Word 2002 File Name window no longer displays file names.

[Xray_Man]

When I want to Open an existing document file, I used to be able to start
typing just the first couple of letters of the file name in the File Name
text window, and Word would automatically fill in the rest of the file name.
But now it doesn't do that any more. In fact, the pull down file name menu is
totally blank! I can see the list of files in the large Folder list above the
file name box, and I can select any of those files to edit, but I can not
select any file from the small file name box which is located just above the
File Type text box.

This problem seemed to have occurred about the same time that I used a
Registry cleaner program, but I'm not sure if that is what caused the problem
or not. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Terry Farrell]

Registry cleaners like CCleaner are known to cause problems with Office. If
you are using CCleaner, then I believe that you can exclude CCleaner
touching the Office settings. Check on their support site.

But my advice is just don't use one. I believe they are a gimmick.

 

[Xray_Man]

I use a Registry cleaner called Unblue Registry Booster. It's not a gimmick
because my Registry had about 700 errors in it the first time I ran Registry
Booster. Now, it typically has about 10 to 12 errors each week when the
program to clean it up. Anyhow, if Registry Booster damaged any links in the
Registry to Word 2002, the damage is already done, so now I need to try and
fix it. I just may have to uninstall and then re-install Word 2002 if no one
has any other things that I could try.

Thanks for your comments, Terry.

 

[Terry Farrell]

IIRC you can run Office Setup and choose REPAIR which should fix and broken
links in the registry.

Terry

 

[Xray_Man]

I tried the Repair function, and the problem stayed. Out of frustration, I
completely uninstalled Word 2002, rebooted, then re-installed the program.
Same problem!

Just for kicks I wanted to find out if Wordpad had the same problem, but it
doesn't. The File name pull-down window lists all of the files within my
selected folder, as it should. When I launch Word 2002, the list of files in
the pull down window is totally blank. I looked through all of the Options
and Customize menus in the Tools tab to look for something that needed to be
configured, but I found nothing that would affect the File name window. I'm
at my wits end right now! :-(

 

[Beth Melton]

What you are looking for is in the Registry - not the Word Options. The
reason it doesn't occur in WordPad is because Office and WordPad do not use
the same set of common dialog boxes. You might try renaming this key in the
Registry and see if that resolves the problem:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Common\Open Find\Microsoft
Office Word

If not, you might try renaming the entire Office key which will force the
recreation of it - something that doesn't occur if you uninstall and
reinstall.

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

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

Coauthor of Word 2007 Inside Out:
http://www.microsoft.com/MSPress/books/9801.aspx#AboutTheBook

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

 

[Xray_Man]

Hi Beth,
Could you please be more specific? What should I rename to what? I found the
key that you mentioned, only it's slighty different. Mine is: .....\Open
Find\Microsoft Word\Settings\ (there are 8 other choices under "Settings",
they are: \Add Template\ ... \Attach Template\ ... \Compare and Merge\ ...
\Insert Picture\ ... \Modify Location\ ... \New from Existing Document\ ...
\Open\ ... and \Save As\

What should I change?

Thanks!

 

[Terry Farrell]

Run Regedit, and navigate to the key below: delete the key

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Common\Open Find\Microsoft
Office Word

Word will regenerate a new key as soon as it is opened again.

Terry

 

[Xray_Man]

I deleted the Microsoft Word key, and when I re-opened Word, it created a new
key just as you said, but the problem still persists. :-(

Mike

 

[Beth Melton]

Sorry I wasn't specific previously, since you use a Registry Cleaner I was
under the impression you were more familiar with the Registry.

The key I was directing you to previously was the key that controls the Open
dialog box and the various settings for Word. I'm not exactly sure where the
data for the Filter property of the Open dialog box is stored - that's the
only key I know of off-hand in the Registry that is specific to the Open
dialog box so it was worth the try.

You might try going to Start/Run and running this command:

winword /r

Note the space before the forward slash. This will for Word to recreate
various Registry entries. Otherwise, did you check to see if this occurs in
other Office applications, such as Excel? If so then you might try renaming
the entire Office key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office

....any name is fine, such as OfficeX. Make sure you close all Office
applications before renaming the key. If it doesn't work you can delete the
newly created key and rename the old one back.

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

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

Coauthor of Word 2007 Inside Out:
http://www.microsoft.com/MSPress/books/9801.aspx#AboutTheBook

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

 

[Xray_Man]

Beth,

I tried everything that you suggested, but to no avail. The problem still
exists. I do not use any other Works programs besides Word, so I am not able
to confirm if the problem is just Word or other Works programs. I think my
next course of action is to uninstall and re-install Works. I don't know
what else to do unless you have any other suggestions.

Thanks again!

Mike

 

[Xray_Man]

MORE INFO --
I re-installed Works, and I confirmed that the problem occurs only with Word
(the Works Spread Sheet program functions properly). So, I'm at my wits end
right now. Probably, only someone familiar with the details of the program
code could figure out this one. If you could think of anything else for me
to try, please let me know. Thanks again!

 

[Terry Farrell]

What happens in Safe Mode. From Start, Run type in

winword /a

and press enter. Does Word work correctly now?

Terry

 

[Xray_Man]

The problem is still there, even in Safe mode with the /a switch.

 

[Terry Farrell]

I'm out of ideas. I've no idea what is happening to the dialog.

Terry

 

[Terry Farrell]

Though a silly last thought. You don't have TweakUI or one of the Windows
registry tweakers installed?

Terry

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Okay, let's go back to the beginning, where I think you and Terry (and later
Beth) got off track, diverted by your mention of a Registry cleaner. IIRC,
the behavior you describe is not available in Word 2002 for *any* user. What
you can do is type a few letters and then an asterisk and press Enter. See
http://groups.google.com/group/micr...lename+asterisk&rnum=1&hl=en#89ea46278fb3eee0
for one discussion of this.

 

[Xray_Man]

Suzanne -- Thanks for your comments, but the asterisk trick doesn't work.

When I launch the Works spreadsheet program and then click on Open File, I
can highlight any file in the list with a single click of the mouse, and the
file name immediately shows up in the File dialog text box (as it should).
When I try the same thing with Word, the file name does NOT show in the
dialog text box. I used to be able to type only the first letter of the file
name that I want to edit, and ALL files that begin with that letter would pop
into the dialog box. But now that doesn't happen. The dialog box is always
empty. I can type a file name in the box and open the file as usual, but the
next time I open Word, the dialog box is empty again. If I can't get this
fixed soon, I'm just going to have to purchase and install the latest version
of Word. My time is too valuable to keep playing around with this older
version.

Thanks!!!

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Well, unfortunately I can't test here, as I have Word 2003, and I found (to
my surprise) that AutoCompete does work in that version (though the dropdown
is still empty except for one FTP site (don't ask--I have no idea why).

 

[Xray_Man]

Suzanne -- Thanks for your comments, but the asterisk trick doesn't work.

When I launch the Works spreadsheet program and then click on Open File, I
can highlight any file in the list with a single click of the mouse, and the
file name immediately shows up in the File dialog text box (as it should).
When I try the same thing with Word, the file name does NOT show in the
dialog text box. I used to be able to type only the first letter of the file
name that I want to edit, and ALL files that begin with that letter would pop
into the dialog box. But now that doesn't happen. The dialog box is always
empty. I can type a file name in the box and open the file as usual, but the
next time I open Word, the dialog box is empty again. If I can't get this
fixed soon, I'm just going to have to purchase and install the latest version
of Word. My time is too valuable to keep playing around with this older
version.

Thanks!!!