Word Attachments won't Open from Outlook

[Laura Stebbins]

I'm running Office 2002 with Windows XP Pro.

Periodically, I have a problem where Word attachments will not open
when double clicking on the attachment from an Outlook email. Word
begins to open, but then gives an application error and closes. I
apologize that I don't have the exact error message, I will be sure to
get it next time.

Once the error occurs the first time, it will never open another Word
attachment until the "fix" below is performed. Once the "fix" is
performed, than the system will operate normally for sometimes 2 days,
and sometimes 2 months, and then the issue will arise again.

Some observations on the system:

1) Norton Antivirus 2002 is installed, and is updated, and the system
has been scanned on several occasions with nothing found.

2) Normal.dot file is occasionally appearing to be corrupt when the
problem occurs - it has been as large as 145K rather than the usual
25-35K. Deleting it and allowing Word to recreate it brings it back
to "normal" size until the next time.

3) I have noticed that on this system, Normal.dot is showing a new
date (and time) modified EVERY time that Word is closed. I have
verified that this is not normal behavior for Office 2000, but have
not verified it as normal or abnormal for Office 2002, as I do not
have that version running on any other computer - can someone advise
if this is normal?

The "Fix":

1) Close Outlook
2) Open any Word Document - at this time, Word gives several Recovery
Document Errors. Answering "OK" to all of these will clear them.
3) Close Word
4) Open Outlook and all attachments work as normal.
5) Deleting Normal.dot at this time "seems" to discourage the problem
from coming back for a longer period of time, but this is unproven
theory.

So, sorry for the long involved post, but this problem has been
reoccurring for several months, and it is extremely frustrating - I
would appreciate any help that anyone can give.

Thanks,
Laura

 

[Laura Stebbins]

Yes, that is where it is... I misspoke - my error. What I
meant to say is that there is nothing in the startup, and
the only thing in the template folder is normal.dot - both
where they are supposed to be... both in a default
installation.

I would really appreciate any ideas on a reason for this
problem or a possible solution to it. Thank you.

Laura

 

[Laura Stebbins]

They seem to answer less of theirs than you guys do.
There are 183 active posts, and only about 10% have
answers.

So, when you guys give up, and pay support does't have a
clue - where does one go to find Microsoft support? Who
fixes bugs in these products? Do they ever get resolved?
Should I plan on switching all of my customers over to the
Corel Suite?

Thanks,
Laura

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

You might find that you get better results if you will quote the previous
message so we can keep track of what's going on in the thread; I had to
backtrack to find out what version of Word you are using and what details
you had given on the problem.

Word 2002 can have COM add-ins, which won't show up in the Startup folder or
in Tools | Templates and Add-ins. The most notorious of these are the
Microsoft Works Suite Add-in for Word and the Norton Office Plug-in. See
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/Customization/CheckIfAddinsInstalled.htm for
instructions on how to detect these. Since you haven't provided the specific
error message you're getting, it's a bit difficult to troubleshoot the
problem. In another thread, a user was having problems opening attachments
in Outlook because of a printer driver problem; it could be that the printer
driver is damaged, but Beth Melton suggested that not having a local printer
installed could also be the cause.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://www.mvps.org/word
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

 

[Beth Melton]

If your Normal.dot is being modified each time you start Word then the
cause is likely due to a third-party add-in corrupting your
Normal.dot.

Many third-party applications will create an add-in and place it in
the Office\Startup folder or use a COM add-in (DLL) to integrate their
software with Word.

Another common add-in, the "Microsoft Works Suite Add-in for Word" can
only be found in your Add/Remove programs list.

Aside from the Works Suite Add-in (you should check this if Word came
installed as part of Works Suite), to determine if you have any
add-ins you can check for them using the following:

Go to Tools/Templates and Add-Ins and see if there are any global
templates or add-ins listed. If you find any then chances are they are
located in your Office\Startup folder or Word\Startup folder.

The location of the Word\Startup folder can be found under
Tools/Options/File Locations and the Office\Startup folder will be
located in the installation path for Office.

If you find more than one add-in move them one at a time until you
determine which one is causing the problem.

As of Word 2000, Word can have COM add-ins, those that are added in
via the Registry rather than the Startup folders. To check for COM
add-ins add the "COM Add-In" command to your toolbar.

- Right-click any toolbar and select Customize
- On the Commands tab, select the Tools category
- Locate COM Add-Ins on the right
- Drag/Drop to a location of your choice

For more information on COM Add-Ins, see this article:
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/Customization/CheckIfAddinsInstalled.htm

Failing that, the "Office Plug-in" option in Norton AV is known to
cause it's share of conflicts. You can disable it in Norton Options
under the Miscellaneous section.

Additionally you should rule out temp files. If Word runs into a rogue
temp file then many strange errors can occur.

Delete all temp (*.tmp) files:
- Exit Word and Outlook if you are using it as your email editor and
reboot your computer if you recently experienced a crash
- Go to Start/Find/Files or Folders (or Start/Search then select Files
or Folders)
- Change "Look in" to reflect the drive/folder to the root of your
Local drive.
- In the Named text box, type *.tmp
- Click the "Find Now" command
- Delete the temp files you find.

*Note that these can be deleted directly from the Find Results.

To group the files for a single deletion:
- Click any file in the list
- Press <Ctrl A> to select all

Should you encounter a "File in use" error, press <Ctrl> and click the
file to deselect it.

As an additional note, the Owner file is another temporary files Word
creates. If you have been experiencing multiple crashes or if Word has
been hanging on you then it is best to search for Owner files
(~$*.do?) and delete those as well. These can cause "file in use" and
"read only" errors.

For more information on this and a full cleanup/maintenance procedure
that should be run periodically, see this article:
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/AppErrors/LockedFiles.htm

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

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton

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