OS X Word won't launch - problem solved

[David Glover]

I have just solved a problem with MS Word that I couldn't find
documented anywhere. This solution may be useful to others - so if
you're an OS X Office user, file it somewhere!

The problem was that Word simply wouldn't launch. It would 'bounce' a
few times in the dock, then nothing. No splash screen, no error.

The Word crash log wasn't very helpful. It tole me this:
----------------------------------------------------------
Date/Time: 2003-09-17 13:42:32 +1000
OS Version: 10.2.6 (Build 6L60)
Host: DGs-PowerBook.local.

Command: Microsoft Word
PID: 417

Exception: EXC_BAD_ACCESS (0x0001)
Codes: KERN_PROTECTION_FAILURE (0x0002) at 0x00123000
----------------------------------------------------------
Followed by a long list of hexadecimal nonsense (well, to me).

I did a search, without turning up many clues except the standard:
check fonts, trash preferences and Normal and try again. Still no joy.

Next I uninstalled MS Office using the utility provided, then reinstalled
it. Word still wouldn't launch (all other Office apps were okay).

Here's where I got lucky. I opened the Console and had a look at the
log. It showed this:
----------------------------------------------------------
2003-09-28 15:48:52.034 Microsoft Word[412] CFLog (0):
CFPropertyListCreateFromXMLData(): plist parse failed; the data is
not proper UTF-8. The file name for this data could be:
com.microsoft.Word.plist -- /Users/[username]/Library/
Preferences
----------------------------------------------------------
So I went and found the file com.microsoft.Word.plist in the
Preferences folder and moved it elsewhere.

This fixed it - Word launched immediately and has worked since.

Obviously this file got corrupted somewhere along the line. Presumably
the same thing could happen with other Office apps so keep this one in
mind.

Hope this helps someone sometime.

David

 

[J.E. McGimpsey]

Obviously this file got corrupted somewhere along the line. Presumably
the same thing could happen with other Office apps so keep this one in
mind.

Hope this helps someone sometime.

thanks for posting that, David.

I thought that com.microsoft.word got trashed using Remove
Office...??!?

 

[John McGhie [MVP]]

Thanks David:

Yes, we normally tell people to hammer the plist when Word won't open. I
hope we/I didn't forget this time.

Cheers

I have just solved a problem with MS Word that I couldn't find
documented anywhere. This solution may be useful to others - so if
you're an OS X Office user, file it somewhere!

The problem was that Word simply wouldn't launch. It would 'bounce' a
few times in the dock, then nothing. No splash screen, no error.

The Word crash log wasn't very helpful. It tole me this:
----------------------------------------------------------
Date/Time: 2003-09-17 13:42:32 +1000
OS Version: 10.2.6 (Build 6L60)
Host: DGs-PowerBook.local.

Command: Microsoft Word
PID: 417

Exception: EXC_BAD_ACCESS (0x0001)
Codes: KERN_PROTECTION_FAILURE (0x0002) at 0x00123000
----------------------------------------------------------
Followed by a long list of hexadecimal nonsense (well, to me).

I did a search, without turning up many clues except the standard:
check fonts, trash preferences and Normal and try again. Still no joy.

Next I uninstalled MS Office using the utility provided, then reinstalled
it. Word still wouldn't launch (all other Office apps were okay).

Here's where I got lucky. I opened the Console and had a look at the
log. It showed this:
----------------------------------------------------------
2003-09-28 15:48:52.034 Microsoft Word[412] CFLog (0):
CFPropertyListCreateFromXMLData(): plist parse failed; the data is
not proper UTF-8. The file name for this data could be:
com.microsoft.Word.plist -- /Users/[username]/Library/
Preferences
----------------------------------------------------------
So I went and found the file com.microsoft.Word.plist in the
Preferences folder and moved it elsewhere.

This fixed it - Word launched immediately and has worked since.

Obviously this file got corrupted somewhere along the line. Presumably
the same thing could happen with other Office apps so keep this one in
mind.

Hope this helps someone sometime.

David

--
All Spam and attachments blocked by Microsoft Entourage for Mac OS X. Please
post replies to the newsgroup to maintain the thread.

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP: Word for Macintosh and Word for Windows
Consultant Technical Writer <[email protected]>
+61 4 1209 1410; Sydney, Australia: GMT + 10 hrs

 

[Beth Rosengard]

thanks for posting that, David.

I thought that com.microsoft.word got trashed using Remove
Office...??!?

It does. Or it should! All the prefs files should be removed. Hmmm. Well
that's a puzzle, isn't it??

--
Beth Rosengard
Mac MVP

Mac Word FAQ: <http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/WordMac/index.htm>
Entourage Help Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/toc.html>