Word 2000 Stops Responding at Startup

A

Aquaboy

I recently had a hard drive problem, so I got a new hard drive and installed
Office 2000 onto the new hard drive with Windows XP. All other MS Office
programs work except MS Word, which freezes with the MS Word 2000 box & logo
and a grey background.

I have already tried everything mentioned here:
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/AppErrors/ProbsOpeningWord.htm

In fact, I don't have a "Normal.dot" file in the Templates folder. I even
tried copying and pasting one from my other computer, (which has a
functioning MS Word 2000), but to no avail. I also fidgeted with the registry
key, but that didn't work. My printer drivers are properly installed.

I even reinstalled Word, "repaired" Word, restarted my computer...nothing
seems to work.

I've been trying to determine the difference between my other computer, and
this one (with the new hard drive), but I haven't been able to determine the
difference that could possibly be causing this error.

Any ideas?
 
A

Aquaboy

I forgot to mention this, but I should add that:

I went to Start -> Run -> WINWORD.EXE /a

and Word loaded fine, but nonetheless, there is no "Normal.dot" file for me
to delete, (I'm aware that it's a hidden file), and I found no files in the
Startup folder for Word. Just to clarify, I'm assuming that the "Startup"
folder is located in:
C:/Documents and Settings/<User Name>/Application Data/Microsoft/Word/Startup
 
T

Terry Farrell

Word won't create a normal.dot until you have made a change to the Word
installation that requires a normal.dot to save the change. But this may be
something really simple. Have you installed a local printer driver and set
it as Windows default?
 
A

Aquaboy

Let me see...

I went to Start -> Control Panel -> Printers and Other Hardware -> Printers
and Faxes.

There are 3 "printers" listed:
(1) HP Photosmart 2570 Series
(2) HP Remote Printers
(3) Microsoft XPS Document Writer

and there's a checkmark next to "HP Photosmart 2570 Series," which, I
suppose, is the local printer driver that I recently installed. So does that
mean that it's my default?
 
A

Aquaboy

So would it be safe to assume that this is not an issue with the local
printer driver? In which case, what next steps should I take to remedy the
situation?
 
T

Terry Farrell

Well possibly it may just be the HP printer driver. There has been some bad
experiences with HP drivers. Try installing another printer driver for
testing. If you use the Add Printer dialog, you can select the Windows
Generic printer which will suffice to see if it is the printer driver. Make
sure to make it the Windows default when you install it for testing.

Terry
 
A

Aquaboy

I'm not too sure how to add a "Windows Generic Printer." Don't I need an
actual, physical printer to "add a printer"?

I did try to set the other printers as defaults, but the error persists.

I was just wondering...I just realized that I never installed Microsoft
Works 8.5 onto my other computer, but I did install it onto this computer.
Would it be possible that something about Microsoft Works 8.5 is interfering
with Microsoft Word 2000? After all, Microsoft Works does have certain
templates...could they be interfering with something associated with MS Word,
maybe?
 
S

Suzanne S. Barnhill

You can install the driver for any printer you like. Pick the one you're
likely to print from if you take a document somewhere to be printed. You
don't have to be connected to the printer.
 
A

Aquaboy

Ok, I added a "Generic/Text Only" Printer, and set it as a default, but
Microsoft Word still stops responding at startup. Was this the printer you
wanted me to try?

I also tried uninstalling the HP Printer(s), and restarted my computer, but
MS Word still didn't start properly. (I have since completely reinstalled the
HP Printer). My HP software is also completely up to date, so it's not like
there are any updates provided by HP that would remedy the situation.

One of the reasons why I doubt that HP drivers are conflicting with MS Word
is because on my old hard drive, (the one that broke down and prompted a
replacement), I installed the same HP software and drivers for the exact same
printer, and the exact same version of Microsoft Word (2000), and MS Word
worked fine from beginning to end.

As I suggested before, do you think it could be other software such as
Microsoft Works 8.5, which could be interfering with something associated
with Microsoft Word 2000?
 
A

Aquaboy

I deleted the Word data key:

\\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\9.0\Word\Data

but the problem persists.
 
A

Aquaboy

Nope, still didn't work.

To confirm (based on suggestions from that article),
(1) Deleting the Data key didn't work
(2) Deleting the Options key didn't work
(3) There was no Normal.dot file to modify
(4) I could not find the "Startup" folder according to the given
instructions, though I when I have found the "Startup" folder, it's empty.
(5) There was no "Add-ins" registry key to delete

Any other suggestions?
 
T

Terry Farrell

No normal.dot? Check in your user profile, make sure that you have checked
the options to view hidden files and folders, and view system files and that
file extensions are not hidden.

Terry
 
A

Aquaboy

No, no Normal.dot. I went to Tools -> Folder Options... -> Show hidden files
and folders. I then Searched C: for "Normal.dot" and I made sure that the
search included hidden files and folders, but nothing came up.

I mentioned this before; in fact, in your very first response you said:
"Word won't create a normal.dot until you have made a change to the Word
installation that requires a normal.dot to save the change."

UPDATE: I recently found that if I wait long enough for MS Word to open, the
following error message pops up:
"The program associated with the selected template cannot be started, or the
program cannot use the selected template."
 

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