MS Word problem

My computer is an Emachine T2865, AMD Athlon. Don’t think that is pertinent but you may correct me. Running WinXP home, and MSOffice 97. The issue is with Word. When I open a session/window of Word, and a Word doc, no problem, and if I open a second doc, in the same window, no prob. However, if I go to the Office toolbar and open a second session of Word (two separate windows open, that I can Alt/Tab between) something goes wrong.

When I open the second session, it opens to a ‘stripped down’ window with no toolbars, and attempts to open a blank doc. I get a popup that says “Word cannot open the existing (square character/symbol instead of a word)”. Click OK and a blank doc opens. However, there are no toolbars at all, and if you open the list (right-click the toolbar area) my custom bars do not exist. Regardless of what you do in this session (close the doc, use the doc, open a new doc…) when you get ready to get out of the session, you can close the doc ok.

But when you try to close the session (close the window), you get a pop-up “Do you want to replace the existing Normal?” “No” gives you “SaveAs window”. “Cancel” then try again to close the window and you get “Changes have been made that affect the Global Template, Normal. Do you want to save those changes?”. “No” allows the program (session/window) to close.

This problem has come and gone a couple of times in two years. Now it is back and I can’t figure out what is going wrong or how to correct it. During the whole process, the original session of Word works fine, and I can open existing docs or create new ones.

 

Do you have Norton Anti-Virus or any other Norton product installed?

If so what version is it, NAV, System Works, NIS?

Steve

 

Yes, I have Norton anti-virus. the Help file says it is "Norton anti-virus (OEM) for eMachines (90) version 9.05.15". Is that an issue?

 

Might be the problem. I'm not sure where the Office Plug-in is located in your version, so if it's not located in the steps below you may have to look around for it.

1. Exit Word, and exit Outlook if you are using Word as your e-mail editor.
2. Open Norton AntiVirus.
3. Click Options, click Miscellaneous, and then clear the Enable Office Plug-in check box.

Let us know.

Steve

 

Mat, I went to Norton, and found the box: it was already cleared. It said "Enable Office Plug-in (requires Office 2000 or higher)" and I'm using 97 rather than 2000. But the box was cleared (apparently by default).

Other suggestions?

 

Look here, http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/HA011514521033.aspx

Steve

 

Found these things also that might help you.

The reason for the message being shown repeatedly is almost always a poorly written Add-In. The Norton AV Office Plug-In seems to be the most frequent offender recently, but that can change as some other poorly written program comes on the market.

Other offenders include the MS Works Suite Add-In, EZ-Photo, Scansoft, Adobe Acrobat, and Microsoft's MetaData remover. These all install Add-Ins that mess with your normal.dot when they shouldn't do so and don't need to do so. Some of these are .dot files, others are installed. See How to find out whether any Word Add-ins have been installed for instructions on seeing what Add-Ins you have. (Having Add-Ins is not a bad thing. I run Word with 15 Add-Ins, most of which I wrote myself.)

Start with the Add-Ins I've noted. If you have any of them, decide whether they are worth the annoyance they are causing you. Probably they are not. Disable any that are not worth the candle. Restart Word and see if your problem is gone.

If not...

If you start Word using
Start => Run: Winword.exe /a
you'll end up with Word out of the box loading without your saved normal.dot file, with no macros and no Add-Ins. You may notice that it loads much more quickly than you are used to seing. When you close it, you won't get the "normal.dot" prompt.

So, what you need to do is disable all of your Add-Ins (don't delete them). Start by moving .dot files out of your Word Startup folder, one-by-one, with Word closed. Restart Word and see if that Add-In caused the problem. If not, put it back in and take the next one out. (You can put them in a sub-folder of your Startup folder.) If none of them are the problem, move to the .com Add-Ins that have to be uninstalled.

AND
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;291352&Product=wrd

Steve

 

Steve, Thanks! I'll look into that. I've got the week off and I'll prob sit down tomorrow and work through that set if options. I'm not qualified as a geek, but I can follow simple instructions (the Marines teach us that).

Appreciate the help. I'll let you know the outcome.

I'll have to tell you, the quote about your Mom telling you to be good reminds me...

I was a Los Angeles cop a century or so back. We would walk a beat in the Hollywood/Vine area, mainly to keep the hookers moving: make a show, stop and talk to them, etc. When we'd move on I'd always say to them "Now you be good". One sweet young thing stopped me dead in my tracks one day. "Officer, you know how to tell if you're being good? . . . they keep coming back." I never hear the phrase that I don't think about her.

 

I would guess after walking a beat in the Hollywood/Vine area, you have quite a few flashbacks/memories.

Steve

 

Steve, the MS help url didn't. It is for Word or Office 2003 and I'm using 97 which doesn't have the same means of accessing Add-ins. I looked in the Startup folder and there is a file "MSCREATE.DIR" 0KB size. ?? Did a search and the file appears 67 times in MSOffice programs. ??

 

No Coms or Add-ins listed in the folder, though I do have Adobe Acrobat. However, I've discovered I have a trojan/virus infection which NOTHING is able to find/clear. Should I go to another folder to post the HJ log?

 

Could be a macro virus affecting Word. Go to the link below, follow the steps listed and see if it clears the issue. If you have problems or want to post a HJT log there, be sure to follow the instructions. Good luck.

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=35407

Steve

 

One other thing Hank. I'm not sure about Office97 but see if you can locate a Repair function and try it.

Steve