Word2008 crashes on startup

[iib]

I hope someone on this list can help me, because I'm all out of
ideas.

I'm running OS 10.6.4 on a Macbook Pro (a few months old).
I had used Office with no problems for about a month or two.
Suddenly, Word started crashing after a few seconds of starting up.
(Note that the problem is only with Word. Powerpoint and Excel seem
to have no problems.)

Here are the steps I have taken:

I checked for Office updates and it said there are none are
available. I then ran the Microsoft Database Utility and the first
time, it said there was an error. So, I followed the steps to repair
it and now it reports that the database is working correctly.

Word still crashes on startup.

Then, I removed Office using the RemoveOffice.app and re-installed
it. I then checked for updates and ran them both. It's now at version
12.2.6.

Word still crashes on startup. Ppt and Excel are fine.

Then, I trashed the com.microsoft.Word.plist and restarted Word. This
time the blank file that is created upon startup stayed open long
enough for me to type something, but if I try to save it, or open a
new file, it crashes again.

I ran Disk Utility to verify permissions. Some required repair
(although nothing in the report indicated anything about Word), but I
ran the repair steps.

Word still crashes.

Then, after someone suggested that I have to reinstall the OS (!!), I
decided to create a new user account on my computer and test it there.
In the alternate user account, Word seems to open fine and stay open.
It allows me to save a file and open other files without crashing. It
only crashes in my main user account. This would seem to indicate
that reinstalling the OS isn't going to fix the problem.

Does anyone have any advice?
Please help!
Thanks,

I.B.

 

[Randy Singer (MacAttorney)]

I
decided to create a new user account on my computer and test it there.
In the alternate user account, Word seems to open fine and stay open.
It allows me to save a file and open other files without crashing. It
only crashes in my main user account.  This would seem to indicate
that reinstalling the OS isn't going to fix the problem.

The problem is clearly in your user account. It is something like an
application conflict, a bad preferences file (maybe not the one you
trashed), a font conflict, etc.

Check here for suggestions:
http://word.mvps.org/mac/Diagnose.html

___________________________________________

Randy B. Singer
Co-author of The Macintosh Bible (4th, 5th, and 6th editions)

Macintosh OS X Routine Maintenance
http://www.macattorney.com/ts.html
___________________________________________