Misbehaving Rulers

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated October 16, 2021)
This tip applies to Word 2002


Subscriber David Smith wrote concerning a problem he is having with Word 2002. It seems that every time he opens a document, the rulers don't show up. When he displays the rulers, they don't show measurements in inches, as he wants.

This problem seems to be one that Microsoft is aware of. It occurs primarily if you recently upgraded from Word 2000 to Word 2002. The measurement system you see displayed on the rulers is "character units," which is the default unit of measurement used when Word is configured for East Asian languages.

There are several ways you can solve this problem. The first is to enable an Asian language so that you can actually turn off the character units setting. Follow these steps:

  1. Choose Programs from the Start menu, and then choose Microsoft Office Tools.
  2. Run the Microsoft Office XP Language Settings program.
  3. Using the language settings tool, choose a language such as Chinese (Traditional) or Japanese, then click on the Add button. Make sure you leave the default version of Microsoft Office set to the one you normally run.
  4. Exit the language settings tool. If you are asked if it is OK to shut down applications, say No.
  5. Start Word 2002.
  6. Choose Options from the Tools menu. Word displays the Options dialog box.
  7. Make sure the General tab is selected. (See Figure 1.)
  8. Figure 1. The General tab of the Options dialog box.

  9. Clear the Use Character Units check box.

You can, at this point, close Word and if desired repeat steps 1 through 4 to remove the Asian language you selected.

Another option is to turn the setting off from within Visual Basic. This is very easy to do; just follow these steps:

  1. Press Alt+F11 to display the VBA Editor.
  2. If the Immediate window is not visible, press Ctrl+G to display it, or choose Immediate Window from the View menu.
  3. In the Immediate window, type the following and press Enter:
  4.      Options.UseCharacterUnit = False
    
  5. Close the VBA Editor.

If neither of the above fixes work, you may have a corrupted Word Data key in the Registry. Follow these steps:

  1. Exit Word.
  2. Start your favorite Registry editor.
  3. Locate the following data key:
  4.      HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Word\Data
    
  5. Rename the entire key to something else, or simply delete it.
  6. Close the Registry editor.
  7. Restart Word.

Information on this particular problem with Word 2002 can be found in the Microsoft Knowledge Base, at this address:

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q299/3/39.asp

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1807) applies to Microsoft Word 2002.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Understanding the Clipboard

You can use the Windows Clipboard to move information around in Word. To make the most of the Clipboard, it is helpful to ...

Discover More

Pulling All Fridays

It can be handy to know when specific weekdays occur within a range of dates. Figuring out this information, using ...

Discover More

Determining the Current Directory

When you use a macro to do file operations, it works (by default) within the current directory. If you want to know which ...

Discover More

Comprehensive VBA Guide Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is the language used for writing macros in all Office programs. This complete guide shows both professionals and novices how to master VBA in order to customize the entire Office suite for their needs. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2010 today!

More WordTips (menu)

Viewing Multiple Pages

If you have a large monitor, you can view more than one page at a time in Word. This is very handy when you want to ...

Discover More

Finding a Lost Menu Bar

Once in a while Word can get confused and stop displaying an object you need to fully use Word. If your menu bar suddenly ...

Discover More

Alternative Ways of Creating Random Text

You can use a built-in Word feature (RAND) to create random text, but such text may not be to your liking. This tip ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 0 + 4?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the menu interface (Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, or Word 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.

Videos
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.