.dot files are template files for Word. When opened in Word, they do
not let you save over the original file. Often they are forms with
check boxes, drop downs, etc. Try renaming them to .doc and see if
this doesn't help solve the problem. Works in Word in Windows just
fine. I am not an Open Office expert, so I cannot say if this will
solve the problem completely.

I use Office 2007 in XP and Vista and the new 7.

.Dot format is for the default template of Word
and will not open in any other program, even Open Office,

Not to be pedantic, but.... The .dot extension is used for all Word templates,
not just the default. Likewise, the .xlt extension is used for Excel templates.

Have you tried Open Office writer? I think it should work. It will
work in Linux.

I could be wrong but I thought that extension indicated a template file,
which can be read and changed but isn't really a normal document.

When the document didn't open in OO-writer i uploaded into google docs
and saved it first as an openoffice .odt file and second as a .doc
file. I could read both then in OO-writer but the formatting was
changed in an irritating way - lines with narrow margins and double
spacing.

I just renamed the file which was on the
desktop to .doc and that worked in OO-writer without any annoying
formatting. I should have tried that but thought it was more
complicated than that.

I haven't used Word for almost five years now and thought from a post
i recall a couple of years back that the latest Word version had
dropped .doc and i thought .dot was the new extension. Hence the post.

docx is the new Word format.................