Work Menu

[bnelsen]

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

Every time I launch Microsoft Word, I get the message "Word cannot open this document template. (Templates)" I do not know what templates Word cannot open, the only two templates which are on the Work Menu open correctly. How do I find out what templates it cannot open and delete these?

 

[CyberTaz]

Is Office fully updated (12.1.7)? Disk Permissions repaired recently? How
are you launching Word?

The next thing I'd check is:

Applications/Microsoft Office 2008/Office/Startup/Word

If there's anything there [other than PDFMaker.dot] remove it while Word
isn't riunning then launch again.

 

[bnelsen]

12.1.7, launch Word by double clicking, only PDFMaker.dot in Applications/Microsoft Office 2008/Office/Startup/Word.

Word must be looking to load templates, which it cannot find or do not exist. How do I find out what it is trying to launch and either fix broken link or delete.

 

[CyberTaz]

But *what* are you double-clicking?


Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac
What happens if you launch Word using the Dock icon? What if you go into the
Applications/Microsoft Office 2008 folder & launch Word form there?

 

[bnelsen]

I am launching the program by clicking on the Word icon. Is there some way I don't know about that I am supposed to launch it?

How can i find out what templates it is trying to launch, when only two templates are on the Work menu and those open without problem? It seems to be looking for templates which are not on the Work menu.

 

[CyberTaz]

Please forget about the Work Menu - it has absolutely nothing to do with
what's going on here. As far as launching the program there is no "right" or
"wrong" way, it's just important to be clear about *which* way.

Another place to check is:
UserName/Documents/Microsoft User Data/Office 2008 AutoRecovery

Delete any files in that folder then launch Word & see if the problem
continues. If it does, try running Word from a different User Account.

Reply with specific results as well as exact content of the message if it's
any different than what you previously posted..

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

 

[John McGhie]

Word 2008 should not be able to open PDFMaker.dot ‹ it contains VBA code
that Word 2008 can't interpret.

Where did you get PDFMaker.dot from? Unless Adobe has released a version
compatible with Office 2008 (and I was not aware that they had...) Word
shouldn't be able to open it.

Cheers

12.1.7, launch Word by double clicking, only PDFMaker.dot in
Applications/Microsoft Office 2008/Office/Startup/Word.

Word must be looking to load templates, which it cannot find or do not exist.
How do I find out what it is trying to launch and either fix broken link or
delete.

--
Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP, Word and Word:Mac
Sydney, Australia. mailto:[email protected]

 

[bnelsen]

you are correct, Word 2008 will not open PDFMaker.dot, but, if it is not in the Startup folder, Acrobat returns an error message while loading. A necessary, but useless, file.

 

[Clive Huggan]

Some of us who use Word 2004 fool Acrobat into thinking the file is there by
inserting an [empty] folder titled PDFMaker.dot, so that Acrobat doesn't
insert its evil, destabilizing toolbar into Word.

But the only motivation for doing that in Word 2008 is wanting to show Adobe
who is boss on one's Mac; it is simply, as you say, a useless file in Office
2008. And harmless, unlike in Word 2004 and 2001.

Cheers,

Clive Huggan
Canberra, Australia
(My time zone is 5-11 hours different from the Americas and Europe, so my
follow-on responses to those regions can be delayed)
====================================================

 

[CyberTaz]

Hi John;

Acrobat puts the bugger there. But like Clive says as an extension to your
point its a completely innocuous file which doesn't need to be dealt with in
any way, but it needs to be there in order for Acrobat to feel welcome.

IMO, that file, however, isn't what's causing the OP to get the error
message. I have PDFMaker.dot on both my G5 & Intel but have never had the
same problem. For some reason Word seems to be trying to open some other
template on launch, but if it isn't being generated by a problematic
template in the StartUp folder I don't know what else it might be... Word of
course doesn't have an "open all files in..." pref like Excel does.

My next thought was a corrupt Normal, but if that were the case it seems
Word would either fail to launch altogether or create a new one -
overwriting the old - and the message shouldn't recur.

I'm open to suggestions

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

 

[CyberTaz]

Try logging in while holding Shift, then launch Word.

Also, log in normally then launch Word while holding Shift.

Reply with both results.

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

 

[bnelsen]

have not had the opportunity to shut down and login to the Mac holding down the shift key, will do so later today. but, launching Word while holding the shift key eliminates the error message

 

[John McGhie]

Yeah, well there's a chance the user has a document "attached" to the
template. Whenever he opens that document, Word will attempt to open
PDFMaker.dot.

I would go for Clive's empty folder trick

Cheers

Hi John;

Acrobat puts the bugger there. But like Clive says as an extension to your
point its a completely innocuous file which doesn't need to be dealt with in
any way, but it needs to be there in order for Acrobat to feel welcome.

IMO, that file, however, isn't what's causing the OP to get the error
message. I have PDFMaker.dot on both my G5 & Intel but have never had the
same problem. For some reason Word seems to be trying to open some other
template on launch, but if it isn't being generated by a problematic
template in the StartUp folder I don't know what else it might be... Word of
course doesn't have an "open all files in..." pref like Excel does.

My next thought was a corrupt Normal, but if that were the case it seems
Word would either fail to launch altogether or create a new one -
overwriting the old - and the message shouldn't recur.

I'm open to suggestions

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

--
Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP, Word and Word:Mac
Sydney, Australia. mailto:[email protected]

 

[CyberTaz]

Not discounting what you're saying John, but the message is occurring on
launch of the program, not opening any particular file.

In order for PDFMaker.dot to be a factor the OP would have had to open
Normal.dotm & attach the PDFMaker template to it which AFAIK can't be done -
certainly not without the user having at least a fleeting recollection of
having done so

Based on the OP's last post I'm leaning even more towards a corrupt
Normal.dot... What do you think?

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

 

[John McGhie]

Hi Bob:

Yeah, based on the last post, it seems unlikely that it's a shadow document
(not impossible, just unlikely...)

So: Have we told him to replace the Normal.dotm yet?

If you have not one this before on that machine, you need to follow this
procedure:

1) Quit all Microsoft applications (an anything else that might lock
Normal.dotm).

2) Find and trash Normal.dotm

3) Search for and trash any copies of Normal that you may have on the
computer. The file is simply called "Normal" with no extension, and could
be anywhere on the computer.

4) Empty the trash.

This is important to make sure that when Word re-starts it cannot find any
"old versions". If it does, you could get the problem back.

5) Restart Word, then quit it. This forces Word to create a new blank
default Normal.dotm and save it.

If that was it, you should be good to go now.

Hope this helps

Not discounting what you're saying John, but the message is occurring on
launch of the program, not opening any particular file.

In order for PDFMaker.dot to be a factor the OP would have had to open
Normal.dotm & attach the PDFMaker template to it which AFAIK can't be done -
certainly not without the user having at least a fleeting recollection of
having done so

Based on the OP's last post I'm leaning even more towards a corrupt
Normal.dot... What do you think?

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

--
Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP, Word and Word:Mac
Sydney, Australia. mailto:[email protected]

 

[CyberTaz]

Had not gone there yet but I guess it's high time to do so Thanks for
filling in the blanks.

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