Hi,
The following KB article should help you troubleshoot/solve your problem
with Word.
WD2002: Troubleshooting Problems That Occur When You Start Word or When You
Work in Word
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;289634
SUMMARY
This article describes the steps you can take to correct problems that you
may experience when you start Microsoft Word or when you work in Word, that
are not document-specific issues.
NOTE: If you have problems with a document or template, the problems may be
related specifically to that document or template. Try to reproduce the
problems in a new document. If you can reproduce the problems in a new
document, try the steps described in the "More Information" section of this
article.
MORE INFORMATION
Start Word by Using the /a Switch
When you start Microsoft Word by using the /a switch, Word temporarily uses
the default built-in settings for all options and prevents add-ins,
preferences, customizations, and macros from being loaded.
NOTE: If you make changes to preferences, customizations, or macros during
this session of Word, the changes you made will be lost when you quit Word.
To start Word by using the /a switch, follow these steps:
Click Start and then click Run.
In the Run dialog box, do one of the following:
In the Open box, type winword.exe /a.
-or-
Follow these steps to browse and select the Winword.exe file:
Click Browse.
In the Browse dialog box, click to select Winword.exe, and then click Open.
This step fills in the Open box in the Run dialog box.
NOTE: The Winword.exe file is located in the following folder by default:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10
In the Open box, move the insertion point to the end of the path statement.
NOTE: The path to the Winword.exe file in the Run dialog box is enclosed in
quotation marks. Be sure to move the insertion point to the right of the
closing quotation mark.
Type a space, and then type /a. The statement in the Open box should look
similar to the following:
"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10\Winword.exe" /a
Click OK to close the Run dialog box and start Microsoft Word.
If starting Microsoft Word with the /a switch corrects the problem, remove
each of the components that are loaded during Word startup. Remove these
components one at a time and in the listed order.
NOTE: Microsoft Product Support Services has a Troubleshoot Utility
(included in the Support.dot file) that automates the process of removing
and restoring the following components that are loaded during Word startup.
Components that are loaded during the startup of Microsoft Word include the
following:
Word Auto Macros
Global Template (Normal.dot)
Add-ins (WLLs) and Templates in the Word and Office Startup Folders
COM Add-Ins
Word Data Key in the Windows Registry
Word Options Key in the Windows Registry
Word Auto Macros
Certain macros, called "auto" macros, run automatically when Word is
started. The following table lists these auto macros. To start Microsoft
Word without running the auto macros, hold the SHIFT key while starting
Word. To do this, click Start, point to Programs, hold the SHIFT key, and
then click Microsoft Word.
Macro Storage location Automatically Runs
AutoExec In the Normal template or in a global add-in When you start Word
AutoNew In a template When a new document that is based on the template is
created
AutoOpen In document or template When a document that is based on the
template or that contains the macro is opened
AutoClose In document or template When a document that is based on the
template or that contains the macro is closed
AutoExit In the Normal template or a global add-in When you quit Word
Word recognizes a macro with a name that begins with "Auto" as a macro that
automatically runs when the situation to which it applies occurs. You can
temporarily prevent an auto macro from running by holding SHIFT while
performing the action that causes the macro to run.
If the problem is resolved by holding SHIFT when you start Word, an auto
macro is the problem. To prevent this problem, follow these steps:
Start Word the way you normally do.
On the Tools menu, point to Macro, and then click Macros.
In the Macros dialog box, a list of macros may appear. If any macro listed
begins with "Auto", you may want to remove this macro.
To remove an auto macro, click to select the macro, and then click Delete.
NOTE: An auto macro could have been added by a Word add-in. To determine
what template contains the auto macro, change the Macros in box to a listed
template. After you determine which template contains the auto macro, you
may want to remove that template from your system. Removing a template that
was added by a Word add-in may disable the add-in's functionality.
Click Cancel to close the Macros dialog box.
On the File menu, click Exit to close Microsoft Word.
If the problem is resolved after you restart Word, the auto macro was the
problem.
Back to Components
Global Template (Normal.dot)
To prevent formatting, autotext, and macros that are stored in the global
template (Normal.dot) from affecting the behavior of Microsoft Word and
documents that are opened, rename your global template (Normal.dot).
Renaming allows you to quickly determine whether the global template is
causing the problem or behavior.
IMPORTANT: Renaming the Normal.dot template resets several options back to
the default settings, including custom styles, custom toolbars, macros, and
AutoText entries. For this reason, Microsoft strongly recommends that you
do not delete your Normal.dot file.
Certain kinds of configurations may create more than one Normal.dot file.
These situations include cases in which multiple versions of Word are
running on the same computer, or cases in which several workstation
installations exist on the same computer. In these situations, be sure to
rename the correct copy of Normal.dot.
To rename the Normal.dot file, follow these steps.
Microsoft Windows 98 or Microsoft Windows NT 4.0:
Quit all instances of Word, including Microsoft Outlook if Word is set as
your e-mail editor.
Click Start, point to Find, and then click Files or Folders.
In the Named box, type Normal.dot.
In the Look in box, select your local hard disk (or an alternate user
template location if you are running Word from a network server).
Click Find Now to search for the file.
For each occurrence of the Normal.dot file that appears in the Find
program, right-click the file. Click Rename on the shortcut menu that
appears. Give the file a new name, such as OldNormal.dot or Normal-1.dot,
and then press ENTER.
On the File menu, click Close to quit the Find dialog box, and then restart
Word normally (without using the /a switch).
-or-
Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Me) or Microsoft Windows 2000:
Quit all instances of Word, including Outlook if Word is set as your e-mail
editor.
Click Start, point to Search, and then click For Files or Folders.
In the Search for files or folders named box, type Normal.dot.
In the Look in box, select your local hard disk (or an alternate user
template location if you are running Word from a network server).
Click Search Now to search for the file.
For each occurrence of the Normal.dot file that appears in the Search
Results dialog box, right-click the file. Click Rename on the shortcut menu
that appears. Give the file a new name, such as OldNormal.dot or
Normal-1.dot, and then press ENTER.
On the File menu, click Close to quit the Search program, and then restart
Word normally (without using the /a switch).
Microsoft Windows XP:
Quit all instances of Word, including Outlook if Word is set as your e-mail
editor.
Click Start and then click Search.
Under What do you want to search for, click All files and folders.
In the All or part of the file name box, type Normal.dot.
In the Look in box, select your local hard disk (or an alternate user
template location if you are running Word from a network server).
Click Search to search for the file.
For each occurrence of the Normal.dot file that appears in the Search
Results dialog box, right-click the file. Click Rename on the shortcut menu
that appears. Give the file a new name, such as OldNormal.dot or
Normal-1.dot, and then press ENTER.
On the File menu, click Close to quit the Search Results program, and then
restart Word normally (without using the /a switch).
If Word starts correctly, you resolved the problem. In this case, the
problem is a damaged Normal.dot template. You may need to change a few
settings to restore your favorite options. If the Normal.dot file that you
renamed contains customizations, such as styles, macros, or AutoText
entries that cannot be easily re-created, you may be able to copy those
customizations from the old Normal.dot file to the new Normal.dot file by
using the Organizer.
For more information about using the Organizer, click Microsoft Word Help
on the Help menu, type Organizer in the Office Assistant or the Answer
Wizard, and then click Search to view the topics returned.
If the problem is not resolved, you may want to use your old global
template (Normal.dot) instead of the new global template. To use your old
Normal.dot template, rename the new Normal.dot template. Then rename your
file from step 6 back to Normal.dot.
Add-ins (WLLs) and Templates in the Word and Office Startup Folders
When you start Word, Word automatically loads templates and add-ins that
are located in the Startup folders. Errors in Word may be the result of
conflicts or problems with an add-in. To determine whether an item in a
Startup folder is causing the problem, you can temporarily empty the
folder.
Word loads items from the Office Startup folder and the Word Startup
folder. To remove items from the Startup folders, follow these steps:
Quit all instances of Word. If you use Word as your e-mail editor, be sure
to quit Outlook also.
On your Windows desktop, double-click My Computer, and then locate your
Office Startup folder. The default location is:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10\Startup
Drag each item from the Startup folder to the desktop. (Or create a folder
on your desktop and drag each item to this new folder.)
NOTE: To create a new folder on the desktop, right-click a blank area on
the desktop, point to New, and then click Folder.
Find the Word Startup folder, and then drag each item from the Startup
folder to the desktop. (Or create a folder on your desktop and drag each
item to this new folder.)
The default location for the Word Startup folder is:
On Windows 98 and Windows Millennium Edition (Me) without profiles enabled:
C:\Windows\Application Data\Microsoft\Word\Startup
On Windows 98 and Windows Me with profiles enabled or Windows NT 4.0:
C:\Windows\user name\Application Data\Microsoft\Word\Startup
On Windows 2000 or Windows XP:
C:\Documents and Settings\user name\Application Data\Microsoft\Word\Startup
Start Word.
If you can no longer reproduce the problem, and you removed multiple items
from the Startup folder or folders, you can attempt to isolate the problem
by adding the files back to the appropriate Startup folder, one by one. Try
to reproduce the problem after each addition to determine which file causes
the problem.
COM Add-Ins
COM add-ins can be installed in any location and are installed by programs
that interact with Word. To view the list of installed COM add-ins, follow
these steps:
On the Tools menu, click Customize.
Click the Commands tab.
In the Category list, click Tools.
Using the mouse, drag the COM Add-Ins command to a toolbar.
Click Close.
Click the new COM Add-Ins button to view the COM add-ins that are loaded
with Word.
If add-ins are listed in the COM Add-Ins dialog box, temporarily turn off
each of the add-ins. To do this, click to clear the check box for each
listed COM add-in, and then click OK. When you restart Word, Word starts
without loading the COM add-ins.
If the problem is resolved after you turn off the COM add-ins, one of the
listed COM add-ins is the cause of the problem. If you have multiple COM
add-ins listed, you may want to determine which one is causing the specific
problem by turning the COM add-ins back on, one at a time, and then
restarting Word.
Word Data Key in the Windows Registry
Because most of the frequently used options (click Options on the Tools
menu) and some printer information are stored in the Data key, one
troubleshooting step is to delete the Data key. Word then rebuilds this
Data key by using the default settings the next time that Word is started.
NOTE: Deleting the Data key resets several options back to the default
settings, including the most recently used file list on the File menu and
many settings that you customize in the Options dialog boxes.
WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious
problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft
cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using
Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.
To delete the Data key, follow these steps.
Quit all Microsoft Office programs.
Click Start, and then click Run.
In the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK.
Locate the following key in the Windows registry by expanding the
appropriate folders:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Word\Data
Click to select the Data folder.
On the Registry menu, click Export Registry File, type a file name, and
then click Save.
With the Data folder selected, click Delete on the Edit menu to delete the
Data key.
Click Yes to the following message:
Are you sure you want to delete this key?
On the File menu, click Exit to quit the Registry Editor.
Start Microsoft Word the way that you normally do. Do not use the /a switch
to start Word.
If Word starts correctly and functions correctly, you have resolved the
problem. The problem was a damaged Data key. You may need to change a few
settings to restore your favorite options in Microsoft Word.
If the problem is not resolved, quit Microsoft Word and then add the Data
key information back to your Windows registry. To do this, locate the Data
key that you exported in step 6, and double-click it. Click Yes to the
following message:
Are you sure you want to add the information in C:\path\filename.reg to the
registry?
Word Options Key in the Windows Registry
This key stores those options that you can set from Word, either by
changing menu options or by running the RegOptions macro. These are the
editable options.
The settings fall into two groups: default settings and optional settings.
Default settings are established during Setup, and you can change them by
modifying options in Word.
WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious
problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft
cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using
Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.
To delete the Options key, follow these steps:
Quit all Microsoft Office programs.
Click Start, and then click Run.
In the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK.
Locate the following key in the Windows registry by expanding the
appropriate folders:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Word\Options
Click to select the Options folder.
On the Registry menu, click Export Registry File, type a file name (for
example, type Options), and then click Save.
With the Options folder selected, click Delete on the Edit menu to delete
the Options key.
Click Yes to the following message:
Are you sure you want to delete this key?
On the File menu, click Exit to quit the Registry Editor.
Start Word the way you normally do. Do not use the /a switch to start Word.
If Word starts correctly and functions correctly, you have resolved the
problem. The problem was a damaged Options key. You may need to change a
few settings to restore your favorite options in Word.
If the problem is not resolved, quit Word and then add the Options key
information back to your Windows registry. To do this, locate the Options
key that you exported in step 6, and then double-click it. Click Yes to the
following message:
Are you sure you want to add the information in C:\<path>\filename.reg to
the registry?
Regards,
Subbu.
Subramanian .S
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
