Word 2004 freezing on launch in Tiger--HOLDING DOWN SHIFT KEY ON LAUNCH WORKS!!

[stedman]

I've spent several hours trying to trouble-shoot this. Tried the
standard fixes recommended here... FontBook duplicate resolution,
turning off international fonts, etc. Remove Office won't remove
Office, just the prefs, so that didn't work. Reinstalled Office 2004.
Went through the Update Pack, then 11.1.1. update. Did that several
times because Word's version # didn't change.

(Microsoft needs a big warning that your Word version number doesn't
change... with Woird being the only Office component having problems it
seemed as if the updating hadn't taken... it was still 11.1.0)

Repaired permissions. Restarted countless times. Trashed this and
that (font cache, etc.)

Well, I just about skipped over one thread in this group that contained
a long response, a series of questions posed to someone using a huge
collection of fonts accumulated over the years. In there was an
incredible tip

HOLD DOWN THE SHIFT KEY WHEN LAUNCHING WORD TO DISABLE USER
CUSTOMIZATIONS.

I tried it and Word 2004 11.1.0 then launched. So, it's something in
the customizations. While that's a nuisance as it means redoing
several years worth of tweaks, it's better than not having this running
at all. I just wish that tip were featured prominently around here.
It would have saved me hours of time trying to track down font,
permission, etc. problems.

What a great tip! Many, many thanks to Daiya Mitchell whose
trouble-shooting question to another user it was.

 

[stedman]

Well, now I do have a question after all.

How do I get rid of the user customizations that were causing the
problem?

I certainly don't want to have to keep using the shift key on launch to
get Word 2004 to run properly.

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

Holding down the shift key prevents any add-ins and global templates from
loading, and also prevents your Normal template from loading.

So first test your add-ins:
http://word.mvps.org/MacWordNew/Add-Ins.htm
(hit refresh a few times in Safari, or use a different browser)

Then test your Normal template:
http://word.mvps.org/MacWordNew/MacWordNormal.htm
(hit refresh a few times in Safari, or use a different browser)

Basically, you would dump your Old Normal and then use the instructions in
the link to copy what customizations you can to the new Normal. It's more
likely that Normal is corrupt than that there is a specific customization in
it causing a problem.

Glad that tip worked for you, I tend to forget about it myself.

 

[stedman]

Thanks for a fast follow up. I'll try ttracking those down.

Now, if possible, maybe your tip about holding down the shift key could
be put in that list of trouble-shooting on the Microsoft site that
everyone is usually referred to (the one that goes through the steps
update, repair, etc.) That tip would help users narrow problems down
incredibly quickly. In fact, pointing people to check out the add-ins
and Normal template pages you reference should be there, too! It
should be the first step as it's the easiest thing to check.

One piece of new info was the new location for the Normal template.

Now, after trying deleting that, I ended up having to use brute force
to solve the problem. I searched for all "Normal"s on the hard drive
and trashed them all. That got back to normal launching and being able
to save Normal template changes.

Fortunately, I have a back up, and on another computer, so that I can
figure out which customizations I wish to restore.

Thanks again!

 

[stedman]

Thanks for a fast follow up. I'll try ttracking those down.

Now, if possible, maybe your tip about holding down the shift key could
be put in that list of trouble-shooting on the Microsoft site that
everyone is usually referred to (the one that goes through the steps
update, repair, etc.) That tip would help users narrow problems down
incredibly quickly. In fact, pointing people to check out the add-ins
and Normal template pages you reference should be there, too! It
should be the first step as it's the easiest thing to check.

One piece of new info was the new location for the Normal template.

Now, after trying deleting that, I ended up having to use brute force
to solve the problem. I searched for all "Normal"s on the hard drive
and trashed them all. That got back to normal launching and being able
to save Normal template changes.

Fortunately, I have a back up, and on another computer, so that I can
figure out which customizations I wish to restore.

Thanks again!

 

[matt neuburg]

Holding down the shift key prevents any add-ins and global templates from
loading, and also prevents your Normal template from loading.

So first test your add-ins:
http://word.mvps.org/MacWordNew/Add-Ins.htm
(hit refresh a few times in Safari, or use a different browser)

Then test your Normal template:
http://word.mvps.org/MacWordNew/MacWordNormal.htm
(hit refresh a few times in Safari, or use a different browser)

Basically, you would dump your Old Normal and then use the instructions in
the link to copy what customizations you can to the new Normal. It's more
likely that Normal is corrupt than that there is a specific customization in
it causing a problem.

Glad that tip worked for you, I tend to forget about it myself.

I didn't forget about it because I didn't know about it! Cool tip. m.

 

[Paul Berkowitz]

I didn't forget about it because I didn't know about it! Cool tip. m.

OT: In Entourage 2004 holding down shift key disables schedules from running
at startup. So, for example, if the first thing that happens is Entourage
tries to download a corrupt message, causing a crash or freeze, you can
launch with shift key down, go into Online Access (if a POP message, or IMAP
Inbox if IMAP), turn off Preview pane, select corrupt message, mark for
deletion, then download: problem over.

In all Office 2004 apps, holding shift key at launch is analogous to the OS
launch of Startup Items off (or extension off in the old days): it disables
all startup auto-macros in Normal, startup templates, schedules, etc. It's
pretty neat.

--
Paul Berkowitz
MVP MacOffice
Entourage FAQ Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/faq/index.html>
AppleScripts for Entourage: <http://macscripter.net/scriptbuilders/>

Please "Reply To Newsgroup" to reply to this message. Emails will be
ignored.

PLEASE always state which version of Microsoft Office you are using -
**2004**, X or 2001. It's often impossible to answer your questions
otherwise.

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

What list are you talking about here? I tend to avoid the MS site. And
how did you get referred to it?

If you give a link, we can try to complain/suggest edits.

 

[JE McGimpsey]

(Microsoft needs a big warning that your Word version number doesn't
change... with Woird being the only Office component having problems it
seemed as if the updating hadn't taken... it was still 11.1.0)

Which components are affected for each update is listed in the read-me
file that comes with the installer, and that pops up when you begin the
installation of the update. IIRC, you have to acknowledge that screen
before updating can proceed.

In addition, the updates put an Installer Logs folder in your Microsoft
Office 2004 folder, and the logs tell you exactly what changed in each
update.

What alternative would you suggest to indicate that something *didn't*
change?

 

[stedman]

Actually the trouble-shooting guide is an MVP special!! And one Daiya
that you, among others, have referred us to!

http://word.mvps.org/MacWordNew/TroubleshootingIndex.htm

What's good about that is that, I presume, you all can modify it
easily!

And add the tip about shift-key to it as a first step in the
trouble-shooting sequence.

Now, there is a problem with that mvps site! It requires using the
refresh button for it to display. The top banner shows up but that's
it until one clicks Safari's refresh button.

Thanks for listening.

 

[Beth Rosengard]

Hi stedman,

What confused us was your calling it an MS site. We MVPs are not MS
employees, and the site is owned and maintained by MVPs, not MS. MVPs are
just users like everybody else here, who have been awarded as MVPs ("most
valuable professionals") by MS in recognition for expertise and volunteer
work above and beyond the call of reason .

So, yes, we can modify the word.mvps.org site "easily", but it still takes
time. I happen to be the webmaster for the MacWord section of that site but
I've been so busy with my own projects lately, I haven't had time to work on
the site at all.

However ... I *will* add the tip about shift-key when I get a chance
(sometime this millennium, I hope . Thanks for the suggestion!

--
***Please always reply to the newsgroup!***

Beth Rosengard
MacOffice MVP

Mac Word FAQ: <http://word.mvps.org/MacWordNew/index.htm>
(If using Safari, hit Refresh once or twice ­ or use another browser.)
Entourage Help Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org>

 

[jit]

I've had the same freeze and Microsoft Error reporting problem on 2 mac
since installing Tiger (Office 2004). On one I finally did a clea
install and reinstalled Office and Adobe CS. I didn't reinstall my fon
management program, nor my 6000 fonts. This resolved the problem.

Word was fine for 2 days, with the only customization being one adde
shortcut (paste special) and one quick toolbar created. I use
Illustrator and InDesign intensively too with no problems. This mean
that the Adobe fonts installed by CS didn't create any issues. But the
I opened Acrobat, causing it to install the Adobe PDFMaker macro, and m
problem returned.

I've deleted PDFMaker.dot from Office/Startup/Word PDFMaker fro
~/Library/Preferences/Microsoft, and PDFMakerLib from Microsoft Offic
2004. For good measure, I also deleted PDFMaker.xla fro
Office/Startup/Excel and PDFMaker.ppa from Office/Startup/PowerPoint
So far so good.

Do others with this problem have the PDFMaker.dot installed?

Ji

 

[Beth Rosengard]

Hi Jim,

To keep PDFMaker.dot from reappearing (which it *will* do), see here:
<http://www.mcgimpsey.com/macoffice/office/pdftoolbar.html>

--
***Please always reply to the newsgroup!***

Beth Rosengard
MacOffice MVP

Mac Word FAQ: <http://word.mvps.org/MacWordNew/index.htm>
(If using Safari, hit Refresh once or twice ­ or use another browser.)
Entourage Help Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org>

 

[John McGhie [MVP - Word and Word Macintosh]]

There are numerous reports of toxicity associated with PDFMaker.dot, but
you're the first to report this effect from it

I've had the same freeze and Microsoft Error reporting problem on 2 macs
since installing Tiger (Office 2004). On one I finally did a clean
install and reinstalled Office and Adobe CS. I didn't reinstall my font
management program, nor my 6000 fonts. This resolved the problem.

Word was fine for 2 days, with the only customization being one added
shortcut (paste special) and one quick toolbar created. I used
Illustrator and InDesign intensively too with no problems. This means
that the Adobe fonts installed by CS didn't create any issues. But then
I opened Acrobat, causing it to install the Adobe PDFMaker macro, and my
problem returned.

I've deleted PDFMaker.dot from Office/Startup/Word PDFMaker from
~/Library/Preferences/Microsoft, and PDFMakerLib from Microsoft Office
2004. For good measure, I also deleted PDFMaker.xla from
Office/Startup/Excel and PDFMaker.ppa from Office/Startup/PowerPoint.
So far so good.

Do others with this problem have the PDFMaker.dot installed?

Jim

--

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

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 4 1209 1410