Word Hangs When OPENING docs

[karlmd]

Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
Processor: intel

Hi, my problem is EXACTLY the same as user RadioBar over at the Apple forums so I'll just quote him:

"I have created documents in Word on my Mac. However, when I'm in Word and go to "File" and then hit "Open..." I get a pinwheel then a blank screen (after about a minute) then a screen with vertical bars (similar to a hierarchy for folders and files) with a drop down option space saying "Enable: All Office Documents. The pinwheel keeps on turning. The program is frozen and I have to force quit."
<http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=6443696&#6443696>

I've tried all the suggestions in the said forum: deleting the MSWord plist and validating my fonts. I've downloaded the 12.0.1 update (or the LATEST update available). Nada. Any ideas? This problem does not happen with Powerpoint or Excel. Also, I can open Word documents if I double click on the icon of that specific document (e.g. from the DOCUMENTS folder or the desktop) or from the File&gt;OPEN RECENT&gt;filename function. It's just the OPEN button and the File&gt;OPEN function that doesn't work.

In case it helps: I've just installed Office 2008 tonight and I'm using one of those late-dec 2007 macbook models. This computer is my aunt's and I've personally NOT encountered the problem on my own macbook (almost the same specs but lower HD).

In the interest of full disclosure: there was a 2008 Office for Mac that was previously installed on this computer but it was, shall we say, from the torrents (unregistered and with a hacked product key). I've repented of my sins, deleted that version, and I've installed an original, genuine software, fresh from the box, and it's registered. I did not have this problem with the pirated version so I find myself in a very ironic situation. Help!

 

[CyberTaz]

You might try running Disk Utility - Repair Disk Permissions & restarting,
but I'm not sure it will help because of the confessed sin

You'll most likely need to run the Remove Office utility - the deletion you
did doesn't begin to remove everything that needs to be purged & it's
probably those stray bits that are causing the conflict. Although it's in
the Office 2008 folder you'll probably be better off running it from the
install disk as you reinstall Office.

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[karlmd]

thanks for the advice. i'll try it out once i have a bit of time on my hands. i'll post feedback soon!

 

[karlmd]

Here's the feedback. I followed your advice.

I ran the Remove Office software from the folder on my mac and it deleted everything automatically. I inserted my 'Genuine' CD and installed the Office Suite and ran everything in the default way. After installation, the software prompted me to download the Update 12.0.1 so I did, and that installed without a glitch. When I ran Word and clicked on the OPEN button, i still had the same problem.

I then ran Disk Utility and verified and repaired permissions and also verified my disk, which was 'OK.' I still get the same problem. (BTW, the only conflicts that came out of the verification were something about iChat icons. I saved the log, if you want to see it)

I don't think my history of installing a fake app will matter now as I've supposedly wiped the slate clean with that Remove Office software. Also, the guy in the apple forums didn't install such an app and he has the same problem.

Any other ideas? Thanks.

-karl-

 

[CyberTaz]

Thanks for the detailed feedback, Karl - although Remove Office actually may
not have removed as much as you thought So try this [you may want to
review this page first: http://word.mvps.org/mac/MacWordNormal.html ];

With no Office apps running go to the following folder:

Username/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Office/User Templates
(You can use a Spotlight search from a Finder window if you'd rather to
locate Normal.dotm - in fact, do that to see if any other Word Documents by
the name of Normal exist on the system.)

Drag the file called Normal.dotm (assuming you find just the one - otherwise
post back with your results) to the desktop (or rename or delete the file),
then launch Word. It will generate a new Normal template so startup may take
a little longer than usual, then see if the problem persists. You then can
delete the old Normal.dotm

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[karlmd]

Hi Bob.

I read the page that you linked and did as you instructed.

I opened the mac and looked for the Normal.dotm file via Spotlight. Spotlight did NOT detect it so I manually searched for it and found the file under User Templates, just where you said it would be. I transferred it to desktop (it was only then that Spotlight found it) and I launched Word. I clicked on the OPEN button and found the same problem so I had to force quit word again.

I checked to see if Word created a new Normal.dotm file under User Templates but I didn't find a new Normal template there. So I opened Word again and Quit the software normally. A window popped up that said it was saving Normal.dotm. So I guess I was able to create a new Normal.dotm. I double checked if it will show up under User Templates and it was indeed there.

To test if I still had the problem, I opened Word again and clicked on OPEN and, guess what, I still had the same problem. Gosh, I hope you aren't running out of ideas? This is a brand new mac with not much files in it so I can't imagine where else Word will conflict with.

I saved the error log that the mac generates when I force quit Word. Do you want to see that? I can email it to you or paste it here. Thanks for all your help and I hope we can solve this problem soon.

-karl-

Thanks for the detailed feedback, Karl - although Remove Office actually may
not have removed as much as you thought So try this [you may want to
review this page first: <http://word.mvps.org/mac/MacWordNormal.html> ];

With no Office apps running go to the following folder:

Username/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Office/User Templates
(You can use a Spotlight search from a Finder window if you'd rather to
locate Normal.dotm - in fact, do that to see if any other Word Documents by
the name of Normal exist on the system.)

Drag the file called Normal.dotm (assuming you find just the one - otherwise
post back with your results) to the desktop (or rename or delete the file),
then launch Word. It will generate a new Normal template so startup may take
a little longer than usual, then see if the problem persists. You then can
delete the old Normal.dotm

Regards |:&gt
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac



On 3/29/08 10:24 AM, in article (e-mail address removed)9absDaxw,
:

&gt; Here's the feedback. I followed your advice.
&gt;
&gt; I ran the Remove Office software from the folder on my mac and it deleted
&gt; everything automatically. I inserted my 'Genuine' CD and installed the
&gt; Office Suite and ran everything in the default way. After installation, the
&gt; software prompted me to download the Update 12.0.1 so I did, and that
&gt; installed without a glitch. When I ran Word and clicked on the OPEN button, i
&gt; still had the same problem.
&gt;
&gt; I then ran Disk Utility and verified and repaired permissions and also
&gt; verified my disk, which was 'OK.' I still get the same problem. (BTW, the only
&gt; conflicts that came out of the verification were something about iChat icons.
&gt; I saved the log, if you want to see it)
&gt;
&gt; I don't think my history of installing a fake app will matter now as I've
&gt; supposedly wiped the slate clean with that Remove Office software. Also, the
&gt; guy in the apple forums didn't install such an app and he has the same
&gt; problem.
&gt;
&gt; Any other ideas? Thanks.
&gt;
&gt; -karl-
&gt;
&gt;&gt; You might try running Disk Utility - Repair Disk Permissions & restarting,
&gt;&gt; but I'm not sure it will help because of the confessed sin
&gt;&gt;
&gt;&gt; You'll most likely need to run the Remove Office utility - the deletion you
&gt;&gt; did doesn't begin to remove everything that needs to be purged & it's
&gt;&gt; probably those stray bits that are caus

 

[CyberTaz]

I'm afraid the log wouldn't do me a whole lot of good - I just use the
software, I don't write or analyze the underlying code

I am starting to think that it may be a system related issue but it could
also be the files, themselves. When you use the Open command the app your
using is simply calling for service from the OS - in this case it's being
ignored. Since you've only mentioned Word, do you have the same/similar
problem with other programs?... Open a Word doc with TextEdit, for example,
or d/l a trial copy of iWork & see what happens with Apple's Pages.

Is the problem with existing files only? What can you say about their
creation, source, age, location etc. If you create a new doc. Save & close,
can you reopen it without a problem?

What happens if you double-click a document icon while Word is/isn't
running?

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

Hi Bob.

I read the page that you linked and did as you instructed.

I opened the mac and looked for the Normal.dotm file via Spotlight. Spotlight
did NOT detect it so I manually searched for it and found the file under User
Templates, just where you said it would be. I transferred it to desktop (it
was only then that Spotlight found it) and I launched Word. I clicked on the
OPEN button and found the same problem so I had to force quit word again.

I checked to see if Word created a new Normal.dotm file under User Templates
but I didn't find a new Normal template there. So I opened Word again and Quit
the software normally. A window popped up that said it was saving Normal.dotm.
So I guess I was able to create a new Normal.dotm. I double checked if it will
show up under User Templates and it was indeed there.

To test if I still had the problem, I opened Word again and clicked on OPEN
and, guess what, I still had the same problem. Gosh, I hope you aren't running
out of ideas? This is a brand new mac with not much files in it so I can't
imagine where else Word will conflict with.

I saved the error log that the mac generates when I force quit Word. Do you
want to see that? I can email it to you or paste it here. Thanks for all your
help and I hope we can solve this problem soon.

-karl-

Thanks for the detailed feedback, Karl - although Remove Office actually may
not have removed as much as you thought So try this [you may want to
review this page first: <http://word.mvps.org/mac/MacWordNormal.html> ];

With no Office apps running go to the following folder:

Username/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Office/User Templates
(You can use a Spotlight search from a Finder window if you'd rather to
locate Normal.dotm - in fact, do that to see if any other Word Documents by
the name of Normal exist on the system.)

Drag the file called Normal.dotm (assuming you find just the one - otherwise
post back with your results) to the desktop (or rename or delete the file),
then launch Word. It will generate a new Normal template so startup may take
a little longer than usual, then see if the problem persists. You then can
delete the old Normal.dotm

Regards |:&gt
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac



On 3/29/08 10:24 AM, in article (e-mail address removed)9absDaxw,
:

&gt; Here's the feedback. I followed your advice.
&gt;
&gt; I ran the Remove Office software from the folder on my mac and it
deleted
&gt; everything automatically. I inserted my 'Genuine' CD and installed
the
&gt; Office Suite and ran everything in the default way. After installation,
the
&gt; software prompted me to download the Update 12.0.1 so I did, and that
&gt; installed without a glitch. When I ran Word and clicked on the OPEN
button, i
&gt; still had the same problem.
&gt;
&gt; I then ran Disk Utility and verified and repaired permissions and also
&gt; verified my disk, which was 'OK.' I still get the same problem. (BTW,
the only
&gt; conflicts that came out of the verification were something about iChat
icons.
&gt; I saved the log, if you want to see it)
&gt;
&gt; I don't think my history of installing a fake app will matter now as
I've
&gt; supposedly wiped the slate clean with that Remove Office software. Also,
the
&gt; guy in the apple forums didn't install such an app and he has the same
&gt; problem.
&gt;
&gt; Any other ideas? Thanks.
&gt;
&gt; -karl-
&gt;
&gt;&gt; You might try running Disk Utility - Repair Disk Permissions &
restarting,
&gt;&gt; but I'm not sure it will help because of the confessed sin
&gt;&gt;
&gt;&gt; You'll most likely need to run the Remove Office utility - the
deletion you
&gt;&gt; did doesn't begin to remove everything that needs to be purged &
it's
&gt;&gt; probably those stray bits that are caus

 

[karlmd]

Hi again.

I can create a new file, save it, and open it (by double clicking on the icon of the said file) with no problems. I can open previously created Word documents by double clicking its icon. I can open Word documents on Text Edit. While Word is running (New doc or an existing one), I can double click on another doc and open it with no problems. I have very few Word documents on the computer (about 4 or 5) because this computer's pretty new and the owner is not a heavy user. Most of my documents are saved under the Documents folder or the Downloads folder.

I have the whole Apple iWork on the laptop and I can create, save, and open files there. I can also use the FILE&gt;OPEN function there, too. Just for the heck of it, I deleted all of iWorks software on my system, in case there was a conflict with Pages, and I still have the problem.

So far, it seems that it's an isolated Word problem. I can use the OPEN button and the FILE&gt;OPEN function of excel and the other members of the Office Suite, except Word. I can even use the FILE&gt;OPEN RECENT function of WORD itself.

I hope this helps as you consider what else to do. Thanks.

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

Couple of questions--

Normally deleting the prefs file fixes this, but you said you did that.
Are you sure you deleted the correct file?
[username]/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.Word.plist

Have you tested whether you see the problem in a new user account on the
computer? that's a really useful diagnostic trick.

 

[karlmd]

i'm sorry it took so long for me to reply to your message. i just now got a hold of the computer because my aunt's been using it previously.

created a new account on her mac and fired word up. the OPEN button and FILE&gt;OPEN function are working!

Also, I went back and deleted the .plist you spelled out in your message. I restarted the computer and opened word. THE OPEN BUTTON IS NOW WORKING!!! I checked the apple discussion group and saw that it didn't actually tell me which specific plist i should delete, like you did. so i might have deleted another Word-related plist.

I'm so sorry to have taken so much of both of your time, especially Bob. It seems to have been a very silly error, looking back. But thanks for all your help!

-karl-

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

Glad you sorted it, thanks for the confirmation.

i'm sorry it took so long for me to reply to your message. i just now got a hold of the computer because my aunt's been using it previously.

created a new account on her mac and fired word up. the OPEN button and FILE&gt;OPEN function are working!

Also, I went back and deleted the .plist you spelled out in your message. I restarted the computer and opened word. THE OPEN BUTTON IS NOW WORKING!!! I checked the apple discussion group and saw that it didn't actually tell me which specific plist i should delete, like you did. so i might have deleted another Word-related plist.

I'm so sorry to have taken so much of both of your time, especially Bob. It seems to have been a very silly error, looking back. But thanks for all your help!

-karl-

Couple of questions--

Normally deleting the prefs file fixes this, but you said you did that.
Are you sure you deleted the correct file?
[username]/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.Word.plist

Have you tested whether you see the problem in a new user account on the
computer? that's a really useful diagnostic trick.