Can't print from Excell and Word. Keeps Crashing!!

[kt77]

Version: 2004
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
Processor: Intel

Can anyone please shed some light on this very mysterious and frustrating thing that has started happening since Friday..

For some reason all of a sudden, if I want to print something from either Word or Excell it just freezes up and gives me the spinning wheel of death before it eventually crashes. I can work within the apps fine, I just can't print anymore. And its not just one particular document for both application, it's all documents.

The weird thing is, I haven't even installed anything or done any software updates prior to Friday. Infact, there hasn't been any changes applied to my mac since February.

I have uninstalled the entire office suite and its prefs, re-installing the software, applying the MS Office 2004 updates one by one, (and run permissions repair after each update install) and checking the application after each update.. Still no luck.

I thought maybe I had a font issue, so I switched off all of my fonts, restarted my mac, launched the applications, even used a blank document this time round, but nope, still does it.

I have since done any System Updates and re-ran permissions repair as well as disk repair from the install disk, but it still has not resolved the issue..

What is going on???

I am at lost as to what else I could do to resolve this.

Oh, and just to be a little clearer about my mac, I have OSX 10.5.6 installed.

 

[CyberTaz]

Have you checked the mfr's site for an updated printer driver?

That's one of the first things to suspect when any print-related issues
arise. Your programs don't do the printing - they call the service from the
OS for you. Also, printer drivers are far more susceptible to corruption
than are applications programs.

Secondly, try running Office apps from a new/different user account in order
to help narrow down the possibilities.

Another possible contributor: In UserName/Library/Preferences/Microsoft
delete these two files while no Office programs are running:

com.microsoft.Office.prefs.plist
Office Font Cache (11)

It would also be useful if you'd confirm exactly what you've updated Office
to - there's no mention of version numbers anywhere in your post.

I'd further suggest that you grab the OSX Leopard (10.5.6) Combo Update from
the Apple Downloads site. It's more comprehensive than what SU delivers to
your door. You can get it here:

<http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/apple/macosx_updates/macosx1056combou
pdate.html>

Additionally, there are a few interjections to your message below in order
to offer a few suggestions - they may have influenced the situation:

Version: 2004
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
Processor: Intel

Can anyone please shed some light on this very mysterious and frustrating
thing that has started happening since Friday..

For some reason all of a sudden, if I want to print something from either Word
or Excell it just freezes up and gives me the spinning wheel of death before
it eventually crashes. I can work within the apps fine, I just can't print
anymore. And its not just one particular document for both application, it's
all documents.

....The first indication that it *isn't* the application software itself or
the documents.

The weird thing is, I haven't even installed anything or done any software
updates prior to Friday. Infact, there hasn't been any changes applied to my
mac since February.

That may very well have contributed to the problem. In today's computing
world it is imperative that both the OS & your application software be kept
current. Apply all updates when they're made available or shortly
thereafter. If you use Help> Check for Updates in any Office app you can set
AutoUpdate to check on a weekly or monthly basis.

I have uninstalled the entire office suite and its prefs, re-installing the
software, applying the MS Office 2004 updates one by one, (and run permissions
repair after each update install) and checking the application after each
update.. Still no luck.

Seldom will you have any "luck" in getting problems fixed by reinstalling
Office - That's a Windows tactic that just doesn't work [and is typically an
unnecessary waste of time] on a Mac. It's one thing for a simple program
such as a browser, but a complex suite such as Office is a completely
different story. For one thing it's rare for a program to go sour. It's
typically support files that corrupt & reinstalling does not replace or
remove them. You then have to go through the entire update process only to
wind up in the same situation you started with... Or worse.

I thought maybe I had a font issue, so I switched off all of my fonts,
restarted my mac, launched the applications, even used a blank document this
time round, but nope, still does it.

I have since done any System Updates and re-ran permissions repair as well as
disk repair from the install disk, but it still has not resolved the issue..

What is going on???

I am at lost as to what else I could do to resolve this.

Oh, and just to be a little clearer about my mac, I have OSX 10.5.6 installed.

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