R
Robin
I went to start / run and typed winword.exe /safe
G
garfield-n-odie
To quote Word help:
About Office Safe Mode
Microsoft Office Safe Mode allows you to safely use an Office program
that has encountered certain startup problems. When a problem is
detected at startup, Office either fixes the problem or isolates it,
allowing the program to start successfully.
Automated safe mode
During startup, Office checks for problems such as an add-in or
extension that won't start, or a corrupted resource, file, registry, or
template. A message is displayed the next time the program is started,
identifying the problem and asking if you want to disable the part of
the program that has a problem.
A list of disabled items is accessible through the Disabled Items dialog
box (About Microsoft <program>, Help menu). You can use this dialog box
to enable the listed items. Enabling some items may require you to
reload or reinstall an add-in program or reopen a file. Enabling an item
does not necessarily fix the root problem; an item that you enable may
be placed back on the disabled list the next time you start the program.
User-initiated safe mode
You can open any Office program in Office Safe Mode by pressing CTRL
while you start the program or by using the /safe option when you start
the program from the command line.
The following restrictions apply when you open a program in
user-initiated Office Safe Mode. (Some items listed below do not apply
to all Office programs.)
• No templates can be saved.
• In Microsoft FrontPage, the last used Web site is not opened.
• The Office Assistant is not automatically displayed.
• Toolbar or command bar customizations are not loaded and
customizations cannot be saved.
• The AutoCorrect list is not loaded and changes are not saved.
• Recovered documents are not automatically opened.
• Smart tags are not loaded and new tags cannot be saved.
• All command line options are ignored except "/a" and "/n".
• Files cannot be saved to the Alternate Startup Directory.
• Preferences cannot be saved.
• Additional features and programs will not automatically load.
About Office Safe Mode
Microsoft Office Safe Mode allows you to safely use an Office program
that has encountered certain startup problems. When a problem is
detected at startup, Office either fixes the problem or isolates it,
allowing the program to start successfully.
Automated safe mode
During startup, Office checks for problems such as an add-in or
extension that won't start, or a corrupted resource, file, registry, or
template. A message is displayed the next time the program is started,
identifying the problem and asking if you want to disable the part of
the program that has a problem.
A list of disabled items is accessible through the Disabled Items dialog
box (About Microsoft <program>, Help menu). You can use this dialog box
to enable the listed items. Enabling some items may require you to
reload or reinstall an add-in program or reopen a file. Enabling an item
does not necessarily fix the root problem; an item that you enable may
be placed back on the disabled list the next time you start the program.
User-initiated safe mode
You can open any Office program in Office Safe Mode by pressing CTRL
while you start the program or by using the /safe option when you start
the program from the command line.
The following restrictions apply when you open a program in
user-initiated Office Safe Mode. (Some items listed below do not apply
to all Office programs.)
• No templates can be saved.
• In Microsoft FrontPage, the last used Web site is not opened.
• The Office Assistant is not automatically displayed.
• Toolbar or command bar customizations are not loaded and
customizations cannot be saved.
• The AutoCorrect list is not loaded and changes are not saved.
• Recovered documents are not automatically opened.
• Smart tags are not loaded and new tags cannot be saved.
• All command line options are ignored except "/a" and "/n".
• Files cannot be saved to the Alternate Startup Directory.
• Preferences cannot be saved.
• Additional features and programs will not automatically load.
B
Beth Melton
Hi Robin,
If you want to know exactly what happens when you start Word using the
/safe switch or hold Ctrl while starting Word, this is a
troubleshooting device that loads Word using the defaults. It
by-passes personal/custom data such as:
- Your Normal template
- Personal settings stored in the Registry under the Office branch
- Global templates/add-ins
For example if you are unable to start Word then using Safe Mode is
something you can try to rule out problems with the Word installation.
However if you are encountering errors starting Word we recommend
using the /a switch rather than the /safe switch.
Essentially they are the same but the /safe switch also by-passes
Document Recovery, your custom AutoCorrect file, and doesn't create a
new document.
The biggest difference between he two is when it comes to
troubleshooting the /safe switch suppresses too much information from
the user interface and makes troubleshooting a little more difficult.
For example if you want to view the list of global templates that
normally load when Word starts (under Tools/Templates and Add-ins)
when starting Word using the /safe switch the list is suppressed.
However this does not occur when starting Word using the /a switch.
Considering add-ins are a primary cause for problems starting Word the
ability to view the list is important.
--
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/
If you want to know exactly what happens when you start Word using the
/safe switch or hold Ctrl while starting Word, this is a
troubleshooting device that loads Word using the defaults. It
by-passes personal/custom data such as:
- Your Normal template
- Personal settings stored in the Registry under the Office branch
- Global templates/add-ins
For example if you are unable to start Word then using Safe Mode is
something you can try to rule out problems with the Word installation.
However if you are encountering errors starting Word we recommend
using the /a switch rather than the /safe switch.
Essentially they are the same but the /safe switch also by-passes
Document Recovery, your custom AutoCorrect file, and doesn't create a
new document.
The biggest difference between he two is when it comes to
troubleshooting the /safe switch suppresses too much information from
the user interface and makes troubleshooting a little more difficult.
For example if you want to view the list of global templates that
normally load when Word starts (under Tools/Templates and Add-ins)
when starting Word using the /safe switch the list is suppressed.
However this does not occur when starting Word using the /a switch.
Considering add-ins are a primary cause for problems starting Word the
ability to view the list is important.
--
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/