Multiple problems when opening Word

[greggsewell]

Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
Processor: intel

First, my specs:

Mac OS 10.5.4
2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor
3 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM
Microsoft Word 2008 12.1.1
Hard disk: 233 GB, 158 GB available

Yesterday I turned on my computer and opened Word.

I got three dialogs:

------------
You are working without a Word work file and memory is nearly full. Save your work.
------------

------------
Word cannot open this document template. (Document Elements.dotx)
------------

------------
There is a problem with the Office database

Office might be unable to access the database or the database file might be damaged. Without the database, you might be unable to use the Address Book, Scrapbook, and other features that store your personal information.

To rebuild the database, open Microsoft Office 2008/Office, and then open the Microsoft Database Utility. For more information, open the Database Utility application, and on the Help menu, click Database Utility Help.
------------

I came to this forum and searched.

One thread said something about throwing away the offending template (not the particular one mentioned above).

I deleted Document Elements.dotx.

I also rebuilt the database.

Word opened fine, with no error messages.

Of course, I had no Document elements.

I searched the install CD-ROM disc, but parts and pieces of the instal aren't available in the Finder.

So I re-installed Word.

This took me back to 12.0.

Everything worked fine.

Until this morning.

Now the problem is repeating, just as described above.

My main problem is that I need to create a bibliography with over 200 entries, so I really need Document Elements to work for me.

Any help will be appreciated.

 

[greggsewell]

More info on this:

I cannot open files by double-clicking them in the Finder or by selecting File menu > Open or File menu > Open Recent.

The Open command is grayed out.

All of the files listed in the Open Recent submenu are grayed out.

I rebuilt the database again this morning, and the Database Utility reported that the problems it found were successfully fixed and the database rebuilt, but that the old database could not be moved from the Main Identity.

When I ran Verify Database a second time, problems were found again.

I rebuilt the database a second time, with the same result as above.

And a third time.

Then I opened Word again, and received all three messages as in my first post.

 

[John McGhie]

Hi Greg:

OK, your system is having major problems writing to disk.

Let's begin with a "Repair Permissions" and see where that gets us.

Fire up Disk Utility, and run Repair Permissions. Then tell us what has
changed (if anything).

Cheers

More info on this:

I cannot open files by double-clicking them in the Finder or by selecting File
menu > Open or File menu > Open Recent.

The Open command is grayed out.

All of the files listed in the Open Recent submenu are grayed out.

I rebuilt the database again this morning, and the Database Utility reported
that the problems it found were successfully fixed and the database rebuilt,
but that the old database could not be moved from the Main Identity.

When I ran Verify Database a second time, problems were found again.

I rebuilt the database a second time, with the same result as above.

And a third time.

Then I opened Word again, and received all three messages as in my first post.

--
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]

 

[greggsewell]

I ran Disk Utility and repaired permissions.

From the log:

Warning: SUID file "usr/libexec/load_hdi" has been modified and will not be repaired.

ACL found but not expected on "private/var/root/Library/Preferences".

ACL found but not expected on "private/var/root/Library".

ACL found but not expected on "private/var/root".

Warning: SUID file "usr/libexec/authopen" has been modified and will not be repaired.

Group differs on "private/etc/cups", should be 0, group is 26.

Permissions repair complete

Next I ran Verify Disk.

No problems found.

Something told me to take a further step, so I booted from my Mac OS install disk and ran Disk Utility again.

I ran Verify Disk, and was told:

Volume Header needs minor repairs.

I ran Repair Disk, and the problem was reported as fixed.

I ran Repair Permissions and was told that Disk Utility couldn't proceed because there were no valid packages.

(!)

I restarted from my hard drive and ran Disk Utility again.

I ran Verify Permissions. The messages above were reported.

I ran Repair Permissions. Again, the messages above were reported and fixed.

I started Word.

No out of memory warning.

Document Elements opened just fine.

Open and Open Recent commands work.

Still got the database error message though.

So, I'm functioning, but not entirely certain that I've found the problem yet.

Perhaps this will yield an insight.

Another program (Finale -- it's a music typesetting program) tells me every fifteen to thirty seconds or so that it cannot save its temporary files -- even when the program isn't open. I have a work-around for this, but I wonder if this is related somehow to a general disk or system malfunction.

Thanks for your help.

 

[CyberTaz]

Hi Gregg -

I wish I could offer something more, but the one thing I did note that
deserves commenting on;

Don't ever repair permissions when booted from something other than the
startup disk whose permissions you're attempting to repair. The version of
OS X on the install disk requires different permissions than what the HD is
updated to and they are not the appropriate ones. You're actually fortunate
that it didn't make any changes Otherwise it could have cause even more
problems.

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

 

[John McGhie]

Hi Greg:

OK, we're getting there:

Now you can do a "Compact and Repair" on the Entourage database, and
everything in Office should be working again.

Yes, I would be a little suspicious that the hard disk itself is not well
(or that there's a fundamental problem with the OS installation).

Let's see if it works now. If it happens again, I would be calling in a
specialist...

Cheers

I ran Disk Utility and repaired permissions.

From the log:

Warning: SUID file "usr/libexec/load_hdi" has been modified and will not be
repaired.

ACL found but not expected on "private/var/root/Library/Preferences".

ACL found but not expected on "private/var/root/Library".

ACL found but not expected on "private/var/root".

Warning: SUID file "usr/libexec/authopen" has been modified and will not be
repaired.

Group differs on "private/etc/cups", should be 0, group is 26.

Permissions repair complete

Next I ran Verify Disk.

No problems found.

Something told me to take a further step, so I booted from my Mac OS install
disk and ran Disk Utility again.

I ran Verify Disk, and was told:

Volume Header needs minor repairs.

I ran Repair Disk, and the problem was reported as fixed.

I ran Repair Permissions and was told that Disk Utility couldn't proceed
because there were no valid packages.

(!)

I restarted from my hard drive and ran Disk Utility again.

I ran Verify Permissions. The messages above were reported.

I ran Repair Permissions. Again, the messages above were reported and fixed.

I started Word.

No out of memory warning.

Document Elements opened just fine.

Open and Open Recent commands work.

Still got the database error message though.

So, I'm functioning, but not entirely certain that I've found the problem yet.

Perhaps this will yield an insight.

Another program (Finale -- it's a music typesetting program) tells me every
fifteen to thirty seconds or so that it cannot save its temporary files --
even when the program isn't open. I have a work-around for this, but I wonder
if this is related somehow to a general disk or system malfunction.

Thanks for your help.

--
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]