MS Word will not start up

[Dean]

I am running Mac OS 10.3.3 on my iBook and OS 10.2.4 on our iMac
(backup). On both computers, MS Word will not start up. I get the
message: *The application Microsoft Word has unexpectedly quit.* This
occurs on both machines! On both computers, PowerPoint works fine
(along w/ the other office programs). I have used the Apple Disk
Utility to repair the disk permissions on both machines, but Word
still doesn't open. I have re-installed Word on my iBook (after first
trashing it) and then installing it again, but the same thing happens.
I have even tried installing Office on an external hard drive to run
from the iBook, but the same thing happens. After downloading all the
upgrades from the Mactopia site (to 10.1.5) to my iBook, I get the
same message after attempting to open Word. I am, however, able to
open Word (and use it) in my 2001 version on Classic. The only thing I
can blame is a program I tried called MacWasher (free download) which
is supposed to remove spyware from the computer. However, it never
completed the action on the iBook since it apparently got hung up and
quit (I aslo tried it on the iMac at home). I use Word every day in my
work. While I can get along w/ classic, I bought Office X to work in
OS X. If anyone could give me some suggestions, I would appreciate it.
Thanks!

 

[Dayo Mitchell]

Quitting on startup can be a sign of corrupt fonts....

Follow this link for general troubleshooting techniques:
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/WordMac/index.htm

See here to make sure you are fully updated:
http://www.mcgimpsey.com/macoffice/office/vxversions.html

DM

 

[Corentin Cras-Méneur [MVP]]

Quitting on startup can be a sign of corrupt fonts....

Or corrupted prefs like the Carbon Registration Database of the Office
settings (10). You can safely delete these two files. They will be
re-created automatically.


Corentin

 

[Dayo Mitchell]

Or corrupted prefs like the Carbon Registration Database of the Office
settings (10). You can safely delete these two files. They will be
re-created automatically.

Hey Corentin,

So there's a Carbon Registration Database
*And*
An Office Settings (10) file (in addition to Word Settings, Excel Settings,
etc)?
Are these all in ~/Library/Prefs/Microsoft?

Just clarifying for my own knowledge.

Thanks,
Dayo

 

[Corentin Cras-Méneur [MVP]]

Hey Corentin,

HI Dayo,

So there's a Carbon Registration Database
*And*
An Office Settings (10) file (in addition to Word Settings, Excel Settings,
etc)?
Are these all in ~/Library/Prefs/Microsoft?

Absolutely. And they are both often responsible for many of the problems
we get in Office :-\

Corentin

 

[Dayo Mitchell]

HI Dayo,


Absolutely. And they are both often responsible for many of the problems
we get in Office :-\

Corentin

Thanks much, Corentin! Working on my Fix Office X boilerplate...but of
course since I don't have X yet, it's a bit hazy. I think I've already
stolen some of yours.

Dayo

 

[Corentin Cras-Méneur [MVP]]

Thanks much, Corentin! Working on my Fix Office X boilerplate...but of
course since I don't have X yet, it's a bit hazy. I think I've already
stolen some of yours.

Go ahead, steal all you want )) I can try to help if you need.
I've been using X for a while and I believe I'm starting to get rather
familiar with some of the tricks
Maybe Office 2004 will be one more reason for you to switchy to MacOS
X ;-)))


Corentin

 

[Guest]

I would advise you check in the Word startup folder found
in:

Harddrive/Applications/Microsoft Office
X/Office/startup/word and make sure you remove anything
that is in there.

Good luck.

 

[JE McGimpsey]

Thanks much, Corentin! Working on my Fix Office X boilerplate...but of
course since I don't have X yet, it's a bit hazy. I think I've already
stolen some of yours.

I've also got some general troubleshooting tips up at

http://www.mcgimpsey.com/macoffice/word/troubleshooting.html

 

[Corentin Cras-Méneur [MVP]]

I've also got some general troubleshooting tips up at

http://www.mcgimpsey.com/macoffice/word/troubleshooting.html

Very nice site!!! And I've personnaly met the author and he seems to
know a great deal about these issues ;-)))))))


Corentin

 

[Dayo Mitchell]

I've also got some general troubleshooting tips up at

http://www.mcgimpsey.com/macoffice/word/troubleshooting.html

Lovely! I'll just make that link my boilerplate. (Is it new? I know I've
browsed your site and would hate to think I was silly enough to pass over
that.)

Small comments:
Do you want to add "check add-ins" to the page (especially Endnote? ?
Also, I think under Update, you may as well link back to your own excellent
page on how to tell.
Typos under "check your settings":
"If the problems is clearsed"

Dayo

PS. After the updating thread on Mac.office--you could add the tip re
saving update installers to your site on updating, if you wanted to be
extra-friendly.

 

[JE McGimpsey]

Do you want to add "check add-ins" to the page (especially Endnote? ?
Also, I think under Update, you may as well link back to your own excellent
page on how to tell.

Good ideas - I'll get that fixed soon.

Please send any other items, corrections, revisions - I don't have any
real pride in authorship.

Typos under "check your settings":
"If the problems is clearsed"

Ugh, I get used to spellcheck. Thanks!

 

[John McGhie [MVP - Word]]

That's not necessarily good advice: Yes, I agree that items in the
Office/Startup/Word folder can crash Word on startup.

What I am questioning is the blanket statement to "remove anything you find
in there". The user can end up disabling needed functionality and not
knowing why.

I would prefer to say "If you find anything in there and you are unsure of
its purpose, try removing it and see if this cures the problem."

That way the user gets to keep the function of tried-and-trusted add-ins
that have caused no problems for months.

Usually when Word suddenly won't start, it's because you have changed some
software on the system. In which case, you need to be suspicious of
whatever it was you last installed (and it helps a lot if you tell us what
that was when you post here).

Currently I am becoming suspicious that one of the security updates for
Panther causes Filer Permission problems in the Word software. Running Disk
Utility's Fix Permissions seems to resolve a lot of issues.

Hope this helps

This responds to article <[email protected]>, from
"(e-mail address removed)" <[email protected]>

I would advise you check in the Word startup folder found
in:

Harddrive/Applications/Microsoft Office
X/Office/startup/word and make sure you remove anything
that is in there.

Good luck.

--

Please respond only to the newsgroup to preserve the thread.

John McGhie, Consultant Technical Writer,
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
Sydney, Australia. GMT + 10 Hrs
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]

 

[Paul Berkowitz]

Thanks much, Corentin! Working on my Fix Office X boilerplate...but of
course since I don't have X yet, it's a bit hazy. I think I've already
stolen some of yours.

In Office 2001 the equivalent file is the PPC Registration Database file -
but it's "loose" in the Preferences folder of the OS 8/9 System Folder, not
in the Microsoft subfolder within. (You wouldn't even know it was an Office
file.) It tells the Office apps at startup where to find all the files they
need, and many settings too.

It's much better now that they've put the Carbon Registration Database file
inside the Microsoft subfolder of ~/Library/Prefreences/ in OS X.

--
Paul Berkowitz
MVP Entourage
Entourage FAQ Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/toc.html>
AppleScripts for Entourage: <http://macscripter.net/scriptbuilders/>

Please "Reply To Newsgroup" to reply to this message. Emails will be
ignored.

PLEASE always state which version of Entourage you are using - 2001 or X.
It's often impossible to answer your questions otherwise.

 

[Corentin Cras-Méneur [MVP]]

It tells the Office apps at startup where to find all the files they
need, and many settings too.

And it is "broken" as in Office 10.x: NetBooting completely messes it
up.


Corentin

 

[Bert Bulmer]

[[ This message was both posted and mailed: see
the "To," "Cc," and "Newsgroups" headers for details. ]]

I would advise you check in the Word startup folder found
in:

Harddrive/Applications/Microsoft Office
X/Office/startup/word and make sure you remove anything
that is in there.

Good luck.

Hey,

Just a quick note of extreme thanks. I've been racking my brain trying
to reduce Word's 2 minute startup time down to something that wouldn't
make me want to kill myself. Thank you, thank you, thank you....

Bert