I got dem normal.dot blues again

[Leyla]

I have Word 2002 running on XP Home. Ever since I got my
new laptop a year and a half ago, I have had the same
problem: Word is always trying to save normal.dot, asking
whether I want to save changes made to whatever doc I
open (even if I don't touch it), crashes if I leave the
program on too long, crashes when I try to save
documents, and crashes frequently when I use track
changes, header and footer, or comment functions, among
others (these latter are always runtime errors).

I have renamed the normal.dot more times than I can
count, changed the data registry key, checked for any
weird add-ins (always none), downloaded and used the
Support Template twice, checked for macro viruses (none),
and resolved one Norton conflict (which did improve
things a bit). I have always downloaded whatever updates
and patches are prompted by the automatic updater.

And I still have this problem, or problems.
I depend on using this program for my livelihood and have
moved from annoyance (initially) to rage (when on
deadline) to despair (almost losing entire manuscripts)
to resignation.

I saw a message on 9/15 re: normal.dot, but I get
a "message unavailable" each time I try to view that
exchange.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Most Gratefully,
Leyla

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

For at least one of those problems, see "WD2002: You Are Prompted to Save
Changes When You Close a Document Even Though You Have Made No Changes" at
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=816473. As for the prompt to save
Normal.dot, did you get Word as part of Works Suite?

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://www.mvps.org/word
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

 

[Beth Melton]

Hi Leyla,

Did Word come installed as part of Works Suite? If so then I'd say a
major source of your 'blues' is the "Microsoft Works Suite Add-in for
Word". Check Add/Remove programs in your Control Panel and if you find
the add-in promptly uninstall it.

I also suggest creating a new Normal.dot if you have been allowing
Word to save changes to your Normal.dot each time you exit.

If you are encountering Runtime errors then these are caused by
add-ins. Check under Tools/Templates and Add-ins and see if you find
any in the list.

If they will be located in either your either your Word Startup folder
or Office\Startup folder. The Office\Startup folder is located in the
installation path and the Word Startup folder can be found under
Tools/Options/File Locations.

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

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton

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

 

[Leyla]

It was part of Works Suite.
The add-in was there, and I did uninstall it.
I didn't find any add-ins in the Word or Office Startup
folders.
I did turn off the Smart Tags utility.
So hopefully the problem has been elimated. Fingers
crossed!
My thanks to you and Suzanne.
And here's a curious coda to this exchange. Within an
hour of posting my question, I started receiving e-mails
from "Microsoft" about "security patches," half of which
tried to launch .exe programs when I viewed the e-mails
(I've received 10 of them so far). I'm assuming these are
viruses from some enterprising little twits somewhere.
Has anyone else noted this?

 

[Beth Melton]

Hi Leyla,

<sigh> I'm sorry to hear you've been hit by the latest virus Swen.
Note these are not legitimate emails. Microsoft does not send patches
via email.

Since this morning I've already deleted 59 and that doesn't include
those deleted by my rules.

Aside from emails from Microsoft, you do not want to open any
attachments indicated "delivery failure" since the attachments contain
the virus too.

Now would be a good time to spam proof your email address. Apparently
they are harvesting email addresses from the newsgroups. :-(

Unfortunately for those already under attack all you can do is try to
establish rules to delete them. It is difficult because the subject
keeps changing and the sender is never the same.

I would still spam proof your email address before posting. I'm not
100% certain but I think the harvesting is continuing and it could
save you from a few of the email viruses anyway. At ~156K each they
are killer on a dial-up!

(Add another 5 to my previous count - more just cam in. <groan>)

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

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton

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

 

[Terry Farrell]

Leyla

I recommend that you go to Network Associates and download the latest
'STINGER' utility to scan you computer for SWEN.

 

[Beth Melton]

Leyla,

Also, since it sounds like the virus was attempting to execute
automatically you may not have all of the latest updates for IE:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default.asp?url=/technet/security/bulletin/MS01-020.asp

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

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton

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

 

[Leyla]

It was indeed Swen, as I found out courtesy of that nifty
little Stinger utility Terry recommended. 22 as of this
morning, but I changed my filter and spam blocker to the
highest settings, so we'll see. I checked out the patch
you recommended, but I'm using IE6, which according to MS
is "an unaffected version." Uh, right.
Anyway, thanks again!

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Note that none of these messages are inherently harmful. They cannot do
anything to your computer just by being there. Swen will get loose only if
you run the attached .exe file (and even some of those are duds).

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://www.mvps.org/word
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.