Word 2004 says fonts are corrupt, startup takes forever

[TintinATL]

Recently installed the upgrade to Word 2004. Boy I wish I hadn't!

Now, every time I start Word, it goes through its "font optimization"
routine and stops with an alert "The font xxx is corrupt and should be
removed." I have to hit OK to get it to proceed. This happens for about
50 so-called corrupt fonts, with a delay of about a minute between each
alert. Only after AN HOUR of this does Word actually start.

This happens every time, even if I just quit Word and restart it
without making any font changes. And, none of these fonts are corrupt.
They work fine with my other applications.

The same things happens with Excel and PowerPoint. Only Entourage works
OK. So basically, the $300+ I paid for the upgrde is worthless.

I saw a thread about this issue from last year, but it ended with no
resolution being offered. Does anyone know of a solution? Has Microsoft
come out with a patch?

 

[Michel Bintener]

Hi,

this error has been reported a number of times, and you should find a number
of suggestions by searching this newsgroup. Or you could make it easy on
yourself and read he following article on the Word MVP website:

<http://word.mvps.org/mac/CorruptFontErrors.html>

As this article will tell you, neither Microsoft nor Apple have managed to
isolate this error and to determine what causes it. The article lists a
number of solutions that may or may not work for you, so you should
definitely give them a try. It would also be great if you could post back,
in case you manage to fix the problem through one of the procedures
mentioned in the article, and tell us how exactly you proceeded. The more
data we get on this problem, the likelier it is that a proper solution can
be found someday.

Recently installed the upgrade to Word 2004. Boy I wish I hadn't!

Now, every time I start Word, it goes through its "font optimization"
routine and stops with an alert "The font xxx is corrupt and should be
removed." I have to hit OK to get it to proceed. This happens for about
50 so-called corrupt fonts, with a delay of about a minute between each
alert. Only after AN HOUR of this does Word actually start.

This happens every time, even if I just quit Word and restart it
without making any font changes. And, none of these fonts are corrupt.
They work fine with my other applications.

The same things happens with Excel and PowerPoint. Only Entourage works
OK. So basically, the $300+ I paid for the upgrde is worthless.

I saw a thread about this issue from last year, but it ended with no
resolution being offered. Does anyone know of a solution? Has Microsoft
come out with a patch?

--
Michel Bintener
Microsoft MVP
Office:Mac (Entourage & Word)

***Always reply to the newsgroup.***

 

[Beth Rosengard]

I have just today published an article about this to the Word:mac website.
It's here: <http://word.mvps.org/mac/CorruptFontErrors.html>

I would appreciate it if you would post back here and answer the following
questions:

1. You were already in Tiger when you updated Office, right?

2. What version of Tiger?

3. What version of Office did you upgrade *from*?

Your input could be helpful!

Thanks,

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

Beth Rosengard
MacOffice MVP

Mac Word FAQ: <http://word.mvps.org/Mac/WordMacHome.html>

 

[TintinATL]

Thanks, Michael and Beth.

I have not yet had time to experiment with your suggestions, but I plan
on doing so this weekend. I have a couple critical projects right now,
still using Word X, and dare not change anything until they are
completed lest more gremlins appear!

To answer Beth's questions:
1. Yes
2. Current version is:
System Version: Mac OS X 10.4.6 (8I127)
Kernel Version: Darwin 8.6.0
But I think I have run Software Update a couple of times since the
Office upgrade, so the exact version at that time may have been lower.
3. I upgraded from Office X to Office 2004. Word X is still running
(it's all I can use for now) and it is Service Release 1.

 

[Beth Rosengard]

Thanks! Keep us posted on what helps.

Beth