist such as this could help to refine and focus some of those blank slate questions and even educate those new posters totally unfamiliar with the process the degree of complexity, the number of variables and exactly what is involved in the formulation of a landscape design. Even DIY landscape texts intended for the homeowner with no previous design or landscaping experience offer similar checklists to get one started thinking about the process. Obviously, this is overkill for those questions that are more issue-specific, but I think very appropriate for those that are much broader and far less focused.

zep, You said "When you installed that program it created numerous registry entries, those are still on the old computer, and are needed to run Microsoft office. " But I thought that sort of thing would be on the old computer's drive. Or is it elsewhere? If elsewhere, then of course, it makes sense that I can't run Word. That said, I can open a Word doc but see a message to the effect that "not registered for use by this user." Word isn't installed on the new computer, not even as a trial, so I don't understand why a Word doc would even open.

Hi again - When I try to open the file, I get the generic "Word experienced an error trying to open the file message." The standard fixes, like renaming it, using "open and repair," etc. don't work. I tried a freebie utility (saved it in rich text format) and got some of it back (several pages were garbled letters) but got all the content back with a different program I paid for. PAM - I don't know anything about the compatibility pack you mention. I never did anything specific to open docs created in Word 2007 with Word 2003 other than making sure to save them in the old format. Maybe I'm missing this piece? The first time this happened, I thought it was because I had forgotten to save in the old format, but this time it seems random. I had worked on my outline an hour before, saved as usual and then couldn't open it when I got to class. Sue

Many years ago, I had a upsetting, disagreement with a close family member. That night I wrote a long, rambling letter bringing up every thing this person did from the beginning of time. I was upset and, maybe its a female thing, I wrote this ridiculously long letter using Word so I could password protect it. I had thought I would sleep on it and reread it the next day before sending. I didn't want to send an email. Well, needless to say, the next day the problem resolved. Everything was wonderful, I totally forgot about the letter. Long time later (maybe a year), I'm cleaning out my computer and find this cryptic Word doc that I couldn't open. I was deleting a bunch of junk. Then, I remembered that letter ! It was not something I would want on my computer (as life with this person was wonderful). So, I tried to delete it, couldn't. Needed a password. Had no idea what that could be. I was upset when written and heaven knows what I came up with. That letter still sits on this computer. I could never figure out the password. Back then, I thought I would have a new computer (this one is XP) and I would wipe the drive. Well I'm still using this machine and hope I can finally wipe it out and get a new machine. On another note, I worked in the medical field for years. Sometimes I would write letters for patients from home (rather than the office computer) in the evening to save time at work. I would password those letters, copy them on a flash drive and taken them to work. Copy to the work machine then delete from the flash and the home machine. Not ideal, probably not the best thing to do, but I did it. Any patient letters were always password protected. I sympathize with the OP as I've been there many times. If I did that now, I would write the password down. I didn't back then and never found a way to open that personal letter. I'll wait for Windows 10 then wipe this drive. Hope you find a way, Jane