Remove Hidden Data tool will not install

[Beth Melton]

What menu items do you have?

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/

 

[Felix]

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Exit

 

[Beth Melton]

Thanks for the additional information, Felix. It looks like you just
have the standard menu items.

I've also found that others are unable to reproduce the issue I
encountered so what I came up with is close but not the exact problem.
I'm still digging into this - I'm not sure how long it will take to
find the answer but now that I'm able to reproduce the issue I may be
able to find the cause. Could take some time though but I'll report
any findings on this thread.

--
Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email can not be acknowledged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/

 

[Felix]

Thanks, please keep me posted.
Felix

Thanks for the additional information, Felix. It looks like you just
have the standard menu items.

I've also found that others are unable to reproduce the issue I
encountered so what I came up with is close but not the exact problem.
I'm still digging into this - I'm not sure how long it will take to
find the answer but now that I'm able to reproduce the issue I may be
able to find the cause. Could take some time though but I'll report
any findings on this thread.

--
Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email can not be acknowledged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/

 

[Allan]

There is a long chain of responses to this initial message. I'm having
exactly the same issue, but I don't see a resolution. (Windows SP2, Office
2003, newest edition of RHD). Installation worked on my laptop, but not on
my desktop. Any new learning on this?

 

[Felix]

I am still waiting for a suggestion... I uninstalled the add-in until this
problem is solved...

 

[saugatak]

Here's my situation:

2 desktops with virtually identical hardware running Windows XP SP2 and
Office 2003 SP1 with all the latest patches.

On desktop A, the remove hidden data tool installs perfectly and runs
in Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

On desktop B, the remove hidden data tool installs perfectly and runs
in Excel and PowerPoint but not Word.

Both desktops use 3rd party apps that add a command between the "Save
As Web Page" and "File Search" commands on the File menu, so I don't
think that's the problem, as speculated by MVP Beth.

The only difference that I see between desktop A and desktop B that
could account for the remove hidden data tool working on A and not
working on B is this:

Somehow, desktop B has Asian fonts enabled on the normal.dot template
(specifically the Korean font Batang). I collaborated on a document
with someone from Korea using desktop B and somehow the Batang font got
into desktop B.

Could Asian or other non-English fonts be the source of the conflict?

Is this thread still active?

 

[saugatak]

I wonder if anyone is still reading this thread?

I believe I figured out the problem and a "hack" solution.

Beth Melton is correct. The Remove Hidden Data Tool wants to install
itself between "Save As Web Page" and "File Search."

If you have another command/macro in that spot because of a 3rd party
app (in my case, TimeMatters), then there is a conflict and you get
that silly error message.

In my case, although TimeMatters (and its macro) is installed on both
Desktop A and B, for some reason on Desktop A, the remove hidden data
tool installed correctly on A and placed the "Remove Hidden Data"
command on the File menu UNDER the "File Search" command.

All I did to solve the problem was copy the "RHD.DOT" from Desktop A
and put it into the appropriate folder into Desktop B.

Voila, it worked! Why it installed one way on Desktop A but not on
Desktop B is beyond me. I do have more apps and background processes
on Desktop B, so maybe there was a conflict, but who knows?

I tried to attach my copy of "RHD.DOT" (which puts the "Remove Hidden
Data" under the "File Search" command and avoids the conflict described
above), but this website won't let me.

If someone could let me know how I can post a copy of the RHD.DOT "fix"
for the rest of you, I'd appreciate it.

 

[Felix]

I am dying to get a solution to this!!

I don't have a 3rd pty app in those positions, so I think I will need a copy
of you .dot file and sub that into mine... can you email me the file to my
email at (e-mail address removed)?

Ill try it and see if it works? In what file directory should I put it, and
should I do it after I install the add-in, or before?

Thanks,
Felix

 

[duncan21]

We are seeing this problem here at my company and I've been tasked with
doing research on it. From what I can tell, it is profile-specific as I
can create a new profile and not have this issue. Alas, while creating a
new profile seems to solve it, I hate doing it -- so I decided to try
digging a little more.

Here is what worked for me:

1. Close *Word *and uninstall the *Remove Hidden Data Tool* from
*Add/Remove Programs*.
2. Delete *all temporary files created by Word*, which should all
follow a *~$filename.doc* pattern. I used the -Windows Search- feature
and used a wildcard to find all the files (i.e. *~$*.doc*).
3. Delete all *normal.dot* files. Once again, use the -Windows Search-
feature.
4. Empty the *Recycle Bin*.
5. Open *Word*. From the *View* menu, select *Toolbars*, then
*Customize*.
6. Under the *Toolbars* tab, reset any toolbars that are checked. Some
may not allow you to reset them, but that's OK.
7. Under the *Options* tab, click the *Reset menu and toolbar usage
data* button. When asked if you are sure you want to do this, click the
*Yes* button, then close the *Customize* window.
8. Close *Word*, then re-install the *Remove Hidden Data Tool*.

You may not need all of the steps outlined above (specifically steps 2,
3 and 4), but since I haven't tested the fix without these steps, I
figured I'd include them. Steps 1 and 8 have to be performed with an
account with administrative privileges, but steps 2 through 7 should be
performed under the profile of the person actually having the issue. If
the account having the issue has administrative rights, then you're all
set to fix the problem in one sitting.

Please let me know if this works!

Ryan Tovar
-A+ Certified Technician
Microsoft Certified Desktop Support Technician
All-Around Swell Guy-

 

[Ken664]

I'm very interested in this workaround. About a year ago I lost use of
RHD after previously using it a lot.

Microsoft fixed this for me (for free) but it entailed about 3 hrs of
my time, long discussions with their techs and reinstalling Word and
then all its subsequent updates after resetting various system
parameters. A huge undertaking I wasn't prepared to undergo again -
however, a total system crash after a round of updates last month (now
there's another story!) has left RHD disconnected and non-functional
again.

This fix seems easier than the previous undertaking so am about to have
ago.

Thanks for the advice and hope it works.

Ken

 

[duncan21]

Ken664,

When you say it didn't work, are you referring to the outlined steps,
the creation of the new profile, or both?

-Ryan Tovar
A+ Certified Technician
Microsoft Certified Desktop Support Technician
All-Around Swell Guy-

 

[Ken664]

Hi

I followed the steps as outlined (3 times in total, in fact, just
testing myself in case I had fouled up on an earlier step at some
point), but didn't need to recreate a profile as I am the admin
profile, being a single user.

I'd be pleased to try anything that might work (beyond the interminable
MS solution) if you have any other suggestions. Thanks for your
continuing interest.

Ken

 

[Ken664]

Eureka - here is the solution everyone, and no reinstalls or new
profiles at all, and like everything, it is so simple (but missed by MS
and my work IT technicians)!

Stumbled on this when fixing a similar loss of Acrobat PDF maker in my
work laptop (fixes that problem too).

It seems to have come about because of Word running in 'safe mode' (at
some point - who knows why). This disables any add-in modules. But
when you restart Word normally, they are not re-enabled automatically
- it has to be done manually.

Solution in 10 clicks :
Open Word
Click 'Help'
Click 'About MS Word'
Click 'Disabled items'
Select RHD tool reference
Click' Enable'
Click 'Close'
Click 'OK'
Close Word
Restart Word .... sorted.

Don't applaud, just throw money!

Ken

 

[duncan21]

Ken664,

I had another user come to me with the Remove Hidden Data Tool error
today. I followed your instructions and checked the Disabled Items from
within Word, but there was nothing listed as disabled. I tried the
instructions from my previous post about resetting the toolbars and
such (which had worked before) -- no luck there, either. Out of
frustration, I resorted to creating a new profile and migrating the
data from the old to the new one (Desktop items, My Document items, IE
Favorites, etc) and this finally fixed the issue.

I want to say that the root cause definitely lies within the profile;
however, I don't think anyone has come up with a "magic bullet"
solution that takes care of the issue 100% of the time with a scalpel
instead of a broadsword (i.e. creating the new profile).

 

[Warren]

I did both duncan21's fix and Ken664's fix but neither one worked. Checked
both over several times. Anything else to try? (I'm not going to reinstall
Office, so I guess I'll probably end up doing without the Remove Hidden Data
tool.)

 

[Warren]

I went back to duncan21's fix again to double check the steps. It seems that
I didn't delete one of the normal.dot files. I redid everything, followed his
steps and now the Remove tool works.

 

[jlyatesjr]

Hello, I had to do the above steps twice before it took hold but it did
work.
Thanks!!

-----------
Eureka - here is the solution everyone, and no reinstalls or new
profiles at all, and like everything, it is so simple (but missed by
MS
and my work IT technicians)!

Stumbled on this when fixing a similar loss of Acrobat PDF maker in my
work laptop (fixes that problem too).

It seems to have come about because of Word running in 'safe mode' (at
some point - who knows why). This disables any add-in modules. But
when you restart Word normally, they are not re-enabled automatically
- it has to be done manually.

Solution in 10 clicks :
Open Word
Click 'Help'
Click 'About MS Word'
Click 'Disabled items'
Select RHD tool reference
Click' Enable'
Click 'Close'
Click 'OK'
Close Word
Restart Word .... sorted.

Don't applaud, just throw money!

Ken