Unexplained shutdown please help

[Tessa]

I am still having problems, PLEASE if anyone has
encountered anything similar, do let me know.

Can anyone cast any light on this problem? When I'm
working in Word 2000 on my XP system, at least once a
day, sometimes more, I get a variation on the following
strange behaviour.
The cursor goes mad and zig zags crazily up the pages to
the beginning of the document.
My computer then pauses for thought and the cursor
remains a small vertical line, i.e. doesn't turn into a
pointer. Sometimes I can click on other documents from
the task bar.
Then I get some sort of error (I am kept in the dark as
to what), and Word shuts down. (Yes, I religiously send
that ole error report to microsoft.)
Or, sometimes, it doesn't..presumably just to kick start
my heart, which will have stopped by then.
Needless to say, I am frantically saving the documents
I'm working on, every 5 minutes, and emailing them to
myself in case of computer problems, but this is hardly
ideal or time-effective.
As far as I can tell, my system is virus-free and my anti-
virus software is up to date.
If anyone can shed any light on this, and particularly,
give me some suggestions for how to fix it, I would be
very grateful.
Thanks!

 

[TF]

What sort of computer and what mouse and keyboard are you using? If you have
Broadband, do you have a firewall? Are you using Wireless Networking? Do you
have a microphone plugged in and speech recognition enabled?



:I am still having problems, PLEASE if anyone has
: encountered anything similar, do let me know.
:
: Can anyone cast any light on this problem? When I'm
: working in Word 2000 on my XP system, at least once a
: day, sometimes more, I get a variation on the following
: strange behaviour.
: The cursor goes mad and zig zags crazily up the pages to
: the beginning of the document.
: My computer then pauses for thought and the cursor
: remains a small vertical line, i.e. doesn't turn into a
: pointer. Sometimes I can click on other documents from
: the task bar.
: Then I get some sort of error (I am kept in the dark as
: to what), and Word shuts down. (Yes, I religiously send
: that ole error report to microsoft.)
: Or, sometimes, it doesn't..presumably just to kick start
: my heart, which will have stopped by then.
: Needless to say, I am frantically saving the documents
: I'm working on, every 5 minutes, and emailing them to
: myself in case of computer problems, but this is hardly
: ideal or time-effective.
: As far as I can tell, my system is virus-free and my anti-
: virus software is up to date.
: If anyone can shed any light on this, and particularly,
: give me some suggestions for how to fix it, I would be
: very grateful.
: Thanks!
:

 

[Tessa]

Hi Terry - I'm using a dell pc, about 4 years old with
the keyboard that came with it. I have a Genius optical
mouse. I am using broadband and have the firewall that
came with XP - I haven't added anything specific apart
from downloading the XP update pack 2. I have AVG
antivirus software. No wireless networking (if you saw
the spaghetti of wires at the back of my desk, you'd
laugh), no microphone, webcam, speech recognition
software etc. I have a fairly bog standard computer, no
bells or whistles, no fancy software, that I am TRYING to
use to write my masters thesis on, and I DON'T TRUST IT
ANYMORE! I think I am now spending as much time saving
what I've written, as I have spent in writing.
In anticipation,
Tessa

 

[TF]

Tessa

I can understand your frustration. Until the problem is fixed, I recommend
that you open your document and create a backup before starting to edit the
original.

I'd suggest a couple of things to try first.

1. Make sure that speech recognition and other text services are removed
first. Open the Control Panel, Regional & Languages options, Languages tab
and click on Details and Settings tab. Make sure that the only item listed
is your keyboard and that it is the correct language version. Then select
the Advanced tab and make sure that both check boxes are cleared. Close the
dialogs. That should ensure that it isn't a text service that is causing the
problem.

2. See if you can borrow a different mouse to use - preferably a USB or PS/2
(non-wireless) mouse and install it.

Test again to see if this has resolved the problem.

Terry


: Hi Terry - I'm using a dell pc, about 4 years old with
: the keyboard that came with it. I have a Genius optical
: mouse. I am using broadband and have the firewall that
: came with XP - I haven't added anything specific apart
: from downloading the XP update pack 2. I have AVG
: antivirus software. No wireless networking (if you saw
: the spaghetti of wires at the back of my desk, you'd
: laugh), no microphone, webcam, speech recognition
: software etc. I have a fairly bog standard computer, no
: bells or whistles, no fancy software, that I am TRYING to
: use to write my masters thesis on, and I DON'T TRUST IT
: ANYMORE! I think I am now spending as much time saving
: what I've written, as I have spent in writing.
: In anticipation,
: Tessa
: >-----Original Message-----
: >What sort of computer and what mouse and keyboard are
: you using? If you have
: >Broadband, do you have a firewall? Are you using
: Wireless Networking? Do you
: >have a microphone plugged in and speech recognition
: enabled?
: >
: >--
: >Terry Farrell - Word MVP
: >http://word.mvps.org/
: >
: >: >:I am still having problems, PLEASE if anyone has
: >: encountered anything similar, do let me know.
: >:
: >: Can anyone cast any light on this problem? When I'm
: >: working in Word 2000 on my XP system, at least once a
: >: day, sometimes more, I get a variation on the following
: >: strange behaviour.
: >: The cursor goes mad and zig zags crazily up the pages
: to
: >: the beginning of the document.
: >: My computer then pauses for thought and the cursor
: >: remains a small vertical line, i.e. doesn't turn into a
: >: pointer. Sometimes I can click on other documents from
: >: the task bar.
: >: Then I get some sort of error (I am kept in the dark as
: >: to what), and Word shuts down. (Yes, I religiously
: send
: >: that ole error report to microsoft.)
: >: Or, sometimes, it doesn't..presumably just to kick
: start
: >: my heart, which will have stopped by then.
: >: Needless to say, I am frantically saving the documents
: >: I'm working on, every 5 minutes, and emailing them to
: >: myself in case of computer problems, but this is hardly
: >: ideal or time-effective.
: >: As far as I can tell, my system is virus-free and my
: anti-
: >: virus software is up to date.
: >: If anyone can shed any light on this, and particularly,
: >: give me some suggestions for how to fix it, I would be
: >: very grateful.
: >: Thanks!
: >:
: >
: >
: >.
: >

 

[Tessa]

Hi Terry and thank you for your time in helping me with
this problem. I will get hold of a standard mouse (I'm
sure there'll be one kicking around work I can borrow for
a few days), implement your other suggestions and get
back to you. I'm away for a couple of weeks, so it may
be a while, but believe me, I'll be back to let you know
how I get on.
Again, thank you so much; I will keep you posted.
Tessa