Word crashes when Normal.dot is readonly

  • Thread starter DrDonnyIvoNevada-FakeName
  • Start date
D

DrDonnyIvoNevada-FakeName

I searched but didn't find this problem. These docs didn't help either:
www.word.mvps.org/FAQs/AppErrors/CorruptDoc.htm nor ProbsOpeningWord.htm.

Often when I close Word, it crashes. The only culprit I can find is that it
seems to only happen when my normal.dot is set to READ-ONLY even when I have
made no changes to normal.dot during the session. Having normal.dot
READ-ONLY used to be the recommended way to avoid common viruses. This
didn't happen to me on earlier XP installments (pre SP1 or SP2). I'm running
licensed XP Pro Ver.2002 w/SP2 and licensed Word 2000 (9.0.6926 SP-3)

It is very obnoxious since I typically use PRNTSCRN to capture software
error messages then document by pasting into Word. This error is "always on
top" and won't cut to the clipboard. But it says:
+ MSWord for windows has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are
sorry for the inconvenience.
+ Faulting application winword.exe, faulting module winword.exe, version
9.0.0.8929, fault address 0x00143da6.
+ something about c:\windows\temp\281f_appcompat.txt
That file is too big to include here.

To work around the hang, I terminate the process tree through task manager
but it happens so often that I want to stop using Word (if only I didn't
enjoy its features so much!).
 
C

Charles Kenyon

I guess I would recommend not making normal.dot read-only.

I regularly make a backup of my normal.dot. If normal.dot is corrupted in
any way, you can rename it with Word closed and Word will generate a new
one.
--
Charles Kenyon

Word New User FAQ & Web Directory: http://addbalance.com/word

Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of
Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide) http://addbalance.com/usersguide


--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies
and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn
from my ignorance and your wisdom.
 
D

DrDonnyIvoNevada-FakeName

OK, easy enough. I can make normal.dot read/write.

My concern is that normal.dot was once said to be an easy place for a virus
to hide. Allowing Word to update normal.dot for no apparent reason could
mean a virus was trying to embed itself and would wreak havoc the next time
Word was opened. I guess that belief was from many years ago. Maybe
Microsoft fixed the problem, current antivirus software (Norton) prevents it
or I simply don't understand how viruses propagate.

If anyone knows otherwise, i.e. the crash being caused by a virus trying to
embed itself in the active read-only normal.dot rather than simply a
read-only normal.dot causing the unpredictable crash - then please let me
know. Thank you!
 
S

Suzanne S. Barnhill

If you have "Prompt to save Normal template" checked on the Save tab of
Tools | Options, Word will not be allowed to save Normal.dot without your
permission.
 

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