Recurring problems with the formatting palette

[Chris_Whitehead]

Version: 2004
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger)
Processor: Power PC

I am having recurring problems with the formatting palette in Word. It keeps freezing, disappearing & even morphing to different sizes.
I have followed forums which advise deleting the plist file. (Users, library, preferences, com.microsoft.word.plist). I have now deleted the file on a number of occasions.
This seems to cure the problem for about 1 hour but very quickly the palette develops another problem which means that I am unable to use it.
I have a Power mac desktop which uses the same version of Word but does not cause me any problems.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Chris

 

[CyberTaz]

Hi Chris -

Frustrating as it is it really isn't a universal condition in Word. Start by
making sure that you have OS X fully up to date - Tiger should be at 10.4.11
- and that you've done the same for Office 2004 (11.5.1). If OS X is already
at 10.4.11 it may still be a good idea to get the Combo Update from the
Apple site & apply it as well as any hardware/firmware updates for your type
of Mac. The Apple updates are available here:

http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/

Then Repair Disk Permissions, shut down the Mac & give it a minute to
"rest", then start up & see how it goes. If there's no improvement come back
with specifics about your Mac as well as any other details - add-ins,
haxies, helper apps or utilities you may be using, etc.

BTW - Just in case it wasn't clear in the advice you've been following, Word
must *not* be running when you move/rename/delete the .plist file in order
for that solution to have a chance of providing a lasting fix. Otherwise the
program just recreates one with the same content. However, it shouldn't be
necessary to continuously replace it in the first place. It's just a matter
of identifying the source of the problem.

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