Yesterday I was trying to assist someone by replicating her problem on my computer in the office, which I managed to do. However in poking buttons and using a combination of keys in my attempt to do this I have messed my own Word up and don't know how to get out of it - HELP!

This is in files which contain a form, either blank to be completed AND already completed forms which have been saved then re-opened by me. What I have now got is the various fields with 'FORMTEXT' etc within the fields, I cannot actually enter any information in the fields and those which have already been completed and saved, none of the information is viewable, only the FORMTEXT. I hope this makes sense. When I open the same files from other computers on the network they view as normal, either as forms to be completed or as completed forms.

I am wondering if the only option is to delete Word and reload it.

UPDATE - in desperation I uninstalled and reinstalled Word but it must have remembered my previous settings as it hasn't helped at all. I am truely stuffed unless I can work this out.

FURTHER UPDATE - from what I have worked out so far from Help is that I ought to be able to get out of this situation by using ALT F9 - except that nothing happens. In fact my Function keys appear not to be working with Word. Is there some way of de-activating the Function keys, and therefore by reverse to activate them? Five hours on and I have done no work yet!

FURTHER FURTHER UPDATE - mysteriously I have finally got it back to where it needs to be, how I do not know. I guess that I still need information on why the wretched Function keys sometimes don't work - they work just fine in WordPerfect as I went into that program to check that it wasn't my keyboard, came back to Word and VOILA!

Now I can start my day's work. I dread to think what my blood pressure is doing right now, anything stressful like that drives it into the 'danger of a stroke' zone.

This is not going to help at all Sue! (lol) Use your back up files to get back to where you were before trying to help. (You did have a back up - didn't you???)

My computer is just one on the network, the server is backed up daily but nothing other than software is stored on the clients, so the answer is no, it is not backed up as we can always reload software. If I backed up one client I would have to back them all up as I have ultimate responsibility for the whole network, I don't have time to mess about like that and this is the first time we have had a real problem. So long as all the data is backed up that is all I really have to worry about.

Just as I don't know what I did to get the problem, I also don't know how I cleared it - a real mystery. That is the last time I use my office computer to attempt to replicate what one of the staff members did on her home computer!