have MS works default to desktop

[songdongnigh]

Hello all,

This is a small thing, but I can't find a solution.  I've looked on the net and this forum but perhaps am not searching with the correct question. 

I blog and work from the desktop.  I would like to force Microsoft Works Word Processor, or whatever I copy and paste from the web to save to the desktop rather than "My Documents".  Going in and out of "My Documents" is a bit of a pain as is always having to select “save to desktop“. 

I have an HP pavilion 750n, XP Home, SP2, pretty much updated (no IE7) I use Firefox. 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks Much.

[Broni]

Doesn't File>Save As give you the option WHERE to save it?

[songdongnigh]

Thanks Broni,
The default "save as" is now my documents.  I must then use the drop down menu or the next higher folder icon to select the desktop.  What I want is for the default location to be the desktop.

[Broni]

When you select Desktop from drop down menu, and save your file there once, the Save As dialog box will from now on come up with Desktop saving location (until you change it to something else).

[songdongnigh]

Hi Broni, I tried that with "document A", dropped down & selected desktop & saved.  Then I created document B, & when I saved, it again reverted to save in my documents.  I suspect that since this is MS Works, not MS Word, it operates differently.  I think Works is somewhat more limited that Word. 

I'm also begining to believe that that's just the way it is without getting way down deep into Works. 

[Broni]

You never know. In most cases solutions can be found.
What Works version is it?

[Broni]

It looks from my search, that you can't.
You may try to use free OpenOffice: www.openoffice.org

[songdongnigh]

Hi Broni, It looks like it's Microsoft Works Suite 2002.  Thats all I can find.  Properties gives no info.

[songdongnigh]

Hi Broni, OOPS, missed your last post.  I've been thinking about open office too, but am pretty lazy.  I'll give it a try though.  Thanks much for your time.  BTW, I'm a regular reader of computerhope & learn something every day.  Kudos to all the volunteers.

Cheers

[Broni]

I use Open Office, and before your post, I even forgot, I have MS Works, too...hehehe

[songdongnigh]

Hi Broni,

FYI, I downloaded & tried Open Office.  BUT, while it recognizes 147 types of documents, MS Works (.wps) is not one of them (I tried several variations of MS document types).  That makes it incompatible with my several thousand  existing documents. 

I see you too have Works.  If you can figure out how to integrate the two, let me know, maybe I'm missing something.

OO's default save to location is also My Documents.  I tried the dropdown & save to desktop with a test document but the next test document I tried to save also defaulted to My Documents. 

Evidently, Bill’s idea of document organization (must go into My Documents) is some sort of universal rule. 

I’ve never used My Documents, preferring my own organization.  (mine is better)

Oh Well. 

Thanks again.  Hope this information is helpful. 

Cheers

[Broni]

To determine a default directory for files generated with OpenOffice.org act as follows:

    1. Menu Tools - Options.
    2. Select on the left panel the option routes in the area OpenOffice.org

    3. In the right pane select the route called My Documents and click on the edit button to change it.

    4. In the box that appears, select that folder you want to be the default directory. To this end, the look on the tree of folders and drives, helping us to the + and-signs to display or enter into the content of each unit and / or folder.

    5. Once selected folder, we click on OK and exit the Options box.

[Broni]

I found this, concerning wps files in Open Office: http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/FAQ:Writer:DocumentManagement#How_can_I_open_Microsoft_Works_wordprocessor_files_.28.wps.29.3F
 How can I open Microsoft Works wordprocessor files (.wps)?

The libwps library was designed to allow OpenOffice.org, KWord, Abiword, and similar programs to import Microsoft Word wordprocessor documents. Though available since early 2007, the mainstream OpenOffice.org has not incorporated the code (issue #8938). Here are some options:

    * Use any of these OpenOffice.org variants which include libwps: OxygenOffice Professional, NeoOffice, Ubuntu, Debian (?), or [http://www.go-ooo.org Your OpenOffice.org (go-oo.org)
    * Use the command-line libwps wps2html converter.
    * If you have Microsoft Works, open the .wps in Microsoft Works and resave as .rtf.
    * If you have Microsoft Word, use Microsoft's Works to Word converter. Then, save as .doc.

All links at the above page.

[songdongnigh]

Hi Broni,

Sorry I dropped out last night, but had to get some zzzzs. 

Your solution for changing the default in OO worked fine. 

There is another solution just down the page of the link you provided; "How to open Works .wps files in OpenOffice.org 2.x?"  Unfortunately, Bill has stopped support for one of the two MS files needed: "Works 6.0 Converter for Works and Word Users".  Guess he just can't stand competition. 

I'm afraid that opening and changing document extensions one at a time just isn't feasable, plus they might need to be changed back later.

Finally, I see that OO word documents have a .odt extension.  While it can be saved as .doc, it's starting to be a whole lot more trouble than it's worth just to default a Works Word document to the desktop.  Not sure I'll try the other processor options.   

I did send OO a heads up on the no longer supported file at MS. 

I think Bill has me beat.
 
Thanks again for all your help and hard work.  And anyway, I learned a lot through the process.

[soybean]

After reading through this discussion, I'm still not clear on whether you need to be able to recognize and .wps format.  So, I'll mention a freeware word processor called AbiWord.  It will recognize and can save in .doc and .rtf formats, among others, but does not recognize the .wps format. 

I have a portable version on a flash drive and I've found that whatever folder/location was used for the last save is where it looks the next time.  In other words, I saved a file to the Desktop with it, closed it, opened again, and found that a new file would be saved to the Desktop.  So, it remembers.