Fewer normal template problems with Word 2000 or 2002?

I write a lot of macros, in many versions of Word (I usually have two or
three versions installed side by side). I have *never* had the Normal
template become corrupted in any version, although I see lots of posts about
it here and in other forums. I don't believe that Word 2007 is any more
prone to corrupted templates, and possibly less so because of the change to
the XML-based format.

I have to conclude that (a) lots of people do things they shouldn't do,
although I know of only a few things that are definitely in that category,
and (b) sometimes a Word installation just seems to be "toxic", usually
because of other programs on the same computer.

If you believe that stored macros are causing corruption of your
Normal.dotm, the fix for that is simple: save all your macros in other
templates. If you store those templates in Word's Startup folder, their
macros will be automatically available to all documents, just as if they
were in Normal.dotm. If you only need them available occasionally, you can
go to the Templates and Add-Ins dialog and load a template as an add-in for
the specific document you have open. And if that doesn't stop the
corruption, maybe one or more of the macros contain code that specifically
damages the template.

There are too many things in Word that can be accomplished only with macros
to swear off them permanently.
 >> Stay informed about: Fewer normal template problems with Word 2000 or 2002? 

I doubt that normal.dotm is generally more likely to corrupt in recent
versions of Word. But as a security measure you can choose to store your
macros in another template that you place in the Startup folder for Word.
 >> Stay informed about: Fewer normal template problems with Word 2000 or 2002? 

To clarify: "normal.dotm" is the file name for Word 2007; I should have
written "Normal template."
 >> Stay informed about: Fewer normal template problems with Word 2000 or 2002? 

Both of you have suggested placing macros in an extra template in
Word's startup folder.

If I went that route, could I still place icons for the macros on my
QAT? Or would I have to call them up via a keyboard shortcut? If not,
how then would I execute them?
 >> Stay informed about: Fewer normal template problems with Word 2000 or 2002? 

You can put them on the qat associated with the add-in i.e. open the add-in
in Word to add them. Or you could create a ribbon tab for the add-in -
[URL="http://gregmaxey.mvps.org/Customize_Ribbon.htm"]http://gregmaxey.mvps.org/Customize_Ribbon.htm[/URL] and put the buttons on that.
FWIW the normal template is quite stable and not prone to loss (though with
any important file you should keep backups). As I frequently modify macros
for various tasks, it is much simpler to keep macros that may be subject to
such modification in the normal template.
 >> Stay informed about: Fewer normal template problems with Word 2000 or 2002?