Project keeps crashing

[maryj]

I have received several calls from users in our company. As long as they are
using Project on their laptops in their docking stations, their Project files
work fine. When they are in other buildings and connected to the network,
they can not even open the Project application. Any ideas why this keeps
happening?

 

[Steve House [MVP]]

What hardware components are in the docking stations? What error messages
do they get if any? What version of Project? Is it the application refuses
to launch or does Project load but can't access their files?

 

[maryj]

I don't know about the hardware. The error: "MSoft Project needs to shut
down." it happens with Project 2002 and I believe also with 2003. The one
user with 2002 mentioned that he when he got the shut down error, it
mentioned something about SP 1. The application itself won't open when
undocked.

 

[Steve House [MVP]]

It sounds like there are some files that Project is missing when they're not
connected to the network through their docking stations. Without knowing
the specifics of what is different in the whole package when they are in
their docking station versus when they're not it's impossible to say what is
happening. Are they connecting to the same server when they're not at the
their docking station? Are the drive mappings the same? Do they have
access to all the same folders on the server? Does the docking station
contain their network card, an additional hard drive, that sort of thing?

There's nothing in Project that prevents it from running on a laptop without
a docking station - I do it all the time. There is something about your
specific installation that changes when they're undocked that is the key to
the problem. So to track it down, find out exactly what is different.

Hmm - a thought. Go to one of the users with the problem who is able to
connect when the laptop is in the docking station. Undock the laptop.
Unplug the network cable from the docking station and plug it into the
laptop network card directly. Can it load Project or not?

 

[maryj]

I finally heard back from one of the users. He says he never has a problem
opening Project when in the docking station. When undocked, he can usually
open Project, but not all the time. He has a wireless. If Project is already
open and the laptop is moved from one wireless hub to another, Project will
sometimes crash. Once Project crashes, it will continue to crash even though
connected to the network with a network cable. Once the laptop is returned to
the docking station, everything works fine.

Do you think the wireless has something to do with this?