Microsoft Office for Mac

[Trecia Wouldes]

I have been using the Microsoft Office products for Mac for
approximately 4 months with great success, however, yesterday some
strange things have started to happen with these products on both my
desktop Mac and my Imac notebook. The main issue is that the
programmes shut themselves down automatically while you are working
and at other times the screen freezes and you only get the colour
wheel turning and the only way to continue is to force quite the
programme. This has been happening with both Entourage and Excel.
Anybody else experiencing these problems. I have installed any new
software or done anything to change my computer for sometime, so I
can't understand why I should suddenly have these problems.

 

[Diane]

I have been using the Microsoft Office products for Mac for
approximately 4 months with great success, however, yesterday some
strange things have started to happen with these products on both my
desktop Mac and my Imac notebook. The main issue is that the
programmes shut themselves down automatically while you are working
and at other times the screen freezes and you only get the colour
wheel turning and the only way to continue is to force quite the
programme. This has been happening with both Entourage and Excel.
Anybody else experiencing these problems. I have installed any new
software or done anything to change my computer for sometime, so I
can't understand why I should suddenly have these problems.

You aren't clear. Is the problem happening on both of your computers? If
that's the case then this makes your problem more baffling. Are you sharing
your Microsoft User Data folder? If you open the Activity Monitor, do you
see Entourage, Excel or the Microsoft Database daemon hung?

First some basics:

* Restart your Mac. This often fixes many problems.
* Running Repair Permissions is another standard tool used to repair
problems.
* If you shut down your computer overnight, you need to run the cron jobs
that Apple has set to run at 3AM. There are several applications to help
with this task. i.e. Macaroni, MacJanitor. Visit Version Tracker for
downloads.
* One of the first steps many troubleshooters take when experiencing issues
is to delete cache files and/or to check preference files for damage using a
tool such as Preferential Treatment.

Since you are reporting general problems with no real red flag, you need to
determine where the problem lies. Testing in a new User will quickly tell
you if the problem is system wide or if it's your User's folder that
contains the problem.

<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/troubleshoot/basics.html>

Let us know what you find.

 

[Trecia Wouldes]

You aren't clear. Is the problem happening on both of your computers? If
that's the case then this makes your problem more baffling. Are you sharing
your Microsoft User Data folder? If you open the Activity Monitor, do you
see Entourage, Excel or the Microsoft Database daemon hung?

First some basics:

* Restart your Mac. This often fixes many problems.
* Running Repair Permissions is another standard tool used to repair
problems.
* If you shut down your computer overnight, you need to run the cron jobs
that Apple has set to run at 3AM. There are several applications to help
with this task. i.e. Macaroni, MacJanitor. Visit Version Tracker for
downloads.
* One of the first steps many troubleshooters take when experiencing issues
is to delete cache files and/or to check preference files for damage using a
tool such as Preferential Treatment.

Since you are reporting general problems with no real red flag, you need to
determine where the problem lies. Testing in a new User will quickly tell
you if the problem is system wide or if it's your User's folder that
contains the problem.

<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/troubleshoot/basics.html>

Let us know what you find.

I tried everything you suggested with the result that things became
more unstable, random problems occurred programs wouldn't start or
they would start and then shut down the only error message suggested
shared folder problem. Right now screen is frozen with start up
window and dial up just chugging away. My computer is only 4 months
old, do I need to send it back to Mac. I am a new convert to MAC a
life long PC operator, so very frustrated.

 

[Diane]

I tried everything you suggested with the result that things became
more unstable, random problems occurred programs wouldn't start or
they would start and then shut down the only error message suggested
shared folder problem. Right now screen is frozen with start up
window and dial up just chugging away. My computer is only 4 months
old, do I need to send it back to Mac. I am a new convert to MAC a
life long PC operator, so very frustrated.

It's not your Mac, it's most likely some base files that need attention.
Hold shift key down when starting up and that will bypass any startup items
that might be causing you problems. See troubleshooting basics:

<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/troubleshoot/basics.html>

Let's first determine where to start looking for your problem(s).

Testing in a new User will quickly tell you if the problem is system wide or
if it's your User's folder that contains the problem. Follow the steps here:

<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/troubleshoot/test_new_user.html>

If your problems exist in a new User, then I would do an "Archive & Install"
to get your system back to good running order.

Archive and Install

General advice on performing an Archive and Install

<http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/archiveinstall.html>

Make sure to choose the options to maintain your user settings. Once the
install has finished, your system will be at whatever level the disk you
have is. So if your Install DVD/CD disk is 10.3.3, that's what version of OS
will be on your Mac. You will need to download the appropriate Combo Updater
from Apple's site to restore the system to a higher version. After you run
the combo, allow Software Update to download and install any additional
updates.

Combo updaters will install on the same version as they¹re applying‹no need
to roll back or do a clean install.

Mac OS X 10.4.10 Combo Update (PPC)
<http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/apple/macosx_updates/macosx10410combo
updateppc.html>

Mac OS X 10.4.10 Combo Update (Intel)

<http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/apple/macosx_updates/macosx10410combo
updatev11intel.html>

I would also use "Remove Office" found in Additional Tools and on the
install CD for Office to remove Office then update.

Mactopia Downloads
<http://www.microsoft.com/mac/downloads.aspx>

You need to get these updaters:

11.3.5 combo
11.3.6 requires 11.3.5 to be installed
11.3.7 requires 11.3.6 to be installed
11.3.8 requires 11.3.7 to be installed

Our goal is to get you a stable install of the OS and Office.