Word 2000 Error

[express]

Sometimes when I'm working a message pops up about saving global templates. I
usually ignore them and click whichever button will close it as I did last
evening.
I cannot open any word documents!
A bit of research today informeds me about looking for files called
normal.dot but there are none.
I can open a document only if i run winword.exe /a.
A lot of the stuff I'm reading about this problem scares me.
Does vanyone know of a simple fix?
Can I remove word and then reinstall?
Will I lose my documents?

 

[Jezebel]

First, you're not going to lose your documents.

Second, if it's Word 2000, there IS a file called normal.dot on your
computer. It's sometimes hard to find because the default location is in a
hidden folder. It's the same folder that contains any other templates you've
created (usually MyDocuments\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates). Make
sure 'Show hidden files and folders' is checked in the Windows Explorer
folder options.

If you can start Word using winword /a but not otherwise, then the problem
is either in normal.dot or in an add-in. By the sounds of it, normal.dot is
the more likely. Find this file and rename it to normalold.dot. Then restart
Word.

Reinstalling Word won't help.

In future, if you get messages about saving changes to normal.dot, take them
seriously. It's not necessarily a bad thing (and might be entirely unrelated
to your current problem); but you shouldn't ignore it.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

And see http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/AppErrors/ProbsOpeningWord.htm