Random Crashes

[Swordphsh]

I've been having random crashes of winword.exe. It started with version 2002,
so I tried upgrading to 2003 SP3, but the problem persisted. I completely
reinstalled Windows XP Pro SP3 with all updates to both Windows and Office,
although I did save the user profile. I did try running Word with a fresh
profile, but the crashes persisted.

I monitored winword.exe with Process Monitor, but I'm not sure what I'm
looking at (what could be causing the crash). If someone could please take a
look and let me know what you think. I've been working on this for two weeks
so far and cannot find a solution anywhere.

Below is a link to the Process Monitor PML file containing two crashes and
filtered to exclude "success" results and include only winword.exe. Crashes
happen around: 10:22:21 and 10:39:35. I have two other log files of the same
thing, if anyone thinks they would be of additional help.
http://myweb.bloomu.edu/jmk01021/Logfile.zip

One more thing, these appear in the Application log of event viewer:

10:22 -- Faulting application winword.exe, version 11.0.8307.0, stamp
49ee835a, faulting module winword.exe, version 11.0.8307.0, stamp 49ee835a,
debug? 0, fault address 0x00006969.
9:01 -- Faulting application winword.exe, version 11.0.8307.0, stamp
49ee835a, faulting module winword.exe, version 11.0.8307.0, stamp 49ee835a,
debug? 0, fault address 0x0007ea51.
8:38 -- Faulting application winword.exe, version 11.0.8307.0, stamp
49ee835a, faulting module winword.exe, version 11.0.8307.0, stamp 49ee835a,
debug? 0, fault address 0x00006969.
8:19 -- Faulting application winword.exe, version 11.0.8307.0, stamp
49ee835a, faulting module winword.exe, version 11.0.8307.0, stamp 49ee835a,
debug? 0, fault address 0x00034571.

Many thanks in advance. I hope someone can help me figure this thing out.

 

[Terry Farrell]

Random crashes could be due to a partially corrupt printer driver, ditto
normal.dot (presumably eliminated because you did a fresh install of the OS,
so started off with a new normal.dot) or an incompatible third party add-in.
Follow the hints in this FAQ:

http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/AppErrors/ProblemsStartingWord.htm

I suggest your first step will be to start Word in Safe Mode and test for
stability. From Start | Run (Winkey+R), type in

winword /a

and press enter. Test to see if it is stable now.

 

[Swordphsh]

Thanks for the quick reply. I've been through pretty much every
troubleshooting step I could find. As far as I know, there are no other
add-ins loaded into Word. The problem is on a client's computer who is a
transcriptionist and cannot work without user-made macros and
autocorrections, so safe mode is not a option. Sometimes Word will run for
hours before crashing, sometimes just minutes, and only when it is being
used. I did, however, to cover the theory of a corrupted Normal.dot file,
copy the macros, autotext, and toolbars into a new template as a new
Normal.dot

Nothing on the system changed prior to the start of the crashes and it had
been working perfectly fine for a few years before this.

Do you have any further steps of debugging the program to figure out what
it's doing when it crashes?
The problem only happens to Word, so I would assume there are no hardware
errors, correct? I did run a chkdsk and memory test just in case though; both
came up clean.

Thanks again,
Justin

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Safe Mode is just a diagnostic tool. If Word does not crash in Safe Mode,
then this points to problems with Normal.dot, the Registry, and add-in, or
the printer.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

Thanks for the quick reply. I've been through pretty much every
troubleshooting step I could find. As far as I know, there are no other
add-ins loaded into Word. The problem is on a client's computer who is a
transcriptionist and cannot work without user-made macros and
autocorrections, so safe mode is not a option. Sometimes Word will run for
hours before crashing, sometimes just minutes, and only when it is being
used. I did, however, to cover the theory of a corrupted Normal.dot file,
copy the macros, autotext, and toolbars into a new template as a new
Normal.dot

Nothing on the system changed prior to the start of the crashes and it had
been working perfectly fine for a few years before this.

Do you have any further steps of debugging the program to figure out what
it's doing when it crashes?
The problem only happens to Word, so I would assume there are no hardware
errors, correct? I did run a chkdsk and memory test just in case though;
both
came up clean.

Thanks again,
Justin

 

[Swordphsh]

I understand, but it is not possible to determine if the problem exists in
safe mode. Like I said, the crash is random and only happens while my client
is working. If she can not work (in safe mode), the program is not going to
crash. I'm sorry if I seem arrogant, but safe mode is just not an option. I
hope you understand.

 

[Terry Farrell]

That makes diagnostics a billion times harder. It could still be the printer
driver, an add-in or a hardware fault. There's just no way to narrow this
down.

Is this definitely totally random or can the user try to remember what has
been done immediately prior to the crash.

I know it won't help you, but Word 2003 is a pretty stable version and the
majority of problems are down to third party add-ins or a bad driver
(printer or graphics).

Terry

 

[Swordphsh]

I know it makes it really hard to diagnose, I've been working on it for two
weeks and am running out of ideas. I tried changing the default printer to
the Microsoft Office Image Writer (something like that), from an HP1006. When
you say bad video driver, what exactly do you mean?
I just don't understand why it decided, all of a sudden, to begin crashing.
Nothing on the system changed.
Also, the user does remember what she is doing when it crashes, but it is
never consistent. Sometimes it happens when a macro is run, sometimes an
autocorrect, or somethimes for not reason at all (just typing).

 

[Swordphsh]

If I were to debug the crash with ADPlus and the post the logs and dumps,
would anyone here be able to decipher them and get me on some sort of track
as to where the problem may exist?

 

[Terry Farrell]

I doubt that anyone here would be able to analyse it. You would probably
have to open a fault with Microsoft (chargeable).

This fault sounds so random and you seem to have eliminated many of the
common errors, it may be hardware. Is there anything in the Word Start-up or
Office Start-up folders? After that I suggest that you check you have the
latest graphics driver and then reinstall the graphics. If the fault still
persists, try running one of the system stress utilities to see if it can
find a hardware problem.

Terry