Word 2004 - "Can't load Visual Basic for Applications"

[mark green]

Every time I launch Word 2004 I receive this error message. It has been
happing since the very first launch but doesn't seem to cause any
problems once I click "OK". However its very annoying and I can't seem
to find any info on this issue. Here is the exact message I receive
after Word 2004 launches.

"Can't load Visual Basic for Applications

Make sure Visual Basic for Applications is installed on
your computer. If Visual Basic for Applications is
installed, make sure the path to the installation folder
does not contain any characters outside of the system
code page (such as Cyrillic characters on an English
system) and contains fewer than 255 characters."

 

[John McGhie]

You MAY have a virus. Buy/Update your antivirus program and do a full scan
of your system. Make sure you get a modern version that can detect PC
viruses as well as Mac viruses.

The reason Word can't load VBA is because it is being asked to load the PC
version of it.

You could cure YOUR problem by simply closing Word and renaming your Normal
template. (Trashing won't work: either drag it to the desktop or rename
it). However, the virus will hang around in your system and may infect any
PC you send documents to.

If no virus is found, then you should run the Office Uninstaller which you
will find in the Office Folder, then re-install. It could be that a file
got put in the wrong place when you installed, and now Word can't find VBA.
Note: Re-installing without uninstalling has no effect: it won't replace
files if they already exist.

Hope this helps

Every time I launch Word 2004 I receive this error message. It has been
happing since the very first launch but doesn't seem to cause any
problems once I click "OK". However its very annoying and I can't seem
to find any info on this issue. Here is the exact message I receive
after Word 2004 launches.

"Can't load Visual Basic for Applications

Make sure Visual Basic for Applications is installed on
your computer. If Visual Basic for Applications is
installed, make sure the path to the installation folder
does not contain any characters outside of the system
code page (such as Cyrillic characters on an English
system) and contains fewer than 255 characters."

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 4 1209 1410

 

[mark green]

I doubt my mac has a virus. I just did a fresh install of Panther a
week before this. And since I'm using OS X what virus could you be
talking about, as far as I know there aren't any. Could part of this
whole problem be because I did a custom install and only choose to
install Word for now and none of the others? Am I being punished
because I I'm happy with the OS X mail client and don't care to use
Entourage and don't care for Power-point or excel either.

 

[John McGhie]

Hi Mark:

Ummm... It *could* be that you are being punished because you declined to
INSTALL the VBA module. This decision would be seen as "alternatively
clever" by those who understand that many parts of Microsoft Office use VBA
to do things such as generate the user interface

The first viruses for Mac OS X were written in around 1968, I believe. You
are running on BSD Unix, my friend: one of the oldest operating systems
there is, with one of the most technologically-capable hacker communities on
the Internet.

If you choose to match wits with them, you go right ahead. Me, I run an
antivirus and a firewall

Cheers

I doubt my mac has a virus. I just did a fresh install of Panther a
week before this. And since I'm using OS X what virus could you be
talking about, as far as I know there aren't any. Could part of this
whole problem be because I did a custom install and only choose to
install Word for now and none of the others? Am I being punished
because I I'm happy with the OS X mail client and don't care to use
Entourage and don't care for Power-point or excel either.

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 4 1209 1410

 

[Phillip M. Jones, CE.T.]

Hi Mark:

Ummm... It *could* be that you are being punished because you declined to
INSTALL the VBA module. This decision would be seen as "alternatively
clever" by those who understand that many parts of Microsoft Office use VBA
to do things such as generate the user interface

The first viruses for Mac OS X were written in around 1968, I believe. You
are running on BSD Unix, my friend: one of the oldest operating systems
there is, with one of the most technologically-capable hacker communities on
the Internet.

If you choose to match wits with them, you go right ahead. Me, I run an
antivirus and a firewall

Cheers

Apple has changed from BSD 4.3 for Jaguar and below; to FreeBSD5.x for Panther and
beyond.

BTW: OSX.3.4 was just uploaded today and I ave already installed it.

There have already been 3 "proof of Concept" viruses specifically for OSX to date.

Possibly the reason why x.3.4 was issued. There was a security update a couple of
days ago that I think was to adress a proble where the help system uses Safari's
engine to work and there was possibility some one on the internet could use a defect
to cause trouble on your hard drive.


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[Corentin Cras-Méneur [MVP]]

And since I'm using OS X what virus could you be
talking about, as far as I know there aren't any.

That's a vast misconception... While it is true that there isn't any known
virus affecting MacOS X itself, there are Word and Excel macro-viruses out
there. Some of the Windows word macro-viruses can affect the Mac version of
Word and do very nasty things.

Now NAV9 scans for windows viruses as well, but previous versions of the
Symantec antivirus use to be able to scan for Mac viruses only. The virus
definition list of their app was composed of 99% macro viruses.

Don't ever activate Macros from a Word or Excel file you received from
someone else unless you are really sure you have a good reason to activate
the Macros.


Corentin

 

[Beth Rosengard]

Now NAV9 scans for windows viruses as well, but previous versions of the
Symantec antivirus use to be able to scan for Mac viruses only.

Note: Norton has announced that it will no longer be developing its
anti-virus products for the Mac.

--
Beth Rosengard
Mac MVP

Mac Word FAQ: <http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/WordMac/index.htm>
Entourage Help Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org>

 

[Norman R. Nager, Ph.D.]

Note: Norton has announced that it will no longer be developing its
anti-virus products for the Mac.

Are you SURE about Norton? I read that Symantec will not support Norton
Utilities for Mac (Disk Doctor, Speed Disk) after Panther. BUT I also read
that Symantec INSTEAD will focus beyond Panther on Mac Internet Security
(Norton AntiVirus, Norton Personal Firewall).

My sources include a Symantec-sponsored forum at MacFixIt.com, where the
above was reported, as well as several on-line Mac newsletters.

 

[mark green]

John,
I realize that it is possible to get a virus when using a mac. However
the point I was trying to make was there has never been a wide spread
virus on our macs like there are on windows all the time. One of the
reasons is obviously the amount of Windows machines in the world
compared to macs. Yes i know about the recent vulnerabilities pointed
out in OS X lately, but they were not taken advantage of and there were
no real problems caused to anyone.

So back to my original question then. You're saying I declined to
install VBA ? well there was no option for that. I was only given the
option of installing all or selected programs from office 2004, which I
choose to only install Word for now. So if you could explain to my
where the option for installing VBA is then I can install word again
and make sure I install it this time. Thanks

 

[Beth Rosengard]

Are you SURE about Norton? I read that Symantec will not support Norton
Utilities for Mac (Disk Doctor, Speed Disk) after Panther. BUT I also read
that Symantec INSTEAD will focus beyond Panther on Mac Internet Security
(Norton AntiVirus, Norton Personal Firewall).

My sources include a Symantec-sponsored forum at MacFixIt.com, where the
above was reported, as well as several on-line Mac newsletters.

No, I guess I'm *not* sure. I checked the Symantec site and found nothing
about this. And now I can't find the reference! If I discover any more,
I'll post back. Sorry!

--
Beth Rosengard
Mac MVP

Mac Word FAQ: <http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/WordMac/index.htm>
Entourage Help Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org>

 

[Beth Rosengard]

Are you SURE about Norton? I read that Symantec will not support Norton
Utilities for Mac (Disk Doctor, Speed Disk) after Panther. BUT I also read
that Symantec INSTEAD will focus beyond Panther on Mac Internet Security
(Norton AntiVirus, Norton Personal Firewall).

My sources include a Symantec-sponsored forum at MacFixIt.com, where the
above was reported, as well as several on-line Mac newsletters.

Update: You're entirely correct, Norman. I had confused Norton AntiVirus
with Norton Utilities and Norton SystemWorks. The whole story is here:
<http://www.macfixitforums.com/php/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=symantec&Number=6
06206&page=2&view=collapsed&sb=3&o=93&fpart=1>

Sorry for the confusion.

--
Beth Rosengard
Mac MVP

Mac Word FAQ: <http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/WordMac/index.htm>
Entourage Help Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org>

 

[Corentin Cras-Méneur [MVP]]

I see that we read the same forums Norman )

Update: You're entirely correct, Norman. I had confused Norton AntiVirus
with Norton Utilities and Norton SystemWorks. The whole story is here:
<http://www.macfixitforums.com/php/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=symantec&Number=6
06206&page=2&view=collapsed&sb=3&o=93&fpart=1>

Sorry for the confusion.

Yeah, it's a sad thing as far as I am concerned. NUM has saved my drive MANY
times. Some people criticized the app, but most of the people who complained
about rpoblems with it were using old versions of the app on new systems
(never a good thing for disk repair utilities).
I was already sad when MacTools disappeared after being bought by symantec,
this isn't much better. It clearly reduces the diversity of products we have
access to :'-( (but I also have a license for TTP and DiskWarrior :->> ).

I liked NUM. May it rest in peace :'-(

Corentin

 

[John McGhie]

That's a pain! I just purchased a copy of Norton Internet Security 2004. I
suspect they may have changed their minds

Note: Norton has announced that it will no longer be developing its
anti-virus products for the Mac.

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 4 1209 1410

 

[John McGhie]

Hi Mark:

I should have been prepared for that question, and I don't have my Install
Disk with me.

Basically, you run the installer and do a "Complete" install.

However, if you do not recall being offered the option to install VBA, then
you already have done a complete install, and that's not the problem.

You're confident that you do not have a virus, so the only other thing it
can be is disk permissions.

So first, run the Apple Disk Utility and choose Repair Permissions. Then
reboot, and see if it brings it right.

If that doesn't fix it, rename your Normal template. Word must be closed
when you do this. Word will create a new default Normal when it next
starts. If that fixes it, it *was* a virus, or something behaving like one
(possibly, a PC macro that while it is not necessarily doing any damage is
trying to start bits of Word that don't exist on the Mac).

If THAT doesn't fix it, then we have to go for the "Scorched Earth Policy".

1) Find the Office Remover: it should be in your Office 2004 Program
folder. Run it.

2) Repair permissions again.

3) Load your Office CD and run the installer. Choose a Complete install.

4) Repair permissions and reboot.

That should bring it right.

Hope this helps

John,
I realize that it is possible to get a virus when using a mac. However
the point I was trying to make was there has never been a wide spread
virus on our macs like there are on windows all the time. One of the
reasons is obviously the amount of Windows machines in the world
compared to macs. Yes i know about the recent vulnerabilities pointed
out in OS X lately, but they were not taken advantage of and there were
no real problems caused to anyone.

So back to my original question then. You're saying I declined to
install VBA ? well there was no option for that. I was only given the
option of installing all or selected programs from office 2004, which I
choose to only install Word for now. So if you could explain to my
where the option for installing VBA is then I can install word again
and make sure I install it this time. Thanks

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 4 1209 1410

 

[Beth Rosengard]

Hi John,

I recanted later in the thread. I was mixing up NAV with Norton Utilities
and Norton SystemWorks. The latter two are gone but NAV is still alive and
kicking.

Sorry for the confusion.

Beth

6/2/04 1:48 AM, in article BCE3D18A.48F0%[email protected], "John McGhie"

 

[Bill Weylock]

Mark -


Nothing you have written so far definitely states you have checked for a
macro virus. The behavior you are describing is very common when there is a
macro virus at play.

If Norton gives you a clean bill, you might still consider going into Macros
and clicking on the Organizer button. See if there are any macros around in
the docs you have been using as well as the Normal template that do not seem
familiar.

If you know all this and have already tried it, please forgive the
intrusion. I'm just repeating what a tech support person took me through
some years back.