Word 2007 won't save any documents

[Cheryl]

Hi there,
Suddenly, my Word 2007 won't save any documents--not ones that already
exist, and not new ones. I try to save any Word document, and I get an error
sound from my computer (but no error message).

I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling Office 2007, and it doesn't fix
anything. I also tried going back a week or two in Windows restore, but it
wouldn't let me.

I really need MS Word to work--I do a lot of my work there. Can anyone help
me?

I'm using Windows XP Pro, Word 2007.... I've never had this problem before.
Would anyone know how to fix it?

At least it's working on my laptop, just not my desktop.....

Thank you.

 

[Herb Tyson [MVP]]

Removing/reinstalling Word/Office seldom solves problems--problems usually
are the result of some kind of user settings issue, and when you
remove/reinstall, Office setup conserves existing settings. Hence, it's
seldom the solution.

I assume that you've rebooted the computer in question. If not, then try it.
Rebooting solves a host of issues.

If that doesn't fix it, and assuming that it's not an activation/expiration
issue, the next place to try for such errors is the registry.
Renaming/deleting the Data key often fixes such problems. It is located here
in the registry:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Word

If that doesn't do it, the next thing to try is renaming or deleting
Normal.dotm.

If that doesn't do it, the next thing to try is turning off any add-ins that
are active in Word. They can produce conflicts and problems.

If none of that works, you might try the following"

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/822645

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/820919

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/822648

When all else fails, I often find success in creating a new Windows user
profile. It's not fun having to move things over and set up things just the
way you like, but sometimes the problem is a corrupted profile, and a new on
is the only hope.

 

[Cheryl]

Herb--thank you, thank you, thank you!! Your first suggestion, changing the
registry key, worked! I am SO glad; I really need Word. I'm a writer, and
Word is the industry standard for publishing.

And thank you for your thorough and very helpful reply.

I didn't realize that removing/reinstalling Word didn't change anything.
I'll keep that in mind. I am SO glad that your suggestion worked. Thank you
again; I was so stuck!

I'll check out your blog and site.

Cheryl

:>

 

[Herb Tyson [MVP]]

Glad to have helped.

 

[mtrmsd]

I cannot used Save, Save As, or Open in the drop down menu (top left).

I've tried the solutions raised here:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/921541 up until the Add-Ins, which I have two
of (adobe), but cannot remove because Word says I need to be an admin.
That's strange because I only have one user name and that is the admin name.

I've rebooted a number of times as well. What should I do?

 

[Terry Farrell]

Are you able to open and edit a document? Does everything else work? Did you
read my other answer to your previous post?

 

[mtrmsd]

Yes, I went into the registry, deleted the info, restarted word, but it
didn't work. Everything else seems to be functioning in Word, but Open,
Save, and Save As.

I want to get rid of the PDFMaker because I suspect that Add In may be
causing problems (outlined here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/906899),
but it won't allow me since it says I'm not an admin. I found the files
(Adobe>Acrobat 9.0>PDFMaker>Common), but I'm not sure if just deleting them
would cause more problems.

 

[mtrmsd]

It appears that I can't open documents in anything. I just tried attaching a
file to an email, but when I click the Attach button it does not open a
folder to select a file from. This looks like it may be a larger problem
with Vista then?

 

[Terry Farrell]

To prove it is the add-in, start Word in Safe Mode. From Start | Run
(Winkey+R), type in

winword /a

and press enter. Now try to save a document. Does it work? If it does, then
it is the add-in - most likely the PDF Maker add-in template in the Word
Start-up folder. If you try to remove it, you need to log in as Admin (not a
user with admin level) and then delete it.

Terry

 

[elliottq]

clarification please

I believe I have a similar problem, but it is sporadic. I go to save a document and it does not save. I then try to save it again and it may save over it, or it may say document is locked and not allow me to save over it, or it may give the same problem again.

I have tried getting rid of the normal.dotm and it did not work. I want to try your delete data key idea, but please clarify. Your say:

Renaming/deleting the Data key often fixes such problems.

So should I rename it to something else or just highlight it and hit delete?
Also, when I delete the data key what do I lose in terms of my current customization of word 2007?

Thank you.