Error while opening .doc file

[TDesai]

Hi,
I have WIndows Vista Home , and MS Office 2007 installed.
I defragmented my PC and then I am having issue with opening .doc file. It
gives me below error : "Windows canot find '.doc'. Make sure you typed name
correctly, and then try again"

I have recently installed an Anti-Virus, but I 'Disabled' it and tried
opening .doc, but same error. I even uninstalled MS Office and re-installed
but same.

All rescent updated from MS has been installed till date.

Thanks in Advance.

 

[Terry Farrell]

I've just answered an absolutely identical question like this...

There are several possible reasons for this but the solution NEVER includes
uninstalling and reinstalling Office.

First, the simple possible solution is to reregister Word. From Start, Run,
type in

winword /r

and press enter. Test again now. If that fails continue with the next.

It may be an incompatible third party add-in causing the problem (very
common). You need to ID the add-in and then remove it. You may be able to
get an update that is compatible from the provider of the add-in.

See how to find add-ins

http://www.word.mvps.org/FAQs/Customization/CheckIfAddinsInstalled.htm

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/HA011514521033.aspx

It may be a plug-in that is part of your Anti Virus. You should disable any
Office plug-in if your AV has one and test again.

Finally, it may be a corrupt registry. You need to run Regedit and navigate
to the Word Data Key and delete. Word will recreate a new Data Key when it
is next started.

Word DataKey

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\version number\Word\Data

Terry Farrell - MSWord MVP

 

[Nathan Hopper]

I had this question in another forum, I use live one care for the antivirus
and I don't see a way to edit any plugins there, I tried to edit the
registry, but when I find the word folder, there is no DATA

 

[Beth Melton]

I had this question in another forum, I use live one care for the
antivirus
and I don't see a way to edit any plugins there, I tried to edit the
registry, but when I find the word folder, there is no DATA

Make sure you are looking in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ and not another location
such as HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.

However, there aren't any add-in settings stored in the Data key. What are
you trying to do exactly?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Melton
What is a Microsoft MVP? http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/gp/mvpfaqs

Guides for the Office 2007 Interface:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/training/HA102295841033.aspx

 

[Terry Farrell]

There definitely is a DATA key. Did you substitute Version number with
Version 12.0 (for Word 2007)?

Are you sure you have checked properly that you don't have any add-ins. They
are far more likely to be the problem.

Terry

 

[Nathan Hopper]

When I am in REGEDIT, there are versions 9.0, 8.0, 12.0. There is a Word
folder in 9.0 and 12.0, there is only a DATA key in version 9.0.


When I check the add ins in word, I am not sure what I should be looking
for. In the COM Add-Ins there is a PayPalWordAddin, but I don't know if that
is what I should be looking for, and Word won't let me remove it.

 

[Beth Melton]

When I am in REGEDIT, there are versions 9.0, 8.0, 12.0. There is a Word
folder in 9.0 and 12.0, there is only a DATA key in version 9.0.

When you navigate to the Word folder under 12.0 after it's selected please
click Edit/Copy Key Name and paste it in a newsgroup post for us to take a
look at?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Melton
What is a Microsoft MVP? http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/gp/mvpfaqs

Guides for the Office 2007 Interface:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/training/HA102295841033.aspx

 

[Nathan Hopper]

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Word\Data

 

[Beth Melton]

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Word\Data

Perhaps what you are missing is in the Registry the "folders" are called
keys and the "files" are called values. With that in mind, the key (folder)
you had selected when you copy/pasted is what you want to rename.

--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Melton
What is a Microsoft MVP? http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/gp/mvpfaqs

Guides for the Office 2007 Interface:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/training/HA102295841033.aspx

 

[Nathan Hopper]

Perhaps what you are missing is in the Registry the "folders" are called
keys and the "files" are called values. With that in mind, the key (folder)
you had selected when you copy/pasted is what you want to rename.

--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Melton
What is a Microsoft MVP? http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/gp/mvpfaqs

Guides for the Office 2007 Interface:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/training/HA102295841033.aspx


Do I want to rename it or delete it so it can be reinstalled? I deleted it and reopened word and that key was reinstalled in the registry, but it did not fix the problem

 

[Beth Melton]

As you likely found you can either rename or delete and Word will create a
new one. If the issue continues to occur then you've ruled out the
possibility of a corrupt Data key.

In reviewing this thread, there are a couple things I'm not clear on. 1) Is
this as specific file or all files? 2) Does the issue apply to Word 2007
*.dotx/*.dotm files or only Word 97-2003 (*.doc) files? 2) How you are
opening the files? Are you using the Open dialog box or double-clicking the
file from the Windows Explorer, such as Desktop, or from an email?

--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Melton
What is a Microsoft MVP? http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/gp/mvpfaqs

Guides for the Office 2007 Interface:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/training/HA102295841033.aspx

 

[Nathan Hopper]

As you likely found you can either rename or delete and Word will create a
new one. If the issue continues to occur then you've ruled out the
possibility of a corrupt Data key.

In reviewing this thread, there are a couple things I'm not clear on. 1) Is
this as specific file or all files? 2) Does the issue apply to Word 2007
*.dotx/*.dotm files or only Word 97-2003 (*.doc) files? 2) How you are
opening the files? Are you using the Open dialog box or double-clicking the
file from the Windows Explorer, such as Desktop, or from an email?

--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Melton
What is a Microsoft MVP? http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/gp/mvpfaqs

Guides for the Office 2007 Interface:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/training/HA102295841033.aspx


It is all .doc files that I try to open by double clicking from the desktop or file explorer. If I open word first and then use the open option from there it will open the file. I also tried to right click the file and choose the program to open the file type with and word is not an option from there. So I clicked the link to choose another program and select winword for the program but then it uses wordpad as the default program

 

[Terry Farrell]

Are there any COM Add-ins (bottom of the same dialog)?

Terry

 

[Beth Melton]

It is all .doc files that I try to open by double clicking from the desktop
or file explorer. If I open word first and then use the open option from
there it will open the file. I also tried to right click the file and
choose the program to open the file type with and word is not an option from
there. So I clicked the link to choose another program and select winword
for the program but then it uses wordpad as the default program

If running the winword /r command Terry gave you previously doesn't rectify
it then you may need to be a little more aggressive. Open the Windows
Explorer, such as My Computer, go to Tools/Folder Options and on the File
Types tab delete the file extension for Word 97-2003 (*.doc) files. Then go
to Start/Run and run the winword /r command again. Note there is a space
before the forward slash.

--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Melton
What is a Microsoft MVP? http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/gp/mvpfaqs

Guides for the Office 2007 Interface:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/training/HA102295841033.aspx

 

[TDesai]

Hi All,

From this log post you can see that there is no proven solution to this
issue (and many more MS related products). Pls try to reinstall MS Office
again. Thats it.

/td

 

[Terry Farrell]

That's crap. Where does anyone recommend reinstalling. Reinstalling is
nearly always a total waste of time and is rarely ever advised.

If you don't have a sensible solution to Nathan's problem, butt out.

Terry

 

[TDesai]

Hi Terry,

This thread/post was posted by me. And I resloved it. Reinstalling of MS
Office takes hardly 15-20 mins than doing R&D on this issue.

thx

 

[Terry Farrell]

I see looking back through to the very beginning that you are correct and
this was your original thread. The problem was your thread was hijacked by
someone else. I wish users would start their own thread and not hijack and
then the confusion wouldn't be avoided.

Terry

 

[Nathan Hopper]

It is all .doc files that I try to open by double clicking from the desktop
or file explorer. If I open word first and then use the open option from
there it will open the file. I also tried to right click the file and
choose the program to open the file type with and word is not an option from
there. So I clicked the link to choose another program and select winword
for the program but then it uses wordpad as the default program

If running the winword /r command Terry gave you previously doesn't rectify
it then you may need to be a little more aggressive. Open the Windows
Explorer, such as My Computer, go to Tools/Folder Options and on the File
Types tab delete the file extension for Word 97-2003 (*.doc) files. Then go
to Start/Run and run the winword /r command again. Note there is a space
before the forward slash.

--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Melton
What is a Microsoft MVP? http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/gp/mvpfaqs

Guides for the Office 2007 Interface:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/training/HA102295841033.aspx


Sorry to seem slow, but I am running windows vista and when I open windows explorer, there is no Tools menu. How would I get to this option in Vista?

 

[Nathan Hopper]

Well I apologize for "hijacking" a thread, it just seemed redundant and
stupid to start a new thread if I was having a similar issue. Also by woking
through it with two people with the same issue a resolution might be found
faster. Pardon me for not following proper etiquette.