Office 2004 crashes--what to do?

[rudysfirst]

I've been using Office 2004 for a long time without any problems. I
guess I went a little overboard and began adding dozens of fonts. About
10 days ago Office crashed immediately when I tried opening Word or
Excel. After searching the archives I decided that mostly likely one or
more of the fonts was the culprit.

I downloaded Linotype Font Explorer X and disabled most of the fonts
and now have only about 200. Then I reinstalled Office successfully and
had no problem until today. Now I'm getting the same message as last
week when I try to use Office: "Microsoft Word has encountered a
problems and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience."

I would appreciate any help or suggestions. This is rather disturbing
after such a long time without any problems.

 

[CyberTaz]

Not sure from your post, but if you haven't already been there take a good
read of ;

http://word.mvps.org/Mac/Disable-Fonts.html

Including the link to the Apple KB article.

Also take a look at;

http://word.mvps.org/Mac/CorruptFontErrors.html

 

[rudysfirst]

Thanks! I think my fonts are OK. I have archived most of them. What is
discouraging is that I didn't do anything with the fonts after my
mishap last week. I had reinstalled Office and all was working OK. Then
this morning Office crashed and I'm wondering if I should reinstall
Office again. If the error message would tell me what was wrong I would
feel much better than the benign "has encountered a problem and has to
close." All was working OK for more than a year and now this. Grrrr!

 

[rudysfirst]

Thanks for your continuing help. I read again the article suggested:
http://word.mvps.org/Mac/CorruptFontErrors.html
Most of this was aimed toward Tiger users (I'm at 10.3.9). Well, that
said, I tried deleting some of the suggested files, but couldn't find
them anywhere. Then I read about starting up in safe mode and opening
Word, etc., etc. When I tried this I got stuck in a cycle (my monitor
is not an Apple and it wanted me to change resolution but that was
impossible because it was just cycling through the warning.) So I
finally was able to reboot the regular way and now I've got an even
crazier problem. The Dock has disappeared and I can't seem to turn it
on. The desktop wallpaper I always use is gone too. I'm beginning to
get spooked.
Ruth

 

[rudysfirst]

I'm working on backing up data now. I've run Disk Utility several times
in the last day or two and I'm becoming very familiar with the repairs
that it makes. They are always the same! What does this mean? The
repairs were never really made? Are you suggesting that if the repairs
are successful, there won't be a report of repairs made?

Since the problem seems to extend beyond Office my suggestion is:

1- Backup any important data

2- Run Disk Utility - Repair Disk Permissions

3- Download & reinstall the 10.3.9 *combo* update available here:
http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/macosxcombinedupdate1039.html

4- Restart & Run step #2 again

5- If there are still problems, start up from the OS X source disk (can't
remember if 10.3.x has a Recovery disk or not)

6- Run Disk Utility - Repair Disk. If errors are repaired run it again until
it reports no errors found. [note the distinction between Repair Disk
Permissions & Repair Disk - 2 separate features within Disk Utility]

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

Thanks for your continuing help. I read again the article suggested:
http://word.mvps.org/Mac/CorruptFontErrors.html
Most of this was aimed toward Tiger users (I'm at 10.3.9). Well, that
said, I tried deleting some of the suggested files, but couldn't find
them anywhere. Then I read about starting up in safe mode and opening
Word, etc., etc. When I tried this I got stuck in a cycle (my monitor
is not an Apple and it wanted me to change resolution but that was
impossible because it was just cycling through the warning.) So I
finally was able to reboot the regular way and now I've got an even
crazier problem. The Dock has disappeared and I can't seem to turn it
on. The desktop wallpaper I always use is gone too. I'm beginning to
get spooked.
Ruth

 

[rudysfirst]

I downloaded the 10.3.9 "combo" update and tried to install it.
Everything went OK until the end and I got a report that it did not
installed successfully. I tried it twice with the same results. Could
it be that since I am already running 10.3.9 that it wouldn't work?

I'm thinking I'll have to erase my hard drive and reinstall everything.
Does that sound like a solution? I really dread doing that. But nothing
else seems to work.

Ruth

Since the problem seems to extend beyond Office my suggestion is:

1- Backup any important data

2- Run Disk Utility - Repair Disk Permissions

3- Download & reinstall the 10.3.9 *combo* update available here:
http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/macosxcombinedupdate1039.html

4- Restart & Run step #2 again

5- If there are still problems, start up from the OS X source disk (can't
remember if 10.3.x has a Recovery disk or not)

6- Run Disk Utility - Repair Disk. If errors are repaired run it again until
it reports no errors found. [note the distinction between Repair Disk
Permissions & Repair Disk - 2 separate features within Disk Utility]

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

Thanks for your continuing help. I read again the article suggested:
http://word.mvps.org/Mac/CorruptFontErrors.html
Most of this was aimed toward Tiger users (I'm at 10.3.9). Well, that
said, I tried deleting some of the suggested files, but couldn't find
them anywhere. Then I read about starting up in safe mode and opening
Word, etc., etc. When I tried this I got stuck in a cycle (my monitor
is not an Apple and it wanted me to change resolution but that was
impossible because it was just cycling through the warning.) So I
finally was able to reboot the regular way and now I've got an even
crazier problem. The Dock has disappeared and I can't seem to turn it
on. The desktop wallpaper I always use is gone too. I'm beginning to
get spooked.
Ruth

 

[Beth Rosengard]

No. Don't erase the HD at this point.

First, make absolutely sure that you have all of the "cannot be disabled"
Apple-installed fonts where they're supposed to be. See here for the lists
and locations: <http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=25710>

Then do a full removal and reinstallation of Office. You'll find the
step-by-step here: <http://word.mvps.org/Mac/RemoveReinstall.html>

Once this is complete, hopefully the original problem will be gone. If it's
not, post back here.

--
***Please always reply to the newsgroup!***

Beth Rosengard
MacOffice MVP

Mac Word FAQ: <http://word.mvps.org/Mac/WordMacHome.html>
My Site: <http://www.bethrosengard.com>

I downloaded the 10.3.9 "combo" update and tried to install it.
Everything went OK until the end and I got a report that it did not
installed successfully. I tried it twice with the same results. Could
it be that since I am already running 10.3.9 that it wouldn't work?

I'm thinking I'll have to erase my hard drive and reinstall everything.
Does that sound like a solution? I really dread doing that. But nothing
else seems to work.

Ruth

Since the problem seems to extend beyond Office my suggestion is:

1- Backup any important data

2- Run Disk Utility - Repair Disk Permissions

3- Download & reinstall the 10.3.9 *combo* update available here:
http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/macosxcombinedupdate1039.html

4- Restart & Run step #2 again

5- If there are still problems, start up from the OS X source disk (can't
remember if 10.3.x has a Recovery disk or not)

6- Run Disk Utility - Repair Disk. If errors are repaired run it again until
it reports no errors found. [note the distinction between Repair Disk
Permissions & Repair Disk - 2 separate features within Disk Utility]

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

Thanks for your continuing help. I read again the article suggested:
http://word.mvps.org/Mac/CorruptFontErrors.html
Most of this was aimed toward Tiger users (I'm at 10.3.9). Well, that
said, I tried deleting some of the suggested files, but couldn't find
them anywhere. Then I read about starting up in safe mode and opening
Word, etc., etc. When I tried this I got stuck in a cycle (my monitor
is not an Apple and it wanted me to change resolution but that was
impossible because it was just cycling through the warning.) So I
finally was able to reboot the regular way and now I've got an even
crazier problem. The Dock has disappeared and I can't seem to turn it
on. The desktop wallpaper I always use is gone too. I'm beginning to
get spooked.
Ruth

CyberTaz wrote:
Are you using Disk Utility - Repair Disk Permissions whenever you update or
install? That could be one factor.

Also, reinstalling *rarely* fixes anything on the Mac unless you do a
proper
Removal/Uninstall *first*... Most of what causes problems on the Mac are
not
the applications, but the various supporting files (preferences, plists,
caches, etc.). Reinstalling over an existing installation typically
*doesn't* replace them even if you drag the main folder to the Trash, so
the
problem persists or recurs.

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



On 9/6/06 7:15 PM, in article
(e-mail address removed), "(e-mail address removed)"

Thanks! I think my fonts are OK. I have archived most of them. What is
discouraging is that I didn't do anything with the fonts after my
mishap last week. I had reinstalled Office and all was working OK. Then
this morning Office crashed and I'm wondering if I should reinstall
Office again. If the error message would tell me what was wrong I would
feel much better than the benign "has encountered a problem and has to
close." All was working OK for more than a year and now this. Grrrr!



CyberTaz wrote:
Not sure from your post, but if you haven't already been there take a
good
read of ;

http://word.mvps.org/Mac/Disable-Fonts.html

Including the link to the Apple KB article.

Also take a look at;

http://word.mvps.org/Mac/CorruptFontErrors.html

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

I've been using Office 2004 for a long time without any problems. I
guess I went a little overboard and began adding dozens of fonts. About
10 days ago Office crashed immediately when I tried opening Word or
Excel. After searching the archives I decided that mostly likely one or
more of the fonts was the culprit.

I downloaded Linotype Font Explorer X and disabled most of the fonts
and now have only about 200. Then I reinstalled Office successfully and
had no problem until today. Now I'm getting the same message as last
week when I try to use Office: "Microsoft Word has encountered a
problems and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience."

I would appreciate any help or suggestions. This is rather disturbing
after such a long time without any problems.

 

[guanzhi]

No. Don't erase the HD at this point.

Then do a full removal and reinstallation of Office. You'll find the
step-by-step here: <http://word.mvps.org/Mac/RemoveReinstall.html>

Once this is complete, hopefully the original problem will be gone. If it's
not, post back here.

I too am having a problem with Word 2004 in Tiger (10.4.7) on a
MacBook.

I had been using Word 2004 on a G4 iBook and have since switched
to a MacBook. I copied the hard drive from the iBook to the
MacBook and after making a few adjustments to several programs and
getting Intel updates for some everything seemed to be working
fine. Then I started having problems with some of the programs
running under Rosetta--especially Word. Sometimes it would crash
immediately after opening and some times it would not open at all.
I finally deleted it (and everything that I could find was
associated with it) from my hard drive and reinstalled it. I also
ran Disk Utility to repair the permissions and the drive.

Word was running better but it was still not right. For example,
previously I had set a number of keyboard shortcut using the
Option key plus a letter, number, or function key. I could not do
that now. The only way I could set a shortcut using the Option key
is in combination with the Command key or the Control key.

I tried following the procedure on the page of the above URL but
ran into problems. I dont seem to have a Setup Assistant on my
disk (not that I can find anyway) and had to drag Office to my hard
drive. Some things in the Proofing Tools would not copy and I had
to move them individually. I then tried to launch the programs
in Office. Entourage and Word would not launch at all but the
others did. I repair the permissions--still to no avail.

 

[CyberTaz]

I agree with Beth that and that reformatting the HD is *way* premature. My
only 'different perspective' is that I get the impression that there is a
problem with the HD that needs to be addressed before a reinstall of Office
will be successful.

Did you follow my suggestion (Step 6 of previous post) about *Repair Disk* -
NOT Repair Disk Permissions. It is a separate aspect of Disk Utility &
cannot be used on the same disk you're booted from. You must start up the
Mac using a different disk, then run Disk Utility - Repair Disk on the HD
that's giving you the problem. Unfortunately Apple saw fit to use almost
identical names for the two separate features, which causes a lot of
confusion.

Is there any more to the error message about 10.3.9 failing to install? Can
you locate an error log? If so what does it say towards the end?

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

I downloaded the 10.3.9 "combo" update and tried to install it.
Everything went OK until the end and I got a report that it did not
installed successfully. I tried it twice with the same results. Could
it be that since I am already running 10.3.9 that it wouldn't work?

I'm thinking I'll have to erase my hard drive and reinstall everything.
Does that sound like a solution? I really dread doing that. But nothing
else seems to work.

Ruth

Since the problem seems to extend beyond Office my suggestion is:

1- Backup any important data

2- Run Disk Utility - Repair Disk Permissions

3- Download & reinstall the 10.3.9 *combo* update available here:
http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/macosxcombinedupdate1039.html

4- Restart & Run step #2 again

5- If there are still problems, start up from the OS X source disk (can't
remember if 10.3.x has a Recovery disk or not)

6- Run Disk Utility - Repair Disk. If errors are repaired run it again until
it reports no errors found. [note the distinction between Repair Disk
Permissions & Repair Disk - 2 separate features within Disk Utility]

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

Thanks for your continuing help. I read again the article suggested:
http://word.mvps.org/Mac/CorruptFontErrors.html
Most of this was aimed toward Tiger users (I'm at 10.3.9). Well, that
said, I tried deleting some of the suggested files, but couldn't find
them anywhere. Then I read about starting up in safe mode and opening
Word, etc., etc. When I tried this I got stuck in a cycle (my monitor
is not an Apple and it wanted me to change resolution but that was
impossible because it was just cycling through the warning.) So I
finally was able to reboot the regular way and now I've got an even
crazier problem. The Dock has disappeared and I can't seem to turn it
on. The desktop wallpaper I always use is gone too. I'm beginning to
get spooked.
Ruth

CyberTaz wrote:
Are you using Disk Utility - Repair Disk Permissions whenever you update or
install? That could be one factor.

Also, reinstalling *rarely* fixes anything on the Mac unless you do a
proper
Removal/Uninstall *first*... Most of what causes problems on the Mac are
not
the applications, but the various supporting files (preferences, plists,
caches, etc.). Reinstalling over an existing installation typically
*doesn't* replace them even if you drag the main folder to the Trash, so
the
problem persists or recurs.

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



On 9/6/06 7:15 PM, in article
(e-mail address removed), "(e-mail address removed)"

Thanks! I think my fonts are OK. I have archived most of them. What is
discouraging is that I didn't do anything with the fonts after my
mishap last week. I had reinstalled Office and all was working OK. Then
this morning Office crashed and I'm wondering if I should reinstall
Office again. If the error message would tell me what was wrong I would
feel much better than the benign "has encountered a problem and has to
close." All was working OK for more than a year and now this. Grrrr!



CyberTaz wrote:
Not sure from your post, but if you haven't already been there take a
good
read of ;

http://word.mvps.org/Mac/Disable-Fonts.html

Including the link to the Apple KB article.

Also take a look at;

http://word.mvps.org/Mac/CorruptFontErrors.html

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

I've been using Office 2004 for a long time without any problems. I
guess I went a little overboard and began adding dozens of fonts. About
10 days ago Office crashed immediately when I tried opening Word or
Excel. After searching the archives I decided that mostly likely one or
more of the fonts was the culprit.

I downloaded Linotype Font Explorer X and disabled most of the fonts
and now have only about 200. Then I reinstalled Office successfully and
had no problem until today. Now I'm getting the same message as last
week when I try to use Office: "Microsoft Word has encountered a
problems and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience."

I would appreciate any help or suggestions. This is rather disturbing
after such a long time without any problems.

 

[CyberTaz]

Unfortunately yours is a different issue - your using an Intel Mac. The
Apple Discussions are loaded with similar reports & there doesn't seem to be
any one specific fix.

I seem to remember seeing some reports that drag & drop installations almost
always fail on the Intel-based systems.

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

 

[guanzhi]

Unfortunately yours is a different issue - your using an Intel Mac. The
Apple Discussions are loaded with similar reports & there doesn't seem to be
any one specific fix.

I seem to remember seeing some reports that drag & drop installations almost
always fail on the Intel-based systems.

Thanks. I went back to using Office X and that seems to be working OK.
I
guess I can live with that for now.

 

[Beth Rosengard]

Your problem is most likely the one described here and there *is* a
workaround: <http://www.word.mvps.org/mac/crash-macintel-word.html>

--
***Please always reply to the newsgroup!***

Beth Rosengard
MacOffice MVP

Mac Word FAQ: <http://word.mvps.org/Mac/WordMacHome.html>
My Site: <http://www.bethrosengard.com>

 

[guanzhi]

Your problem is most likely the one described here and there *is* a
workaround: <http://www.word.mvps.org/mac/crash-macintel-word.html>

Thanks. I checked it out and it seems like it would take an awful lot
of
work and time to do this and, since as I said before, I have Office X
working, I am not sure it would be worth it.
What would I gain? (This is not a rhetorical question. I genuinely
want to know what Office 2004 would give me that I don't have in
Office X and if it would be worth my while to try to get it running or
if I should just live with Office X and wait for Apple or Microsoft to
fix the problem.)

 

[Elliott Roper]

Thanks. I checked it out and it seems like it would take an awful lot
of
work and time to do this and, since as I said before, I have Office X
working, I am not sure it would be worth it.
What would I gain? (This is not a rhetorical question. I genuinely
want to know what Office 2004 would give me that I don't have in
Office X and if it would be worth my while to try to get it running or
if I should just live with Office X and wait for Apple or Microsoft to
fix the problem.)

I hung onto v.X for a long time after 2004 came out too. In your shoes,
I'd hang on a little longer. There is a good chance that at least one
of the problems that Word 2004 is having will be fixed by the OS X
10.4.8. That is likely to be out in a few weeks.

The main advantages of 2004 as I see it are Unicode support and long
filenames.

I recently got a Mac Pro and Word seems to be working OK so far. I have
tried to crash it with the preview enabled, and by exercising it with
opentype fonts, but it seem to be behaving well. I did a completely
fresh installation using the (spit) wizard installer on a completely
fresh machine.

 

[rudysfirst]

No. Don't erase the HD at this point.

First, make absolutely sure that you have all of the "cannot be disabled"
Apple-installed fonts where they're supposed to be. See here for the lists
and locations: <http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=25710>

Beth, apparently I do not have all the fonts that are listed for
/Library/Fonts. However, when I checked Font Book, they reside there
but not in /Library/Fonts. Is there something I should do about that?
How can I move them to the /Library/Fonts folder?

/System/Library/Fonts seems to be OK.

Then do a full removal and reinstallation of Office. You'll find the
step-by-step here: <http://word.mvps.org/Mac/RemoveReinstall.html>

Here's another problem I'm having: I've tried to remove Office by using
the remove program installed with Office. I get to the last step and I
get a message that only the person who originally installed office can
remove it. Of course, I'm the person that installed it and have admin
privileges. If I can't get by this problem, how will I ever remove it?
Suddenly, there are major issues going on with OSX 10.3.9.

 

[Beth Rosengard]

Okay, I give up . I guess you *should* wipe your hard drive and start
again. Reinstalling the system will put all the fonts where they should be
and reinstalling Office should then work. Just be sure to back up all of
*your* files, such as documents, templates you created, pictures, etc., and,
if you use Entourage, your Microsoft User Data folder (and if you don't,
whatever equivalent files hold the data for your email application).

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

--
***Please always reply to the newsgroup!***

Beth Rosengard
MacOffice MVP

Mac Word FAQ: <http://word.mvps.org/Mac/WordMacHome.html>
My Site: <http://www.bethrosengard.com>

 

[rudysfirst]

I agree with Beth that and that reformatting the HD is *way* premature. My
only 'different perspective' is that I get the impression that there is a
problem with the HD that needs to be addressed before a reinstall of Office
will be successful.

Did you follow my suggestion (Step 6 of previous post) about *Repair Disk* -
NOT Repair Disk Permissions. It is a separate aspect of Disk Utility &
cannot be used on the same disk you're booted from. You must start up the
Mac using a different disk, then run Disk Utility - Repair Disk on the HD
that's giving you the problem. Unfortunately Apple saw fit to use almost
identical names for the two separate features, which causes a lot of
confusion.

I used the OSX install disk and did not install but ran the utility
from the disk and came up with this result: "Invalid Sibling Link." It
indicated this was repaired, but when I ran the first aid (utility)
again, had the same message. I did this about three or four times.
Wondering how important the "sibling link" could be.

Is there any more to the error message about 10.3.9 failing to install? Can
you locate an error log? If so what does it say towards the end?

Since you asked about the error message, I decided to try installing
10.3.9 again and wouldn't you know, this time it was successful. I
guess I should repair permissions about this, but so far I don't see
any change in the operation of OSX.

 

[CyberTaz]

Without going into a technical dissertation I can tell you that "Invalid
Sibling Link" is *not* a good thing. Unfortunately Disk Utility probably
can't fix it. If you have or can get DiskWarrior you may be able to fix it
without a reinstall. For more detail see:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=754298&#754298

And associated threads @;

http://discussions.apple.com/search.jspa?search=Go&q=invalid+sibling+link

If DiskWarrior (or TechTool Pro - but if a new purchase I'd suggest DW) is
out of the question I'm afraid you haven't much of an alternative but to
follow Beth's recommendation & do a complete reinstall of the OS & apps -
otherwise I'm afraid your current "success" is probably gong to be
short-lived

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

 

[rudysfirst]

I decided to run the disc utility again and found other errors. Invalid
Sibling Link was not listed this time. I can't document the new
problems. But, apparently, there are more files in some places and less
filess in other directories than are supposed to be. I ran the utility
several times--all with the same result. It says "repaired" but
apparently that's not the case since it shows up everytime I run first
aid.

Since I'm using a G3, I used XPostFacto3 to install 10.1 and I followed
the instructions very carefully and had good success when I did this
over a year ago. As you may know, I had to partition my hard drive (80
G). If I erase one volume now, does that affect the entire HD or just
the volume I'm erasing? As you can tell I have a little knowledge but
rely on the gurus on forums to help me through the really technical
stuff.

I'll look into disk warrior and may try that too.
You guys are really awesome to help everyone as you do!
Ruth

 

[CyberTaz]

If I erase one volume now, does that affect the entire HD or just
the volume I'm erasing?

It may vary depending on the utility you use, but most will allow erasing a
specified volume on a disk without erasing the entire disk. You have to be
sure to select the *volume* to erase rather than the HD the volume is on.

What can make it a little tricky is if there are any files on the target
volume that are linked to by files on the other. That isn't usually the
case.

Good Luck |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac