Barry, I'm new to Word and to this echo--hope you don't mind
my butting in  :-)
  
     As for how to insert the date "automatically" so that it
reflects the date the document was created and not the date it
was pulled up and previewed or printed again: does the following
answer your question?  (Note: I'm using Word 6 as part of
Microsoft Office)
  
     From the Insert menu, choose Date And Time.  In the dialog
box, note the checkbox at the bottom, Insert as Field.  According
to Help (as accessed from this same dialog box), Insert as Field
"inserts the time or date as a field.  Word automatically updates
the time or date when you print the document.  IF YOU DO NOT WANT
WORD TO UPDATE THE DATE OR TIME, CLEAR THIS CHECK BOX. [emphasis
added]"
  
     You might want to experiment with checking and unchecking
the Insert as Field box and see if this produces the results you
want.
  
     Hope this helps ... Sue
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