Unable to "save" or "save as" documents in Word 2007

[Winged Monkeys]

I hope that someone out there can help me! I'm running Office 2007 on a
desktop with Windows XP. When creating a new document or saving an old
document with a different name, I am unable to save or "save as". When I do,
I hear an error sound, but nothing appears on the screen - no dialogue box,
nothing. Everything was working just fine until the most recent Windows
update this weekend (which I'm suspecting must be the problem).

I've done everything I can think of. I've installed updates for Adobe
Acrobat 9, I've got all the latest updates for Office 2007. I've run
diagnostics, anti-virus and spyware programs, you name it, and nothing fixes
it. I have been unable to find a fix for my problem, and I've desperately
hunted everywhere on the web.

I would be so appreciative if someone could help me figure this out. I'm
tearing out my hair! Don't let me go bald!

Thanks in advance for your help with this perplexing and annoying problem.

 

[Terry Farrell]

That may be a symptom of a Word Data Key corruption - usually because Word
has been running when updates are installed.

Run Regedit and expand by double-clicking to the key below. With DATA
selected, press DELETE. Word will automatically recreate a new key when it
is restarted.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Word\Data

Symptoms of Data Key corruption may include:

• The mouse does not work when you use Word.
• You cannot open a Word document from the Search window in Windows
Vista.
• You cannot open a Word document from Windows Desktop Search.
• Word crashes when you try to start or exit Word.
• Word crashes when you open the Open dialog box.
• Word crashes when you save a document.
• Word crashes when you close a document.

If you feel uncomfortable editing the registry yourself, Microsoft have a
download that will do this for you. See MSKB 940791
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940791

Terry Farrell - MSWord MVP

 

[Winged Monkeys]

Terry, thanks kindly for responding.

Just a couple of things to add here. Word doesn't crash when I try to "save"
or "save as". I don't know that that matters to your diagnosis. What happens
is that Word simply doesn't perform either of those functions. I hear an
error sound, and then nothing happens. No dialog box, but Word doesn't crash.
In fact, I'm not experiencing any of the issues in that list you provided. My
problem is that Word 2007 won't perform the "save" or "save as" commands.

Secondly, the link you provided for the Microsoft download is to fix an
issue with Vista. As I said, I'm running XP, and not Vista. I'm reluctant to
run any fix for Vista on a machine that's not running it.

Thanks again for your speedy response! I hope that this additional
information will help you and others in suggesting a fix for this.

 

[Winged Monkeys]

Terry, one other thing. For laughs, I downloaded that download you linked to
- when I tried to run it, a message popped up saying that it did not apply to
my operating system. So that answers that question.

Again, for all who might be kind enough to respond, I'm running Windows XP
and not Vista. Thanks!

 

[Terry Farrell]

What happens when you start Word in Safe Mode? From Start | Run (Winkey+R),
type in

winword /a

and press enter. Word will start in safe mode. Now edit and SaveAs the
document: does it work?

Terry

 

[Winged Monkeys]

Terry, I've done that, and I should have mentioned that I have. The issue
doesn't occur in Safe Mode. Once out of Safe Mode, it does.

 

[Winged Monkeys]

Well, starting in Safe Mode didn't produce the problem last night. This
morning even starting Word in Safe Mode, the problem occurs. What now? Thanks.

 

[Terry Farrell]

If it does it in Safe Mode, I have no idea. If it really is in Safe Mode and
does it, I'd reinstall my whole PC from scratch.

Terry

 

[Winged Monkeys]

You're kidding, right? Reformat my hard drive and do a total reinstall of all
software? Over this one issue? I don't think so. This was not helpful.

I suspect the problem is some kind of incompatibility with Adobe Acrobat 9.
When I disable the Adobe addon in Word, the problem goes away. But I can't
find anything on Adobe's site or on Microsoft's forums that help. And I need
to be able to use the Adobe add-on.

Anyone else out there who can provide me with some helpful suggestions?
Thanks.

 

[Terry Farrell]

IF it is Acrobat, then starting in Safe Mode will bypass EVERY customisation
and prove it is an external add-in of some type. But you say it is still
doing it in Safe Mode? So I'm stumped. It just doesn't make any sense.

If you are sure it is Adobe 9, have you checked that you have the latest
updates to Adobe?

Terry

 

[Winged Monkeys]

Yes, I'm sure it's Adobe 9, and yes, as I said in my first post, I've got
the latest updates for everything.

Anyone else have any ideas?

 

[Terry Farrell]

Try uninstalling Adobe and make sure that its templates are removed Word
Start-up folder (sometimes Adobe uninstall doesn't do a complete uninstall).
That should confirm if it is Adobe or something else.

Terry