Can't Insert Text!!!

[gmark]

<snip>




If you're *certain* that there are no utilities or haxies installed for this
user, there are no customizations for the account or its settings & the
program runs fine for another account there isn't much else it can be.

While NO Office apps are running: Go into your User/Library/Preferences
folder for that user & remove the file by the name of;

com.microsoft.word.plist

And in the Microsoft folder within that same Preferences folder remove;

com.microsoft.Word.prefs.plist

Also: In User/Documents/Microsoft User Data remove/rename the file called
Normal (which looks like a Word file).

Restart Word & see how it goes. If all is well & you have no serious
customizations or macros you're concerned about you can then Trash the files
you removed/renamed & empty the Trash.

That did it, Bob!

Now, here's the weird part -- I'd removed the "plist" file before and
it had
no effect. Now, removing "Normal" fixed it. But... putting the old
Normal file
back that I had saved from when the problem first started does NOT
bring the
problem back. I guess these two files work in tandem somehow? So that
"plist"
does have an effect on what's done with "Normal"?

Anyway -- THANKS!

Mark

 

[patrick j]

Yes, for this particular fault. But there _are_ many others that
require self restart. <g>

This is very true

 

[John McGhie]

Hi Mark:

OK, we're getting closer

Yes, Word uses a "template" named "Normal" that behaves a bit like an .ini
file and scratchpad.

It's one of the few files on the system that does not have a type extension
to it's name (due to a design bug) so it's named simply "Normal". Unless
you have moved it, you will find it in the ~/Documents/Microsoft User Data
folder.

You need to Quit Word first, then you can re-name the Normal file. When yu
next start Word, it will re-create a new one. Don't simply delete it: it
can remain in service from the trash.

And yes, this resource is unique to the user login. It can be shared, but
that is a seriously bad idea (which can lead to perplexities similar to what
you currently have...)

If this doesn't bring things right, you will need to work slowly and
carefully through the suggestions here:
http://word.mvps.org/Mac/TroubleshootingIndex.html

Please note: That whole web article is a "procedure". Results can be a bit
unpredictable unless you carry out the suggestions in sequence. Of course,
some won't apply to your situation, but we can't reliably say which ones.
Safest to do them all


Hope this helps

Okay -- nope. No "unprotect document".

For all documents, no matter what type, and whether existing or new,
blank
document, the symptom is that whatever I type is ignored -- as though
the
keyboard is not connected at all. HOWEVER -- if I put on the "numlock"
key,
all the numbers DO show up. And pasting into the document works.

You mention templates. I know very little about templates, but is it
possible
that one of these is corrupted, and is not associated with the other
login?
So that it expects something for this particular login that all the
non-numeric
keyboard characters are not providing? Are templates stored
somewhere
similar to caches, so that I can just blow one or more away and have
it
reconstituted to some default state?

That's all I can think of at present.

Mark

--
Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Consultant Technical Writer
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
http://jgmcghie.fastmail.com.au/
Sydney, Australia. S33°53'34.20 E151°14'54.50
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]

 

[CyberTaz]

Well, there were actually *2* .plist files mentioned in the suggestions in
addition to Normal. It appears your problem stemmed from _one_ of them but I
can't say for sure which one - assuming you did remove them both this time.

Glad to hear it worked out!

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[gmark]

Hi Mark:

OK, we're getting closer

Yes, Word uses a "template" named "Normal" that behaves a bit like an .ini
file and scratchpad.

It's one of the few files on the system that does not have a type extension
[...]

the
keyboard is not connected at all. HOWEVER -- if I put on the "numlock"
key,
all the numbers DO show up. And pasting into the document works.

You mention templates. I know very little about templates, but is it
possible
that one of these is corrupted, and is not associated with the other
login?
So that it expects something for this particular login that all the
non-numeric
keyboard characters are not providing? Are templates stored
somewhere
similar to caches, so that I can just blow one or more away and have
it
reconstituted to some default state?

That's all I can think of at present.

Well, this is EXACTLY what I needed -- a solution, a procedure, and
the
background information to understand not only why it worked, but how
to
fix things in the future!

Thanks, everybody!!

Mark

 

[Howard Brazee]

All of a sudden, I can't edit documents -- can't insert any text. I've
tried creating new docs, changing fonts. I can cut and paste into a
document, and can type numbers with the num-lock on. I've got a backup
login which uses the same global application, and it works fine. I've
looked in help and tried turning off various utilities. I don't recall
changing anything. I've even reloaded the entire office 2004 suite.
I'm running 10.4.10. Every other application works fine, even the
others in MS office 2004, like Powerpoint.

I'm inferring that you can't insert in Word, and can in Excel.

If you copy the document to another computer, can it be edited there?