Insert Hyperlink command in MS Word suddenly not functioning

[pogonip]

Version: 2004
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger)
Processor: intel

Have been using this function with MS Word for Mac for a while now and very pleased with it. However, the "Insert >> Hyperlink" command has suddenly stopped working. I have tried trashing the com.microsoft.Word.plist pref file and re-booting, and have re-installed MS Word v. 11.4.3. Nothing seems to work. The insert hyperlink command does continue to work fine in MS Excel for Mac. I can log out of my usual account and get the command to work in an alternate account, but that's not a solution to my problem.

Any suggestions would be welcomed. Thanks.

 

[CyberTaz]

What you might try first is Tools> Customize> Customize Toolbars/Menus, on
the Toolbars page click the name of the Menu Bar, then click the Reset
button. That may resolve it once you OK out. If not...

Go to the Microsoft User Data folder & test your Normal template as
described on this page:

http://word.mvps.org/mac/MacWordNormal.html

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

 

[pogonip]

Bob,

Thanks for your suggestions. Unfortunately, there must be some other issue in play. I'm somewhat surprised that re-installing the Office 2004 for Mac app and dumping pref files had no affect.

pogonip

 

[John McGhie]

This is a Mac, not a PC

Reinstalling NEVER has any effect on a Mac, because re-installing does not
replace any files that already exist. So unless you perform a full Remove
Office first, all of the files exist and re-installing does nothing at all.

Even if you DO remove office, it's most likely (99.9 per cent likely...)
that re-installing won't fix anything, because the files that get damaged
are not part of the program code, and so are not on the installation disk to
replace with.

Which way are you accessing the Insert>Hyperlink command? There are three
ways, and I need to know which one you are using.

What happens if you try it in a new blank document?

What View is the document in? Insert Hyperlink won't work in some Views.

What is the status of Document Protection? If the section you attempt to
insert into is protected, you won't be able to insert into it.

Sorry to be a pain, but I need more detail

Cheers

Bob,

Thanks for your suggestions. Unfortunately, there must be some other issue in
play. I'm somewhat surprised that re-installing the Office 2004 for Mac app
and dumping pref files had no affect.

pogonip

--
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, Microsoft MVP, Word and Word:Mac
Sydney, Australia. mailto:[email protected]

 

[CyberTaz]

OK, let's go back to the basics again...

Log in as that user then launch Word while pressing the Shift key. If that
makes no difference, quit Word, log out, then hold Shift while logging in.
Launch Word & see if there's any change. Reply with the results, but if
either succeeds it will narrow down the possibilities.

Log in normally & do the following:

Your op indicated that you had removed "the com.microsoft.Word.plist pref
file". I assumed I knew what you meant, but now it's not so clear - there
are 2 files that are similarly named, so let's be a bit more specific

Make sure no Office apps are running, then go to:

User/Library/Preferences/Microsoft/com.microsoft.Word.prefs.plist

Also remove:

User/Library/Preferences/ com.microsoft.Word.plist

Repair Disk Permissions afterward, then start Word & see where you stand.

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

 

[pogonip]

Bob and John-

Thanks to you both for taking the time to troubleshoot this issue.

Launching Word while holding down shift key did not correct the problem.

Re-booting computer in the safe mode did not correct the problem.

Trashing the two pref files, running Repair Disk Permissions from Disk Utility and re-starting Word did not correct the problem.

It does not matter if I start from an existing document or from a New Blank Page.

John - No matter which of the three ways I invoke the "Insert Hyperlink" command (e.g. from the drop down menu, from the drop down menu in the formatting toolbar or by typing command-K), the "link screen" (not sure what its called) does not appear.

I have been working in the "Page Layout" mode, although the problem is common to all other View modes.

My Word preferences do not include any "Document Protection."

Pogonip

 

[pogonip]

Before continuing to troubleshoot the problem with the functionality of the "Insert hyperlink" with Word v. 11.4.3, I see that an update to Word (11.5.0) has just been released.

Would it be reasonable to expect that this upgrade might result in a "solution?" Or should I un-install the Office 2004 for Mac application suite from the drive and then re-install from the original disk, following the usual upgrade path up to v.11.5.0? Or other?

Thanks.

pogonip

 

[CyberTaz]

Hello again -

The short answer to our 3 questions are No, No, see my last post

For the details, see inline below;

Before continuing to troubleshoot the problem with the functionality of the
"Insert hyperlink" with Word v. 11.4.3, I see that an update to Word (11.5.0)
has just been released.

Would it be reasonable to expect that this upgrade might result in a
"solution?"

No, because the problem you reported is not being experienced on any
wide-spread scale, so it isn't a "bug" or a problem with the program that
would be addressed by an update. If you'd like to check the release notes
you'll find there is no mention of anything that remotely relates to
hyperlinks: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/953824

Or should I un-install the Office 2004 for Mac application suite
from the drive and then re-install from the original disk, following the usual
upgrade path up to v.11.5.0?

No, for much the same reason as above. The program isn't broken - apps
*rarely* go bad in the Mac OS & reinstalling does nothing to repair or
replace the files which do go bad. Additionally, you're reinstalling to the
level on the original disk which requires that all updates need to be done
over & other problems can be induced - especially with certain components.

Besides, you wrote that you had already tried that... How's it working for
you

Reinstalling is the common Windows platform approach but is the last resort
on a Mac - especially when the issue revolves around the misbehavior of a
single, rather minor feature.

Or other?

The approach suggested in my last message is the most likely to get to the
source of the problem & correct it. It isn't just an opinion - in fact, it
isn't even my opinion. It's the tried & true established troubleshooting
procedure based on experience. Once the matter is resolved it will be time
to apply the 11.5 update.

Thanks.

pogonip

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

 

[pogonip]

Good morning, Bob -

You have the patience of a saint. Thank you.

You indicate that "The approach suggested in my last message is the most likely to get to the source of the problem & correct it ... It's the tried & true established troubleshooting
procedure based on experience." I followed each of these instructions to the "t" :
— Launch Word while holding down shift key. No luck.
— Re-boot computer in the safe mode. Nope.
— Trash the two pref files, run Repair Disk
Permissions, and re-start Word. Doesn't fix it.

In all three instances, I never get to the interface screen that allows me to select a URL pointer. The problem is isolated to Word. The Hyperlink function works fine with Excel and PowerPoint, and works fine if I log in to my computer as another user.

BTW, I have not yet re-installed the Offce 2004 application suite from my original installation disk, as I knew I would be in for possible heartbreak. Your comment that "other problems can be induced - especially with certain components" didn't give me much in the way of encouragement to leap to this approach just yet.

pogonip

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

sidebar, pardon the interruption:

In all three instances, I never get to the interface screen that allows me to select a URL pointer. The problem is isolated to Word. The Hyperlink function works fine with Excel and PowerPoint, and works fine if I log in to my computer as another user.

When it works fine in a new user, then by definition, the installation
is fine but some user-specific file has corruption or a conflict. Since
the installation is fine, REINSTALLING IS NOT GOING TO HELP.
Reinstalling without running Remove Office first can even create more
problems.

Similarly, it is not reasonable to expect that an update to 11.5 will
help your problem, because the problem is specific to your user account
on that machine. The problem is not in the application. An update should
only affect the application, not your user-specific files.

By the way, Bob didn't tell you to do a safe boot. A safe boot is when
you restart the computer while holding down shift. Bob told you to Log
In while holding down shift. This prevents all login items, utilities
that run in the background, from loading. One of them could be causing a
conflict. To do that, select Log Out from the apple menu, then enter
name and password, and hold down shift while clicking the login button
with the mouse.

Daiya

 

[pogonip]

Thanks, Daiya

My bad. I should have logged in to my User Account holding the shift down, rather than rebooting into the safe mode.

In any event, I did this, too, and the problem persists. Finding this corrupted, user-specific file is obviously difficult to track down. Is there an "if all else fails" suggestion, other than living with the problem?

pogonip

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

Thanks, Daiya

My bad. I should have logged in to my User Account holding the shift down, rather than rebooting into the safe mode.

In any event, I did this, too, and the problem persists. Finding this corrupted, user-specific file is obviously difficult to track down. Is there an "if all else fails" suggestion, other than living with the problem?

Well, you can move to the new user account, or you can try to track down
the issue. If it's not Normal or Preferences, it can be pretty tough to
track down. Actually, I guess a third option might be to hand-type
Hyperlinks--you can hit cmd-F9 to create field braces and type/copy the
codes yourself. Or Insert | Field | Links and References will let you
insert a Hyperlink, though not nearly so convenient or user-friendly.

Brute-force approach for Word 2004:

quit all office apps--in [username]/Library/Preferences, find the
Microsoft folder and all files beginning with com.microsoft. Move them
somewhere else.

Word also keeps user-specific stuff in [username]/Documents/Microsoft
User Data. Try moving that entire folder somewhere else.

If that gets rid of the problem, it might be worth moving stuff back
piece by piece to try to find that trigger. If that doesn't get rid of
the problem, I'm out of ideas, but there is also a whole bunch of
Troubleshooting Word 2004 information here:
http://word.mvps.org/Mac/TroubleshootingIndex.html

 

[pogonip]

Many Thanks, Daiya -

I'll probably use my alternate user account for specific MS Word documents in which I choose to embed a hyperlink; the function works fine on these other accounts. Simple, but effective solution, I suppose.

Appreciate your suggestions, and those from John and Bob as well.

pogonip