Hi Ned:
OK, now we need to go on a hunt to see if we can narrow the issue down a bit
more.
First, go to the Apple menu, choose "About this Mac, and read the Version
number. Now, do the same for Word, from the Word menu, "About Word" and
again get the version number. We need to KNOW it's fully up-to-date before
we head off on a wild goose chase
Apple OS X should be at or above version 10.5.8, and Word should be at or
above 12.2.4. If they're not, apply the updates needed to bring them up
there.
Next, we need to eliminate the Normal Template and the Preferences from the
mix. The following procedure gives us a complete, standard default set.
These are files that are not on the CD, which is why reinstalling never
solves this issue.
1) Quit all Microsoft applications.
2) Track down all instances of pre-2008 Normal template on your computer,
and drag them to your desktop. The file is called simply "Normal" and has
no extension.
3) Find and delete the file Normal.dotm. Unless you have moved it, it
should be in
/Users/ ~ /Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Office/User Templates/
4) If the following files exist, Remove or rename them:
~/Library/Preferences/Microsoft/Word Settings (10)
~/Library/Preferences/Microsoft/Word Settings (11)
5) ~/Library/Preferences/com.Microsoft.Word.plist
6) ~/Library/Preferences/Microsoft/Office 2008 (the whole folder!)
7) Then Repair Permissions with Disk Utility.
8) Shut the computer down. Wait until the power goes off, wait 10 seconds,
then re-start. (This causes the operating system to fire some clean-up
routines we want.)
Be thorough with this, if you leave any of the old files behind Word 2008
will find them and won't replace them. Do it right and Word will construct
a new, clean, set of preferences.
Now, create a new blank document (not copying any other document). Save it
in one of your folders. Put some junk text in it in the following way:
Use Edit>Paste Special>Text only) to paste content in: we want to be sure we
don't grab any formatting from a possibly bad document.
Now save the document again, and try to add a hyperlink.
At some point in the whole involved process, you may get a strange
indication: more likely, everything will work fine up to this point.
Now try again with one of the documents that have been failing. We may have
solved the problem at this point. But chances are, we haven't, and that
won't work.
That means the older documents are corrupted and we need to Maggie each one.
The Maggie:
1. Create a new blank document
2. Carefully select all of the text in the bad document EXCEPT the last
paragraph mark
3. Copy it.
4. Paste in the new document.
5. Save under a new file name and close all, then re-open.
This technique for de-corrupting is known as "Doing a 'Maggie'", after
Margaret Secara from the TECHWR-L mailing list, who first publicised the
technique. It solves problems where the corruption is in the "object
store", a hidden part of the document below the last paragraph mark. Which
is why it is so important not to copy the last paragraph mark, otherwise you
will copy the problem.
Test the document: with luck, it will work now. If not, we need to think
harder... If it works, do it to each problem document.
Hope this helps
Hi John, thanks for your note and your interest. Here is more detail.
I have a group of about fifteen related Word documents. The two main documents
are in a folder (call it "Folder A") on my desktop. Most of the other Word
documents are all in one subfolder; a few are in a second subfolder. I also
have maybe 100 or so items in various formats jpeg, PDF, tiff, PowerPoint
organized in four other subfolders. All the subholders I just mentioned are in
Folder A.
The main documents are old can't recall now in which version of Word they
were created. They originated maybe 15 years ago and I've "saved as" many
many times to new names over the years. Today they are saved as Word 97-2004
documents, with .doc extensions. All of the other Word documents were created
(command N) within the past ten months or so, using my current operating
system and all are in Word 97-2004 format, with .doc extensions.
My current set up is: Word 2008, 12.2.4, running on OS X 10.5.8.
To insert links I¹ve been doing this:
First, I use the cursor to select text that will be clickable. Then in the nav
bar, I select Insert, then Hypertext Link. When the dialog box opens I click
on ³document² then select ³Select.² I then select the file I want to link to.
When the file name and path populate the Link To field, I click OK. In every
case, the hypertext link appears to be inserted (the selected text turns blue
and is underlined). Sometimes, the link works. Other times I get an error
message ³Microsoft Word can not link to this document.²
I have not had any trouble linking from the original Word documents to
anything and I have not been able to link from the newer Word documents to the
original Word documents.
I might have tried to create a link in a text box but for the most part what
I am talking about is Œnormal¹ text.
Example: some jpegs will not open in the new Word docs; others will. The jpegs
that will not open in the new Word docs will open in the old Word docs.
Working in documents formatted as Word 2008 docx does not make a difference.
Adding the links before saving the documents might help just started
experimenting with that.
Can¹t say specifically what updates I¹ve applied but I apply updates as I am
prompted to do so.
I don¹t know if this is significant: In one of the older Word documents and in
all of the new ones, when I select Edit from the nav bar and drop down,
³Links² is grayed out. But this does not seem to correlate to whether an
inserted link will work or not.
Please let me know if my description is unclear or if further detail would be
helpful.
Ned
This email is my business email -- Please do not email me about forum
matters unless you intend to pay!
