Windows cannot find file "xxx.dotx"

[Kerrick]

(Continuing the saga of "Why won't Office work??"...)

I found a couple things. First, the shortcuts for Word and Excel don't have
anything in the "Start In" box - i.e., the program path. I added the proper
path, but it doesn't enable me to open them from the start menu.

Second, I tried opening the Building Blocks doc (Document
Parts\1033\Building Blocks.dotx) with Word... and it said that Windows
couldn't find the file. Huh? It's right there!

I read something about bad pathing... could this be the cause? Windows isn't
recognizing that the program is there, and it can't find anything, thus it
won't open?

 

[Terry Farrell]

Try reregistering Word. From the run command, type in

winword /r

and press enter. Test again.

 

[Kerrick]

Nothing happened. I mean... nothing. Is it because it's installed on my
secondary drive and not the primary?

 

[Terry Farrell]

Winword /r won't actually show any indication that it has done anything nor
will you get any feedback other than the Run dialog closes. But behind the
scene, winword will have reregistered itself in Word. However, if you are
still having the same problem, I suggest that you run the Office Repair
function and see if that resolves the issue.

Terry

 

[Kerrick]

Oh... I was expecting it to prompt me to reenter my product key. I tried
opening Word, and it still wouldn't work... I tried repairing it, too, then
opening it after the system reboot. No dice. I don't get it. =(

 

[Terry Farrell]

The Start In box should be empty: that's just a red herring and has no
bearing on your problem.

Because this post isn't linked to anything, I assumed that you couldn't open
documents, but now I think you mean that you cannot open Word (or any office
apps)?

Open Windows Explorer and navigate to Program Files, Microsoft Office,
Office12 and find WINWORD.EXE. Right-click on the file and chose Run as
Administrator. Does Word open correctly?

Terry

 

[Kerrick]

I can't do either - open docs OR open Word (or Excel, for that matter) using
the exe.
I tried what you suggested, but Administrator isn't an option, unless it's
the same as Owner - in any case, that didn't work either.

 

[Terry Farrell]

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

winword /a

and press enter. Does Word open? Is there any error message?

Terry

 

[ASkousen]

SOLUTION!!!

I've been able to find the solution for this problem, at least in my case.

For each MS Office application, go to the MS Office application program exe
file within Windows Explorer.

For me this is C: Program Files (x86)/Microsoft Office/Office12/WINWORD

Right-click the file. Select the "compatibility" tab. Under "Privilege
Level" uncheck the box "Run this program as an administrator".

You should now be able to open the MS Word file in the program by double
clicking the file in Windows Explorer.

Do the same for Excel and other MS Office 2007 programs.

A Skousen