Tools button crashes Word 2003

[Mark1]

Out of nowhere my XP computer has developed a serious Word 2003 problem: When
I place the cursor over the Tools button, it goes blank. If I click that
button, it crashes the program, the doc is saved, and it restarts. But there
is just no way to get to the functions on the Tools button, which I need to
do. I have uninstalled and reinstalled the program with no effect on the
problem. That says to me that either the registry is REALLY corrupted, and
the uinstallation did not remove all the bad stuff...or there is a conflict
with some other program. I cannot recall installing anything that might have
created the problem. If anyone has seen this behavior before and can suggest
a fix, I would be most appreciative.

 

[Terry Farrell]

Have you checked for a virus recently?

What happens if you start Word in Safe Mode. From Start, Run type in

winword /a

and press enter. Does this let you use the Tools button? (Note any changes
won't be remembered though.)

 

[Mark1]

Terry...

Thanks for the excellent suggestion about safe mode. The Tools button
behaves normally in safe mode. I then closed the program and reopened it
normally. The problem reappears. What does that tell you?

The virus question is interesting. This weirdness seems to have coincided
with the experation of my anti-virus program, but it really seems incredible
to me that the two would be related. I'mtaking no chances, though, and as
soon as I finish this post, I'm going to send Mr. Network Associates some
money.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

If it runs okay in Safe Mode then the problem is with Normal.dot, the
Registry, an add-in, or possibly the printer driver. In this case my money
would be on an add-in. See
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/AppErrors/ProbsOpeningWord.htm for general
troubleshooting and
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Customization/CheckIfAddinsInstalled.htm for
specific add-in-related info.

 

[Mark1]

After my sending my response a moment ago, I checked the Miicrosoft Event
Viewer and found this:

Faulting application winword.exe, version 11.0.8169.0, stamp 465f2a40,
faulting module winword.exe, version 11.0.8169.0, stamp 465f2a40, debug? 0,
fault address 0x008dd0ac.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.



0000: 00700041 006c0070 00630069 00740061
0010: 006f0069 0020006e 00610046 006c0069
0020: 00720075 00200065 00770020 006e0069
0030: 006f0077 00640072 0065002e 00650078
0040: 00310020 002e0031 002e0030 00310038
0050: 00390036 0030002e 00340020 00350036
0060: 00320066 00340061 00200030 006e0069
0070: 00770020 006e0069 006f0077 00640072
0080: 0065002e 00650078 00310020 002e0031
0090: 002e0030 00310038 00390036 0030002e
00a0: 00340020 00350036 00320066 00340061
00b0: 00200030 00440066 00620065 00670075
00c0: 00300020 00610020 00200074 0066006f
00d0: 00730066 00740065 00300020 00380030
00e0: 00640064 00610030 000d0063 000a

Does that say anything meaningful?

Thanks for your help.

 

[Mark1]

Suzanne...

Brilliant! I simply renamed normal.dot normal.old and restarted the program.
All seems normal now.

I cannot thank you enough for your help.

Cheers,

Mark

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Interesting that it turned out to be Normal.dot. I'm glad you got it sorted,
anyway.

 

[Terry Farrell]

It may to a developer, but certainly not to me!

Terry