Microsoft Error

[andreaCwilliams]

I bought a powerbook g4 about 7 months ago along with MS office 2004.
When I installed it the first time...I had a bit of trouble because of
the test drive thing...then I uninstalled that. MS office went back to
working perfectly. Then, literally all of a sudden, I would click a
word document off the desktop or try to open MS word program and I get
this error message. The error message says "Microsoft Error
Reporting....MS Word has encountered a problem...blah blah blah..."
So, silly me, I uninstalled it...figuring that maybe I should reinstall
later. I did that and to no avail the same problem keeps occuring. I
have done all of the software updates and the programs still do not
work. What can I do?

Thank you in advance..

Andrea Williams

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

The MS Error Reporting comes up when a program crashes, so it sounds like
your Word is crashing on launch, so quickly you don't even see the splash
screen.

Such consistent and reproducible problems in Word usually respond to one of
the standard troubleshooting measures, which you will find listed here:

http://word.mvps.org/MacWordNew/TroubleshootingIndex.htm
(hit refresh a few times in Safari, or use a different browser)

Work through them one by one until something helps. If nothing does, post
back.

Alternatively, test it in a new user account. If the new account works,
switching over to it may be faster than tracking down the problem.

If programs other than Word also have problems, see the troubleshooting
pages here as well:
http://www.mcgimpsey.com/macoffice/

 

[John Laudun]

The MS Error Reporting comes up when a program crashes, so it sounds like
your Word is crashing on launch, so quickly you don't even see the splash
screen.

No, no. Word is crashing on quit. I guess I didn't make that clear.
Apparently this is fairly widespread, because I picked up a ready fix, based
on someone else's posting, at www.arstechnica.com -- see the Open Forum for
Macs: a corrupted normal template. Grrrr. And I had just tweaked it to have
my styles. Double grrr. (Now that I have my daughter is learning to talk,
I'm giving up swearing.)

The Error Reporter crashing only adds insult to injury. (Make that a triple
one of those.)

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

"Daiya Mitchell"


No, no. Word is crashing on quit. I guess I didn't make that clear.

Actually, I don't think that was your message I was replying to. But crash
on quit, crash on launch, same diff. Corrupted Normal template can manifest
in a lot of different ways, that's why it's a standard troubleshooting tip
for Word.

Apparently this is fairly widespread, because I picked up a ready fix, based
on someone else's posting, at www.arstechnica.com -- see the Open Forum for
Macs: a corrupted normal template. Grrrr. And I had just tweaked it to have
my styles. Double grrr. (Now that I have my daughter is learning to talk,
I'm giving up swearing.)

You can get your styles back, if you didn't trash the old Normal yet. Jump
to the "Restoring Customizations..." section of this page;
http://word.mvps.org/MacWordNew/MacWordNormal.htm
(hit refresh a few times in Safari, or use a different browser)

The Error Reporter crashing only adds insult to injury. (Make that a triple
one of those.)

Someone once said the idea of MS servers getting hammered by the Error
Reporter at least gave them a little satisfaction to balance the annoyance
of the crash.

 

[andreaCwilliams]

Thank you for your help. I have tried everything that I you have
suggested. I have ran all the updates. I have ran disk utility. I have
ran virex. I have checked my preferences and settings. I have checked
my file extensions, ownerships, and made sure that my file was being
opened with MS word. I have also uninstalled and reinstalled MS
office. So...I have no idea what to do next. Any suggestions?

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

What version of OS?

Did you try it in a new user account?

You do not say that you tested your Normal template, or global templates, or
third-party add-ins, so check those. (methods in the first link I gave)

Quit on launch is very likely to be corrupt fonts, so check your fonts. One
of the links I gave will point you toward a method (a mcgimpsey page, I
think).

Are you having problems just with Word? If with the other programs also,
please describe what you do and what happens.

How did you install MS Office? Custom install or drag and drop? Did
anything in the installation process suggest it had not installed properly?

 

[JE McGimpsey]

see the Open Forum for Macs: a corrupted normal template. Grrrr. And
I had just tweaked it to have my styles. Double grrr.

That's one reason I almost *never* use the Normal template for anything
but a one-off document. In fact, I trash it each time I open Word (using
an AppleScript).

Instead, I have dedicated templates for my correspondence. Unlike the
Normal template, they aren't used as a scratchpad, so they rarely, if
ever, corrupt.

OTOH, keeping a backup of your tweaked Normal would allow you to restore
your styles, too.

 

[andreaCwilliams]

I am using 10.3.9. I am not exactly sure what you mean by 'new user
account'? But I'll try it! When I tried the template troubleshooting
directions: "Troubleshooting Procedure: Quit Word and open Word's
Startup folder: /Applications/Microsoft Office (X or
2004)/Office/Startup/Word. Drag the contents to the Desktop. If the
problem disappears, add them back in one by one until you find the
culprit." There is nothing is that folder. I am guessing that might be
my problem. I dont know. I am having the same problem in all the
office applications. When I installed MS office, I did the custom
install because I didnt want entourage. I didnt receive any error
messages when I installed it.

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

If the startup folder is empty, then it's not your problem. That just means
you don't have any global templates or add-ins, nothing's wrong there.

What about the Normal Template?

I meant a new user account/login in OS X. Check MacHelp, it's actually very
easy.

The Entourage app takes 10MB. You never have to launch it. But Office is
pretty co-dependent and if you wind up Removing and Reinstalling again, I
think you should try installing it. It ought not to be this way, but...
(there's also Remove and Reinstall tips on that link I gave you)

There's no inherent incompatibilities with 10.3.9, that's the same OS I'm
on.

 

[andreaCwilliams]

So I finally just set up ithe new use account...(you were right, it was
really, really easy) I think that I will just switch to the new user
account to use MS office because when I installed it...it works
perfectly. Thank you so much for all your help!

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

Glad you found a fix.

Actually, before you switch over, do one more thing-- hold down shift as you
login to your regular user account. This prevents account startup items
from loading (and you could turn those off manually,
this is just easier). Then check Office. You want to make sure the startup
items aren't the cause because presumably you are about to reinstall them in
the new user account.

Yes, sometimes switching accounts is easier than tracking down the problem.