illegal operation

  • Thread starter Thread starter Guest
  • Start date Start date
G

Guest

I'm am recieving the message 'this program has performed an illegal operation and will shut down' every time I start Word (I use Word 2000 and windows 2000), I've tried restarting my computer, defragmenting, uninstalling and reinstalling, and correcting the errors in installation

HOw can I fix this!!! I obviously need to use this program??? PLease help!
 
First, try starting Word without any add-ins or templates. To do this, click
Start > Run, and enter:

Winword.exe /a

If it still doesn't work, your copy of Word is probably corrupt. Reinstall
it.

If it does work, your problem is probably with normal.dot or with an add-in.
Find normal.dot and rename it to normal_old.dot. Now try starting Word in
the usual way. If it works, your normal.dot was corrupt, or had some bad
code (or a virus!). If you have settings, macros, etc in normal.dot you may
be able to retrieve them by using the organizer or by creating a document
based on normal_old and copying them; otherwise just delete normal_old.dot.

If the problem is not in normal.dot, look at any add-ins -- these are .dot
files in the Office\Startup folder (usually C:\Program Files\Microsoft
Office\Office\Startup). Take each in turn, change the extension from .dot to
..$$$ (so Word will ignore it). When you find the culprit, refer back to
wherever it came from (eg PDFMaker.dot is part of Acrobat).


If you still have a problem, then something else is interacting with Word.
Norton Antivirus and Outlook are possibilities. Check what else is running
on your machine.






jessica said:
I'm am recieving the message 'this program has performed an illegal
operation and will shut down' every time I start Word (I use Word 2000 and
windows 2000), I've tried restarting my computer, defragmenting,
uninstalling and reinstalling, and correcting the errors in installation.
HOw can I fix this!!! I obviously need to use this program??? PLease
help!
 
I tried finding winword.exe/a and my computer said 'the file name or path is not valid' and then went back to the illegal operations screen

What would I do about norton or outlook??? is there anything else I can try
 
Solve the first problem first. WinWord SHOULD be found (that's the
application). Try entering the full path into the Run dialog:

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\WINWORD.EXE /a

At least, that's the default location for WinWord. Use the Explorer to check
that it's there.




jessica said:
I tried finding winword.exe/a and my computer said 'the file name or path
is not valid' and then went back to the illegal operations screen.
 
You don't have to 'find' it. Simply type it in the box you get when you
select Windows > start > run

Winword /a
then press enter. This will start Word in its safe mode.

The problems are almost certainly related to a corrupt normal.dot template
or to a defective add-in. This starts Word without those as confirmation. If
you remove any add-ins from the Word and Office startup folders and rename
normal.dot to oldnormal.dot you should be getting somewhere. Normal.dot is a
hidden file, so you will need to set Windows explorer to display hidden
files (tools > folder options > view) in order to locate it.

Word crashes leave lots of junk behind. See
http://www.gmayor.com/what_to_do_when_word_crashes.htm

--
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>>< ><<>
Graham Mayor - Word MVP

Web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site www.mvps.org/word
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>>< ><<>
 
Click the Start button and choose Run. In the Run dialog type

winword /a

then press Enter. For more, see
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/AppErrors/ProbsOpeningWord.htm

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

jessica said:
I tried finding winword.exe/a and my computer said 'the file name or path
is not valid' and then went back to the illegal operations screen.
 
winword /a came up, but it still didn't start up word correctly....do I still need to continue the normal.dot process?
 
Winword /a is a diagnostic method: if Word will start that way but won't
start normally, then you've established that the problem is in normal.dot or
in an add-in. If not, the problem is in the application itself and you'll
need to reinstall.

What actually happens when it 'came up, but it still didn't start word
correctly' ?





jessica said:
winword /a came up, but it still didn't start up word correctly....do I
still need to continue the normal.dot process?
 
Back
Top