Problem with Equation Editor

[Wally O]

I am using Office XP with service pack 3. I have several documents created
in Word that have equations created using Microsoft Equation Editor
(currently version 3.1). I often use these previously created equations as a
template and edit them using the Equation Editor. But now, every time I
click on an equation to edit it, I get a message that says "This object is
corrupt or no longer available." I can create new equations, but when I try
to modify them, I get the same message. Having to create new equations every
time is a real problem. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

Wally

 

[garfield-n-odie [MVP]]

If you're using Symantec/Norton AntiVirus, try disabling the
Office Plugin that comes with it. See
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=329820 "How to use Office
programs with the Norton AntiVirus Office plug-in" for more
information.

 

[Wally O]

Sorry for the delayed response. I had set e-mail notification on, but did
not receive any notice of a reply.
I do have Norton Antivirus as part of its Systemworks. But, The Office
Plugin is not currently activated nor has never ever been. The Equation
Editor has worked for years, but I had not used if for a while and only
discovered the problem recently when I needed it again. I am not sure
whether the change was coincident with the SP3 upgrade. So, my problem
remains as stated originally. I can enter new equations, but I can edit
neither new or old ones after their creation. This is a significant problem
since it requires far more time to create new equations than to edit existing
ones. Thanks for any help you can provide.

Wally

 

[Bob Mathews]

I often use these previously created equations as a template and
edit them using the Equation Editor. But now, every time I click
on an equation to edit it, I get a message that says "This object is
corrupt or no longer available."

If you need to copy an equatioon and paste it elsewhere in the document,
best practice is to NOT paste it directly into the document. With the
insertion point (i.e., cursor) at the point where you want to insert the
copy, open Equation Editor as if you were going to insert a brand new
equation. Then paste the equation into Equation Editor, edit the equation,
and close Equation Editor. Note that this isn't a solution for documents
that already have corrupted equations. This is a solution for now on.

For anyone else reading this post and having the same problem, this article
may help: http://www.dessci.com/en/support/support/tsn/tsn102.htm. I
wouldn't expect it would do Wally any good since he already said his Norton
plug-in is disabled.

--
Bob Mathews bobm at dessci.com
Director of Training
http://www.dessci.com/free.asp?free=news
FREE fully-functional 30-day evaluation of MathType 5
Design Science, Inc. -- "How Science Communicates"
MathType, WebEQ, MathPlayer, MathFlow, Equation Editor, TeXaide

 

[garfield-n-odie [MVP]]

See
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPOR...b3c2e218af23d046c1256c2c0041759d?OpenDocument
.. Running LiveUpdate from the Symantec website to obtain the
latest updates for whatever version of Systemworks you have, may
fix the problem.

 

[Wally O]

Thanks for responding. Norton Systemworks is set to update automatically; but
I did check for updates anyway and there were none. I have the problem even
when I just create an equation and then simply try to edit it (no copying or
pasting). The problem also occurs if I create an equation by directly
opening Equation Editor in its own window and then pasting it into Word. No
matter whether the equation is old or new, original or copied, it is never
able to be edited. For example, if I wanted to keep the equation format, but
substitute different values, I have to create an entirely new equation.

Still stymied,

Wally

 

[Bob Mathews]

Wally,

If your NAV Office Plug-in is disabled (and you previously stated it is),
the only other reasonable explanation is that your equation really *is*
"corrupt or no longer available", as the message says. Since the problem
apparently occurs even on newly-created equations that you're trying to
edit, it sounds like it could be a problem with the installation of Equation
Editor (EE). A couple of recommendations here...

1. You could re-install EE. This does not require re-installing Office. To
re-install EE, re-run Office set-up (Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs

Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003 [or whatever version you're

using] > Change > Add or Remove Features), and click Next. Check "Choose
advanced customization of applications" and click Next. Under Office Tools,
set Equation Editor to "Not Available" and click Update. Follow the prompts
from here until Set-up finishes. Run Set-up again, but this time set
Equation Editor to "Run from my computer". After Set-up finishes see if the
problem is fixed. (If I were doing this on my own computer, I'd reboot after
running Set-up each time. I don't know if this is required or not, but by
doing this at least I know the set-up process is complete.)

2. You could also try the MathType Evaluation, available at the link in my
signature. This will work for 30 days as the full version of MathType, and
will work indefinitely beyond 30 days, but with the extra MathType features
disabled.

--
Bob Mathews bobm at dessci.com
Director of Training
http://www.dessci.com/free.asp?free=news
FREE fully-functional 30-day evaluation of MathType 5
Design Science, Inc. -- "How Science Communicates"
MathType, WebEQ, MathPlayer, MathFlow, Equation Editor, TeXaide

 

[Wally O]

Bob,

I had already deleted and re-installed Equation Editor, but that did not
help. It is strange in that I can still create new equations, but just can
not re-open them. However, I did find that I can open and edit them in Word
on another computer at work that runs Windows 2000 and Office XP. So,
something is apparently happening on my own system only. I run Windows XP
Home on my computer. One thing that I think might have coincided with the
problem was running Office Update recently. I had updated Office XP some
time ago to SP3 and always install new updates. But, since I did not have
the package with Publisher, I installed Publisher 2000 from my original
Office 2000 disk. Running Office Update after that resulted in the
installation of the update for Office 2000. Is it possible that there was
some corruption of Office XP in that process? Everything else in Office XP
seems to work fine. I know that I could upgrade to Math Type, but really
wanted to avoid that if possible. Thanks again. Any other suggestions that
might solve the problem are appreciated

Wally,

If your NAV Office Plug-in is disabled (and you previously stated it is),
the only other reasonable explanation is that your equation really *is*
"corrupt or no longer available", as the message says. Since the problem
apparently occurs even on newly-created equations that you're trying to
edit, it sounds like it could be a problem with the installation of Equation
Editor (EE). A couple of recommendations here...

1. You could re-install EE. This does not require re-installing Office. To
re-install EE, re-run Office set-up (Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs

Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003 [or whatever version you're

using] > Change > Add or Remove Features), and click Next. Check "Choose
advanced customization of applications" and click Next. Under Office Tools,
set Equation Editor to "Not Available" and click Update. Follow the prompts
from here until Set-up finishes. Run Set-up again, but this time set
Equation Editor to "Run from my computer". After Set-up finishes see if the
problem is fixed. (If I were doing this on my own computer, I'd reboot after
running Set-up each time. I don't know if this is required or not, but by
doing this at least I know the set-up process is complete.)

2. You could also try the MathType Evaluation, available at the link in my
signature. This will work for 30 days as the full version of MathType, and
will work indefinitely beyond 30 days, but with the extra MathType features
disabled.

--
Bob Mathews bobm at dessci.com
Director of Training
http://www.dessci.com/free.asp?free=news
FREE fully-functional 30-day evaluation of MathType 5
Design Science, Inc. -- "How Science Communicates"
MathType, WebEQ, MathPlayer, MathFlow, Equation Editor, TeXaide

 

[Bob Mathews]

Wally,

The fact that you can open & edit the equations in Word on another computer
would lead one to the almost 100% conclusion that the problem lies either in
Word on your system or in Equation Editor. It may very well be related to
SP3. I haven't heard of any specific problems related to SP3 and Equation
Editor, but updates often affect different computers differently, because no
two computer configurations are alike. BTW, of course our company would love
it if you and everyone else would buy our product, but that wasn't my
suggestion. My suggestion was to download, install, and use the MathType
Evaluation, which is free. After the 30-day eval period, it's usable
indefinitely with pretty much the same functionality as Equation Editor.

With regard to installing the Windows & Office updates automatically, it may
be a good idea to let someone else try it first. I tend to listen to Woody's
recommendations on such: http://www.office-watch.com/.

--
Bob Mathews bobm at dessci.com
Director of Training
http://www.dessci.com/free.asp?free=news
FREE fully-functional 30-day evaluation of MathType 5
Design Science, Inc. -- "How Science Communicates"
MathType, WebEQ, MathPlayer, MathFlow, Equation Editor, TeXaide