K
k.c.s.
Symptoms:
1) The common fixes from the past do not resolve this problem on Windows 7
64-bit.
2) When you open an existing Word document you are able to use the mouse as
usual to move the insertion point cursor to different sections of the
document, to select objects (like pictures) within the document, and to
highlight existing text as expected. As soon as you type anything new
anywhere in the document the mouse can no longer be used to move the
insertion point to another location in the document nor can it select text or
objects. The arrow and shift keys still allow you to move around the
document and select objects.
3) When you create a new document you are able to type normally and use the
Enter key to add text to the Word document. As soon as you type anything in
the document the mouse can no longer be used to move the insertion point to
another location in the document nor can it select text or objects. The
arrow and shift keys still allow you to move around the document and select
objects.
4) You CAN use the mouse to select Word menus and buttons on the ribbon bar
but you cannot use the mouse on or inside the Word document itself once the
condition occurs after typing begins. The mouse works fine and as expected
in Excel and every other application.
5) As soon as ANY open Word document is impacted by the "mouse stopped
working" problem, all other open Word documents can't use the mouse either
until Word is closed and you start the tests over again.
Solutions that did not work for me:
Similar symptoms have been reported by others using Word 2007 and 2003 on
Windows 7, Vista, and XP but I have not found an acceptable solution to this
problem with this system configuration. It seems related to some kind of UAC
or permission problem or is 64-bit specific but I am not certain.
I have already tried the following:
- Rerun Office Suite 2007 SP2 to confirm it was installed.
- Tried (twice) to rename the original,
"HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Word\Data" registry key as
suggested in these posts. The new Data key gets created by Word and new
values are added to the registry key but problem remains.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/921541
http://www.microsoft.com/office/com...8e5f&mid=16025683-dff2-4ad9-9fc7-0144fee5f43c
http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en/vistawu/thread/c64e9c05-2bc4-4837-aec1-fb675120403b
- Other posts out there blame various Word Add-ins for the problem and have
had success disabling or removing them.
http://www.itwriting.com/blog/140-annoying-word-2007-problem-cant-select-text.html
I only had 3 Add-ins showing as active, all from Microsoft. Two Visual
Studio Tools for Office COM Add-ins and one Smart Tag "Person Name" add in.
I ran Word as admin so I could disable both of the COM Add-ins. I renamed
the FNAME.DLL file so the "Person Name" Add-in would not load because the
Word GUI had all Smart Tag options dimmed and wouldn't let me uncheck that
Add-in from the UI. I restarted Win, launched Word, and it showed no Active
Application or Document Related Add-ins. No luck, mouse problem still
present with all Add-ins removed.
Bad Workaround:
- The only way I have found to USUALLY get the mouse to behave as expected
and eliminate the problems described here is to force Word to "Run this
program as administratorâ€. I opened the properties of the "Microsoft Office
Word 2007" shortcut in the start menu, chose Compatibility tab, and chose
that option under privilege level. Without running Word as administrator I
have been unable to eliminate these mouse problems.
- Once you force Word to Run as admin, you now get the annoying warning
prompt from Windows that asks you if it is okay to run as admin every time
you start Word. This would be an almost tolerable workaround if all you ever
did was create brand new Word documents. If you want to work on an existing
Word document this solution isn't a good one, here is why:
1) If you want to open an existing Word document from either the Windows 7
recent jump list menu or by double-clicking a Word doc file, the delay caused
by the UAC prompt every time you start Word generates an error of, "There was
a problem sending the command to the program.", and the document you wanted
to open is not loaded into Word. You get the Word shell launched with no
document. The only way to open an existing document while running as admin
and getting the UAC prompt is to launch Word with no document or a new blank
document and then manually open the existing document you really wanted via
the Word menus.
2) As a temporary option I tried to disable User Account Control (UAC)
completely by telling it to NEVER notify me about anything. You would think
that this would allow you to run Word as admin without the delay caused by
the UAC prompt and then Word would open existing documents from the taskbar
or by double-clicking as desired. I did the required restart after disabling
UAC and confirmed that Word was still set to "run as admin". To my surprise,
when UAC is totally disabled and no longer prompts you for permission each
time you launch Word, the "run as admin" trick STOPS working. The existing
documents now load from the taskbar or by double-clicking as desired because
the UAC prompt delay is gone BUT the mouse problems come back!
3) I have no idea why "run as admin" ONLY works if UAC prompts you for
permission first and does NOT work if you tell it not to prompt you but that
is what is happening on my system. I am still looking for a better solution.
Anyone have any ideas?
System Info:
Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit, RTM Version 6.1.7600
ThinkPad T61p (Lenovo) Laptop, 4GB RAM
Word 2007 (12.0.6504.5000) SP2 MSO (12.0.6425.1000) Part of Office Ultimate
2007.
Patched with all recommended updates for Windows/Office through
Windows/Microsoft Update as of this post date.
1) The common fixes from the past do not resolve this problem on Windows 7
64-bit.
2) When you open an existing Word document you are able to use the mouse as
usual to move the insertion point cursor to different sections of the
document, to select objects (like pictures) within the document, and to
highlight existing text as expected. As soon as you type anything new
anywhere in the document the mouse can no longer be used to move the
insertion point to another location in the document nor can it select text or
objects. The arrow and shift keys still allow you to move around the
document and select objects.
3) When you create a new document you are able to type normally and use the
Enter key to add text to the Word document. As soon as you type anything in
the document the mouse can no longer be used to move the insertion point to
another location in the document nor can it select text or objects. The
arrow and shift keys still allow you to move around the document and select
objects.
4) You CAN use the mouse to select Word menus and buttons on the ribbon bar
but you cannot use the mouse on or inside the Word document itself once the
condition occurs after typing begins. The mouse works fine and as expected
in Excel and every other application.
5) As soon as ANY open Word document is impacted by the "mouse stopped
working" problem, all other open Word documents can't use the mouse either
until Word is closed and you start the tests over again.
Solutions that did not work for me:
Similar symptoms have been reported by others using Word 2007 and 2003 on
Windows 7, Vista, and XP but I have not found an acceptable solution to this
problem with this system configuration. It seems related to some kind of UAC
or permission problem or is 64-bit specific but I am not certain.
I have already tried the following:
- Rerun Office Suite 2007 SP2 to confirm it was installed.
- Tried (twice) to rename the original,
"HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Word\Data" registry key as
suggested in these posts. The new Data key gets created by Word and new
values are added to the registry key but problem remains.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/921541
http://www.microsoft.com/office/com...8e5f&mid=16025683-dff2-4ad9-9fc7-0144fee5f43c
http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en/vistawu/thread/c64e9c05-2bc4-4837-aec1-fb675120403b
- Other posts out there blame various Word Add-ins for the problem and have
had success disabling or removing them.
http://www.itwriting.com/blog/140-annoying-word-2007-problem-cant-select-text.html
I only had 3 Add-ins showing as active, all from Microsoft. Two Visual
Studio Tools for Office COM Add-ins and one Smart Tag "Person Name" add in.
I ran Word as admin so I could disable both of the COM Add-ins. I renamed
the FNAME.DLL file so the "Person Name" Add-in would not load because the
Word GUI had all Smart Tag options dimmed and wouldn't let me uncheck that
Add-in from the UI. I restarted Win, launched Word, and it showed no Active
Application or Document Related Add-ins. No luck, mouse problem still
present with all Add-ins removed.
Bad Workaround:
- The only way I have found to USUALLY get the mouse to behave as expected
and eliminate the problems described here is to force Word to "Run this
program as administratorâ€. I opened the properties of the "Microsoft Office
Word 2007" shortcut in the start menu, chose Compatibility tab, and chose
that option under privilege level. Without running Word as administrator I
have been unable to eliminate these mouse problems.
- Once you force Word to Run as admin, you now get the annoying warning
prompt from Windows that asks you if it is okay to run as admin every time
you start Word. This would be an almost tolerable workaround if all you ever
did was create brand new Word documents. If you want to work on an existing
Word document this solution isn't a good one, here is why:
1) If you want to open an existing Word document from either the Windows 7
recent jump list menu or by double-clicking a Word doc file, the delay caused
by the UAC prompt every time you start Word generates an error of, "There was
a problem sending the command to the program.", and the document you wanted
to open is not loaded into Word. You get the Word shell launched with no
document. The only way to open an existing document while running as admin
and getting the UAC prompt is to launch Word with no document or a new blank
document and then manually open the existing document you really wanted via
the Word menus.
2) As a temporary option I tried to disable User Account Control (UAC)
completely by telling it to NEVER notify me about anything. You would think
that this would allow you to run Word as admin without the delay caused by
the UAC prompt and then Word would open existing documents from the taskbar
or by double-clicking as desired. I did the required restart after disabling
UAC and confirmed that Word was still set to "run as admin". To my surprise,
when UAC is totally disabled and no longer prompts you for permission each
time you launch Word, the "run as admin" trick STOPS working. The existing
documents now load from the taskbar or by double-clicking as desired because
the UAC prompt delay is gone BUT the mouse problems come back!
3) I have no idea why "run as admin" ONLY works if UAC prompts you for
permission first and does NOT work if you tell it not to prompt you but that
is what is happening on my system. I am still looking for a better solution.
Anyone have any ideas?
System Info:
Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit, RTM Version 6.1.7600
ThinkPad T61p (Lenovo) Laptop, 4GB RAM
Word 2007 (12.0.6504.5000) SP2 MSO (12.0.6425.1000) Part of Office Ultimate
2007.
Patched with all recommended updates for Windows/Office through
Windows/Microsoft Update as of this post date.