Word crashes when off the network

[Rex Evans]

Word, part of Office XP, runs fine when connected to my
office Ethernet but crashes after a few seconds when not
connected. I reinstalled the software and tried to re-
register it but got a message that it was already
registers. It is on a notebook and is very often used away
from the Ethernet connection. What is the solution?

 

[Beth Melton]

Hi Rex,

I suspect you are using a network printer driver rather than a printer
driver installed locally. When Word starts it queries the printer
driver for available fonts, printable area, etc. If a printer driver
is not found then unfortunately it will crash. (This has been
rectified in Word 2003).

Go to your Printer folder, remove the current printer, and add it back
using the Add Printer Wizard so a local printer driver will be
installed.

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

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

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

 

[Rex Evans]

Thanks Beth,
That worked. However, all I use are network printers and
it is an inconvenience to have to change the driver. Is
there a patch for Office XP to correct this problem. The
company has no plans to upgrade to Windows 2003.
-Rex

 

[TF]

Rex

No. The only options that may help are:

1. To have two profiles, one for mobile/detached from network with the local
printer as default printer and a second profile for attached/networked with
a network printer as default.
2. To setup with the local printer as the windows default, but have a custom
print macro in Word that switches to the network printer and returns to the
local printer when complete.

--
Terry Farrell - Word MVP
http://www.mvps.org/word/


Thanks Beth,
That worked. However, all I use are network printers and
it is an inconvenience to have to change the driver. Is
there a patch for Office XP to correct this problem. The
company has no plans to upgrade to Windows 2003.
-Rex

 

[Beth Melton]

Hi Rex,

To provide some insight on why there isn't a patch and it will always
be an issue if you are not connected to the network: Word needs
information from the printer driver in order to function correctly and
provide you with a true WYSIWYG environment.

The 'fix' in Word 2003 is Word will no longer crash and a better error
message is provided. However Word will still not start if a printer
driver can not be found.

Also, I guess I'm not following how this is an inconvenience. If you
set up a new network printer then use the Add Printer Wizard so the
driver will be installed locally.

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

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

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