Unable to open Word document by double-clicking icon

[Robert]

I run Word 6 (Microsoft Office Professional) on a Windows Me system. When I
double-click Word documents, I get the following error message: "You must
exit Windows and load SHARE.EXE in order to run Word". However, I can open
Word documents by using File Open from within Word.

I've read the Microsoft Support documents that indicate:

1. Windows Me does not support SHARE.EXE;
2. A "0" kb (empty) SHARE.EXE file in the root and Windows/System folders
can trick some programs looking for this program;
3. SHARE.EXE can be loaded in either the Autoexec.bat or Config.sys files in
some cases, but not in my case.

What is the cause and solution for this problem?

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Have you created the dummy Share.exe file as instructed? See “Share.exe Is
Not Supported in Windows 95 OSR2, Windows 98 or Windows Meâ€
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=161619, which has instructions for
creating it.

 

[Robert]

As indicated in Item #2 of my post, I've already tried the available Support
documents on Share.exe errors. Yes, I have a dummy share loaded in both the
Root and the Windows/System folders. I'm looking for further help.

-Robert

 

[Larry Tellef [MSFT]]

Robert,

Here are a few more trouble shooting steps that may help identify the issue:

1) Is Share.exe referenced in either of your autoexec.bat or config.sys
files? If so, which one and what is the text?
2) Does your Path statement include the directory where your share.exe file
is located?
3) Are there multiple copies of share.exe on the machine in different file
folders?
4) What are the file attributes on Share.exe? Is is read-only? If you are
running FAT32, have you setup permission on this file of any sort?
5) Where is Word located on your drive? First partition? Is there enough
room on the first partition or something prohibiting Word from writting a
temp file to this partition? (see article 116308 for more info).

 

[Beth Melton]

Typically the need for the dummy Share.exe file is during the
installation of Word. If you are able to start Word and open documents
using File/Open then that indicates there is an issue in the File
Association for Word.

Take a look in your \Program Files\Winword6 folder. Do you have a
"Winword6.Reg" file? If so, double-click it to merge the Word 6
entries into your Registry and then restart your computer.

Also, make sure Winword6.Reg is in the same folder as Winword.exe.

If that doesn't work then in your Registry do you have the following
key?
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Word.Document.6\shell\open

Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email can not be acknowledged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/

 

[Robert]

Larry - In response to your questions......

1) Is Share.exe referenced in either of your autoexec.bat or config.sys
files? If so, which one and what is the text?

It is not referenced in the Autoexec.bat file.
It is not referenced in the Config.sys file, which is a zero byte file.

2) Does your Path statement include the directory where your share.exe file
is located?

Yes:
SET PATH=C:\;C:\WINME;C:\WINME\COMMAND;C:\WINME\SYSTEM;C:\WINME\DOS

3) Are there multiple copies of share.exe on the machine in different file
folders?

Yes, as follows:
Share.exe is located in 3 folders: 1. %root%, 2. %system%, and 3. %DOS%

4) What are the file attributes on Share.exe? Is is read-only? If you are
running FAT32, have you setup permission on this file of any sort?

As you know, Windows Me does not include the file "share.exe". As
suggested in Microsoft Support document Q161619, I created a zero byte file
named "share.exe" in the root folder, and copied it to the DOS as well as the
System folders (see above). The file has the "archive" attribute set. And,
yes, I'm running FAT 32. You're also aware that Windows Me does not use
permissions.

5) Where is Word located on your drive? First partition? Is there enough
room on the first partition or something prohibiting Word from writting a
temp file to this partition? (see article 116308 for more info).

Word is located in the file following folder:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Office\WINWORD\
It is in the first partition. And, yes, there is 3.7 Gb of free space
available on that partition.

In addition, virtual memory has been relocated to the second partition
which has 882 Mb of free space available. So, there should be plenty of room
for Word to write a temp file to the first partition.

:

Robert,

Here are a few more trouble shooting steps that may help identify the issue:

1) Is Share.exe referenced in either of your autoexec.bat or config.sys
files? If so, which one and what is the text?
2) Does your Path statement include the directory where your share.exe file
is located?
3) Are there multiple copies of share.exe on the machine in different file
folders?
4) What are the file attributes on Share.exe? Is is read-only? If you are
running FAT32, have you setup permission on this file of any sort?
5) Where is Word located on your drive? First partition? Is there enough
room on the first partition or something prohibiting Word from writting a
temp file to this partition? (see article 116308 for more info).

--

Thank you for choosing Microsoft!
Larry Tellef [MSFT]
(mailto:[email protected])

-----------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights.
------------------------------------------------------------

As indicated in Item #2 of my post, I've already tried the available
Support
documents on Share.exe errors. Yes, I have a dummy share loaded in both
the
Root and the Windows/System folders. I'm looking for further help.

-Robert