Wrinkles with MS Office

[Steve Basile]

I'm helping a friend with Word/Office woes. Here's a copy of his note:

I am having some sort of issue with MS Office.  It started about a week ago
when I couldn't open a document from a student intern I have here.  Not only
would his doc not open, I couldn't get any of mine to open either, nor would
Word launch by clicking the app.  So I trashed it all and re-installed the
copy purchased in February.  After installation, I received notice that there
was an update available and I spent the next 7 hours downloading the 58.5 meg
update.  When all was done, everything worked fine.

This morning I agreed to evaluate a manuscript on maintaining scorpions.  I
received three Word docs and they opened just fine.  I quit Word after giving
them a quick look so I could get back to the editor.  About 30 minutes later I
went to open one of my docs and got a notice that there was an error in some
sort of library but the doc opened.  I noticed that when I saved a change on
this doc, there wasn't the usual sound of it being saved.  I quit the program
and did some other things.  Then I needed to open the same doc again, and it
won't open.  The manuscript documents and others don't open either.  Clicking
just the app gives no results either.  PowerPoint and Excel are similarly
afflicted.

The plot thickens.  Just as I typed this I received another document.  I
opened it in TextEdit and then thought, let me see what happens if I try
opening it in Word.  It opened just fine-as did the personal document I that
troubled me earlier-and the manuscript documents too!

I am lost. Any suggestions?  Thanks for whatever you have.

Thanks for your help.

Steve B.

 

[Clive Huggan]

Steve,

I personally can't help, but it will significantly reduce the guessing by an
expert who may come along soon if you provide details of the machine,
version of operating system and version of Word (in both cases the exact
details, including number of last update).

And if your friend is not using a Mac, go here:
http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/FlyoutOverview.mspx (many
people on Windows end up in our discussion group because of a fiendishly
efficient misdirection service on the Microsoft website).

Clive Huggan
=============

 

[John McGhie]

Hi Steve:

The only thing we can say confidently is that "I trashed it all..." has
probably given you TWICE the problem. Instead of one bad installation, you
now have two, and the system is completely confused.

(Never do that on a Mac -- anything that gets damaged on a Mac is in the
Preferences. These are not replaced by re-installing. You simply make the
problem worse, by now having two sets of bad preferences.)

However, like Clive, I can't answer further until I get the details he asked
for. Sorry: We can't read your screen from here

Cheers

I'm helping a friend with Word/Office woes. Here's a copy of his note:



Thanks for your help.

Steve B.

--
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, Consultant Technical Writer
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
http://jgmcghie.fastmail.com.au/
Sydney, Australia. S33°53'34.20 E151°14'54.50
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]

 

[Steve Basile]

Relatively new MacBook 13", 10.4.9 or 10.4.10, 1GB+ RAM, 100GB+ drive
Office 2004 with latest update (11.3.5?)



Clive Huggan wrote on 6/28/07 5:46 PM:

 

[John McGhie]

Hi Steve:

OK, in the Microsoft Office 2004 folder you will find a Remove Office tool.

Run that, at least twice, to make sure you get all of the instances out
(including their preference files). There may be three instances: the
original install, the re-install, and the Office Test Drive.

Nuke 'em all.

Then re-install Office 2004.

Then re-apply the 10.3.5 patch to Office.

Some users THEN have to re-apply the Apple 10.4.10 update. Sometimes, the
update doesn't "take" properly and you get strange random unwellnesses with
Office if that happens.

You should be good to go after that. Come back if not and we'll get serious
with it.

Cheers

Relatively new MacBook 13", 10.4.9 or 10.4.10, 1GB+ RAM, 100GB+ drive
Office 2004 with latest update (11.3.5?)



Clive Huggan wrote on 6/28/07 5:46 PM:

--
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, Consultant Technical Writer
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
http://jgmcghie.fastmail.com.au/
Sydney, Australia. S33°53'34.20 E151°14'54.50
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]