Cannot Open WORD

[George]

My computer uses WIN 98SE and WORD 97 which has always
worked well before. Now, when I click on
Start>Programs>Microsoft Word, the Word 97 window comes
up - then the large Word screen comes with a grey screen
which does not advance to a white screen. Next, a small
pop-up window with this message:

"This program has performed an illegal operation and
will be shut down."

"If the problem persists, contact the program vendor."

Details: "WINWORD caused an invalid page fault in module
FM20.DLL@17f:600410ad..."

Also, I'm unable to open any saved .doc, .rtf etc. file
into the Word program adn receive the same message above.
But if I receive a Word document in my e-mail, it opens up
just fine.

Any help to correct this will be welcomed and appreciated.

George

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Start by working through
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/AppErrors/ProbsOpeningWord.htm

 

[George]

Hello Suzanne,

I went to the web page you recommended and followed the
instructions there. Clicked "Start button, selected Run,
and typed in: winword.exe /a." Windows opened fine.

Next per instruction tried to rename my Normal.dot file.
With Word, Outlook and IE closed, I right clicked on my
Normal.dot file and renamed as Normal.old, but right
afterwards a Pop-up window appeared saying that I could
not "rename Normal - access denied."

I'm reluctant to proceed to the next step before
understanding why this step was "denied." Please, what do
I do now? George

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Did you have Word closed when you attempted to rename Normal.dot? You won't
be able to do it as long as Word is open because it is in use.

 

[George]

Dear Suzanne,

Yes, as far as I know I did have Word closed when I tried
to rename Normal.dot before. I tried it again with the
same negative result. This is what I did each time:

1. Shut everything down to the desktop.
2. Double clicked on My Computer. Went to C:\Program
Files\Microsoft Office\Templates
3. In the Templates folder is the icon with Normal.dot
file text below.
4. Right clicked on Normal.dot and selected Rename
option.
5. Changed Normal.dot to Normal.old.
6. Small window appeared with: "Cannot rename Normal:
Access is denied. Make sure disk is not full or
write protected and that the file is not currently
in use."

The disk is far from full and not right protected either.
Did I do something wrong? If so, please explain or advise
what you think my next step should be. Thank you, George

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

The only thing I can suggest is that you restart Windows and try again.
Also, make sure that the file itself is not marked as Read Only.

 

[George]

The Normal.dot file was not marked "read only." As you
suggested, I restarted Windows and still I could not
change the file name. Overnight I did a disk clean-
up/scan/defrag and in the morning was able to change the
file name from Normal.dot to .old. Still got
the "...illegal operation..." pop-up on starting Word.

So went to the next item on the list. Found two .dot files
in C:/Program Files/Microsoft Office/Office/STARTUP -
dgnwnlc.dot and dgnword.dot. Neither was "read only," and
I was able to change dgnwnlc.dot to .old - still no start
on Word. The dgnword.dot file could neither be changed nor
moved. I even copied the file onto a 3.5 floppy and tried
tried to delete it into the recycle bin - wouldn't let me
do it.

Also, I ran a Start>Find>Files>*.dot and found the same
two files (dgnwnlc.dot and dgnword.dot) or duplicates in:
C:/Program Files/Dragon Systems/Naturally
Speaking/Program. The Dragon Naturally Speaking Program is
about four years old but has not been used for about the
past two years.

I changed the Normal.old and dgnwnlc.old files back
into .dot files as they had been before. Any suggestions
on what to try next will be appreciated. George

 

[Beth Melton]

Hi George,

Were you viewing the file associations when you renamed the global
templates? (dgnwnlc.dot and dgnword.dot).

If not then they'll still load, just under a different file name. Our
recommendation is to move the files out of the folder to guarantee
they will not attempt to load when Word starts.

If you continue to encounter "Access denied" errors then you could be
encountering temp file problems. It's possible due to the crashes
you've been experiencing Word is finding various temp files when you
attempt to rename or move the files that it 'thinks' they are in use.

Delete all temp (*.tmp) files:
- Exit Word and Outlook if you are using it as your email editor and
reboot your computer if you recently experienced a crash
- Go to Start/Find/Files or Folders (or Start/Search then select Files
or Folders)
- Change "Look in" to reflect the drive/folder to the root of your
Local drive.
- In the Named text box, type *.tmp
- Click the "Find Now" command
- Delete the temp files you find.

*Note that these can be deleted directly from the Find Results.

To group the files for a single deletion:
- Click any file in the list
- Press <Ctrl A> to select all

Should you encounter a "File in use" error, press <Ctrl> and click the
file to deselect it.

Once you complete the above steps then search for Owner files
(~$*.do?) and delete those as well. These can cause "file in use" and
"read only" errors and I suspect these are why you are unable to
rename/delete the files.

For more information on this and a full cleanup/maintenance procedure
that should be run periodically, see this article:
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/AppErrors/LockedFiles.htm
--
Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email can not be acknowledged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/

 

[George]

Hello Beth,

When I tried to rename dgnwnlc.dot and dgnword.dot I was
in: C:/Program Files/Microsoft Office/Office/STARTUP. Was
able to change dgnwnlc.dot to .old, but was not able to
change the dgnword.dot file. Then I went to
Start>Find>Files and found the duplicate files
(dgnwnlc.dot and dgnword.dot) located in: C:/Program
Files/Dragon Systems/Naturally Speaking/Program. Also, I
was able to move dgnwnlc.dot but not dgnword.dot out of
the ...STARTUP folder. That's the long answer to your
question - I wasn't viewing the file associations when
attempting to rename.

So anyway, I went on and tried to "Delete all temp (*.tmp)
files: "and have run into a problem. So far I have deleted
over 6,000 .tmp files, and there seem to be more to go.

As you suggested, I went to Start>Find>Files and entered
*.tmp, and the search found 190 .tmp files. Went up to
Edit and selected All and then up to File and selected
Delete. Of course all 190 went into the Recycle Bin. Next
the "Find Files named *.tmp" box found another 190 .tmp
files - again and again it found 190 to 215 .tmp files.

After making about ten such dumps into the Recycle Bin, I
took a close look at the files, and they were coming from
the C:/Recycled folder. This folder seems to hold about
200 plus files at a time that are visible to the eye. But
just as soon as one batch of files is cleared out another
batch of 200 plus appears to take thier place - there
seems to be an unending supply. Also, I checked the
recycle bin

Let me describe the files:

1. Almost all the files have the Adobe Icon ("A" Logo)
above the file name.
2. The files are numbered in sequence - i.e. DC232.TMP,
DC233.TMP etc. and come in three sizes: 0KB, 35KB
and 52KB.
3. When I right click and view Properties on the 52KB
files, it shows they belong to Dragon Systems.
4. The files are all dated 26, 27, 28 and 29 August
2004. Some with times during this session on the
computer!

At this point, I figure I'm getting in over my head and
had better stop and ask for advice and help!!

 

[Beth Melton]

Hi George,

If you weren't viewing the file associations then the templates were
still loading or attempting to load when Word starts.

Based on your description of your temp files I'd say that's one of
your primary problems. First I'd remove all of the temp files you have
already deleted out of the Recycle Bin. Then search for your *.tmp
files again but this time hold Shift and press Delete when deleting
them. This will permanently delete the temp files instead of sending
them to the Recycle Bin.

It's my experience that if it has a *.tmp file extension then it was
intended to be a temporary file and I've always deleted them.
--
Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email can not be acknowledged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

To clarify, the files you're finding in the Recycled folder are the ones
you've already sent to the Recycle Bin. That's what that folder is.

 

[George]

Dear Suzanne and Beth,

I bear good tidings! My thanks to you both.

After my last memo to you, I went back in and cleaned out
the Recycle Bin, and that solved the unending supply
of .tmp files. Hadn't realized I was regenerating in the
Recycled Folder the files I was deleting into the Recycle
Bin. Next, searched for the Owner files (~$*.do?) to
delete but found none. Then ran through the article:
www.mvps.org/Word/FAQs/AppErrors/LockedFiles.htm, and
rebooted the computer. This time on going into Windows
Explorer to the ...STARTUP Folder, I was able to change
the dgnword.dot file to dgnword.old. Now Word starts up
beautifully once again.

I take it I leave the .old extension alone a go on my
merry way? I'm not sure I understand why the file name
works, but I am sincerely grateful to both you ladies for
the magical help. George B.

 

[Beth Melton]

That's great to hear George!

The reason renaming the file extension works is Word will only load
files in the Startup folder that have a *.dot file extension. If a
file has a different extension then it will omit loading the template.
IOW, Word is no longer trying to utilize the template in the Startup
folder that was causing you the problems you were encountering.

--
Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email can not be acknowledged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/