Word 2007 Hangs on Open

[Rick]

When I open Word 2007, I can navigate through the icons, but as soon as I try
to type, the program freezes and the message bar displays the message
"Connecting to printer... Hit Esc to cancel." I don't have a hardware
printer connected, only a pdf virtual printer. How can I prevent word from
connecting to a printer when I open it?

 

[garfield-n-odie [MVP]]

Two possibilities come to mind:
1. You don't have a real printer, but you selected a real printer as
your default printer in Windows.
2. You selected the PDF virtual printer as your default printer in
Windows, but you incorrectly configured it to print to a real printer
port instead of to the FILE: port.

 

[Stevie]

I was having the same problem until I de-selected the "Print in background"
setting.

To change this setting:

1. Open Word and click the Microsoft icon in the upper left corner.
2. Click the "Word options" button at the bottom of the pop up window.
3. Click the "Advanced" tab.
4. Scroll down to the "Print" section.
5. Make sure that the "Print in background" field is NOT check.
6. Click "OK" button to save your change and close the pop up window.

I hope this does the trick for you.