active window remains behind inactive window

S

Shoshanna

Version: 2008 Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) Processor: Power PC I'm having very strange problems with Word 2008, which I'm running on a dual G4 PowerPC, 1.25 GHz, 1.75 GB of RAM, OSX 10.5.8 -- slightly underpowered by today's standards, perhaps, but well above the program's minimum requirements. I have two monitors, and Spaces is disabled.

When I highlight two files and double click to start Word and open them both, the one that is on top -- the visible one, let's say it's window A -- is not the one that is active. If I hit Page Down, I can watch the scroll bar of window B move down, where its right edge is visible poking out from under window A! If I press Command-` to switch windows, they do switch, but the inactive window is still on top: i.e., now B is on top and inactive, and A is behind and active. If I now click within B, it activates as it should (although there's a rapid flicker that seems to be the windows switching places twice), but if I then press Command-` again, they again switch places twice and end up with B still on top but inactive, and A underneath and active. If I select window B in the Window menu, again it activates but remains behind the inactive one. If I press Command-Tab twice to switch to another app and then back to Word, the active window B, which was underneath, is on top when I get back, but again that only lasts until I try to change windows again.

This is true whether I'm working with .rtf files as sent to me by my employer, in which case Word 2008 tells me I'm working in Compatibility Mode, or I'm working with files I have Saved As .rtf myself, in which case Word does not indicate that it's in Compatibility Mode, or I'm working with .docx files.

I have deleted Office 2008 and its preferences, rebooted in Safe Mode, and reinstalled Office 2008 and all its updates. I have the desktop running in Safe Mode right now, with Word the only running app (besides the Finder), while I type this up on my laptop, and I'm seeing all this behavior in it now. (However, it is not happening on my laptop, a G4 iBook.)

I'm at my wits' end, and I'm on deadline. Can anyone advise?
 

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