Polish Spell-checker, Thesaurus and Hyphenation
for Microsoft Word 6.0 for Windows 3.1
or for Microsoft Word 7 for Windows 95


Troubleshooting and Frequently Asked Questions

Q: I installed the program, but I do not have any Polish characters in my document

A: The package does not include Polish fonts or keyboard driver. If you do not have them in your system yet - we recommend Zecer 2.1 which provides both and works well with this module. You can also run the spell-checker without Polish system fonts without any decrement to your document, but you will only be able to see funny looking characters in place of the accented Polish characters.
Q: I do not have Polish characters in Word's dialog windows. Why?

A: In the dialog windows MS Word uses its own font, called DIALOG.FON typically installed in c:\WINWORD, so even if you have Polish True Type fonts installed and working OK within your documents, they may not show in Word's dialog windows. There are two easy solutions to this problem:
  1. Delete file called DIALOG.FON from your Word directory (typically c:\WINWORD). In the absence of this font, and if you have Polish bitmap fonts installed in Windows, Word will automatically use one of those fonts, instead of DIALOG.FON.
  2. Should the above not work, you may also replace DIALOG.FON with its Polish version, which you can download now. It's free.
    Q: In Windows95 the module seems to have installed OK, but when I try to run the spell-checker it only raises an error message "Can not find file ...."

    A: That means the installation program could not make the necessary entry in Windows95 registry file. (It could have happened if it was for example interrupted). You have to alter one or two entries in the Registry file yourself. Here is how:

    Note: The settings shown below are correct on the assumption that during the installation of the Polish spell-checking module you accepted the default directory

    C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Proof\.

    If you installed the package in a different directory please amend line 10 and 11 accordingly.

    1. Load REGEDIT.EXE program. If its icon is not on your desktop you will find it through My Computer or Windows Explorer. The program you need is c:\WIN95\REGEDIT.EXE
    2. Select HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
    3. Select SOFTWARE
    4. Select Microsoft
    5. Select Shared Tools
    6. Select Proofing Tools
    7. Select Spelling
    8. Select 1045 (This subdirectory should have been created by the spell-checker's installation. If you do not have it, run the installation again)
    9. Select Normal
    10. Make sure your Engine line looks as follows:

      Engine = "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Proof\mssppl32.dll"

    11. and that your Dictionary line looks as follows :

      Dictionary = "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Proof\sp_pl.lex"

    12. Exit REGEDIT.
    Q: In Windows95 the module seems to have installed OK, but when I try to run the thesaurus it only raises an error message "Can not find file ...."

    Similarily to the above you need to make sure you have these setting in your registry:
    1. Load REGEDIT.EXE program. If its icon is not on your desktop you will find it through My Computer or Windows Explorer. The program you need is c:\WIN95\REGEDIT.EXE
    2. Select HKEY_USERS
    3. Select .Default
    4. Select Software
    5. Select Microsoft
    6. Select Word
    7. Select 7.0
    8. Select Proofing Tools
    9. Select Thesaurus
    10. Select 1045 (This subdirectory should have been created by the spell-checker's installation. If you do not have it, run the installation again)
    11. Select Normal
    12. Make sure your Engine line looks as follows:

      Engine = "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Proof\msthpl32.dll"

    13. and that your Dictionary line looks as follows :

      Dictionary = "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Proof\th_pl.lex"

    14. Exit REGEDIT.
    Q: In Windows95 the module seems to have installed OK, but when I try to run the hyphenation, it only raises an error message "Can not find file ...."

    Similarily to the above you need to make sure you have these setting in your registry:
    1. Load REGEDIT.EXE program. If its icon is not on your desktop you will find it through My Computer or Windows Explorer. The program you need is c:\WIN95\REGEDIT.EXE
    2. Select HKEY_USERS
    3. Select .Default
    4. Select Software
    5. Select Microsoft
    6. Select Word
    7. Select 7.0
    8. Select Proofing Tools
    9. Select Hyphenate
    10. Select 1045 (This subdirectory should have been created by the spell-checker's installation. If you do not have it, run the installation again)
    11. Select Normal
    12. Make sure your Engine line looks as follows:

      Engine = "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Proof\hyphpl32.dll"

    13. and that your Dictionary line looks as follows :

      Dictionary = "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Proof\hy_pl.lex"

    14. Exit REGEDIT.
    Q: Spell-checking words beginning with lower case 'z z kropka' sometimes raises unnecessary alarm. Why?

    A: In all versions of Windows (except the fully Polish one) there is a minor problem with spell-checking words beginning with 'z with a dot'. If you for example run spell-checker on "Zaruwka" it will not notice the initial 'z with a dot' and will report : "Not in a dictionary : "aruwka". You can however still change this word to 'Zarowka' or tell the spell-checker to ignore it, so you do not lose any program functionality. All that happens is that spell-checker brings all words beginning with 'z with a dot' unnecessarily to your attention and you have to click "Ignore" button on each of them. The 'z with a dot' problem is well known to the authors of this spell-checker, but sadly the only way to fix it is by upgrading from to Microsoft Office 97, the latest version of Word, Word97 is free of this problem.

    If you are curious to know why letter 'z z kropka' is so special here is the answer:
    In codepage 1250, that is the set with Polish characters, 'z with a dot' has been allocated ASCII code 191, the same code as a reversed question mark has in international character set. Reversed question mark is an punctuation mark used in Spanish at the beginning of each question. When running its spell-checker, Word assumes that character 191 is a punctuation mark and eliminates it BEFORE passing the word to the spell-checker's dialog window.
    There is not (and there can not be) any other product free of the mentioned above problem. These modules are the only Polish spell-checkers available for users of English Word 6.0/Word 7 and despite their minor problems they do the job well.

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