Loading program problem, Please Help!

[lenny]

Hi,
I have XP Home. I am suddenly unable to open Word. It stalls when opening,
nothing works to get it working again. Excel works fine as does all the
other programs. I have tried deleting office but again it stalls when
trying. I have tried re-installing office, but again, it installs the
installation files then Windows installer says 'Preparing to install....'
and nothing happens I just get the egg timer on screen. I have updated and
run Symantec antivirus, Spybot and Ad-aware. All find nothing relevant.

I am totally stuck and can't seem to find anything relevant on Google
either.

Please help.
Lenny

 

[lenny]

Just a quick update. Word works when started in safe mode!
Any thoughts?
Lenny

 

[R. McCarty]

Two suggestions, First open Excel, Click Help, then "Detect & Repair".
Have your installation disk handy. Also while in Help, click About and
note the Service Pack Level. Then go to Office Update and get all the
available patches for your Office install. You neglected to mention the
version of Office you use. Office Update only works for versions going
back to Office 2000.
Click the "Check for Updates" at:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/officeupdate/default.aspx

 

[Will Denny]

Hi

Search in Windows Explorer for a file named normal.dot. Delete it, then try
to open MS Word again.

 

[lenny]

....And i have noticed that there are two WINWORD.EXE in Processes. I am
unable to close either down.

 

[MAP]

Hi,
I have XP Home. I am suddenly unable to open Word. It stalls when
opening, nothing works to get it working again. Excel works fine as
does all the other programs. I have tried deleting office but again
it stalls when trying. I have tried re-installing office, but again,
it installs the installation files then Windows installer says
'Preparing to install....' and nothing happens I just get the egg
timer on screen. I have updated and run Symantec antivirus, Spybot
and Ad-aware. All find nothing relevant.

I am totally stuck and can't seem to find anything relevant on Google
either.

Please help.
Lenny

This is from another post from some time ago that I saved.
Will, I hope you don't mind me using this? If you do just say so and it
won't happen again.

Will Denny

1/30/2005 8:16 PM PST
Re: Word
In: microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support
Hi

Close Word, open Windows Explorer and search for a file named 'normal.dot',
then delete it. See if you can open your files then.-


Will Denny
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User
Please reply to the News Groups

Why can't I open my word files any more? It keeps saying that the files
are
not available. And when I try to close word it says the file normal
already
exists do you want to replace it. No matter which I choose it still won't
work

Look here for the normal.dat file
C:\Documents and
Settings\yourusername\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates
and find the file Normal.dot

This link may also be of some help
http://www.word.mvps.org/index.html

 

[lenny]

Hi all,
I deleted normal.dot but am still unable to open Word (Office 2000) I have
then opened Excel and tried to repair from the help menu but again it stalls
on 'please wait while windows configures Microsoft Office 2000 Premium.

Any other ideas?
Cheers
Lenny

 

[MAP]

...And i have noticed that there are two WINWORD.EXE in Processes. I
am unable to close either down.

A simple reboot will close them.

 

[R. McCarty]

Reboot, make sure no Office apps are running. Put your Office CD
in the drive, it should Autoplay to setup. Take the Add/Remove
components option. Uncheck Word and then let Office remove it
from your install. Then reboot again and reverse the process. Sounds
like something is corrupted or missing. Once you get Word re-installed
go to Office Update and get all the Service Packs/Updates for it.
To preclude something in your profile affecting it, I would use the
Administrator account (If Pro) or create a new Administrative account
and log in to it to perform these modifications.
Are you reasonably sure your system if free of "Baddies" ?

Hi all,
I deleted normal.dot but am still unable to open Word (Office 2000) I have
then opened Excel and tried to repair from the help menu but again it
stalls on 'please wait while windows configures Microsoft Office 2000
Premium.

Any other ideas?
Cheers
Lenny

 

[lenny]

I have also tried deleting another unrelated program from 'Add or Remove
Programs' and all I get is the 'Windows Installer' Preparing to remove...
and the egg timer. Maybe it isn't anything to do with Office?
Cheers
Lenny

Hi all,
I deleted normal.dot but am still unable to open Word (Office 2000) I have
then opened Excel and tried to repair from the help menu but again it
stalls on 'please wait while windows configures Microsoft Office 2000
Premium.

Any other ideas?
Cheers
Lenny

 

[lenny]

Yes I am positive that there are no "Baddies" on the computer. This is a
work laptop and I am not in the office where this version on Office is
available. I have 2003 with me though. Is there anything that I can do to
delete the 2000 version? I have tried but with no luck.
Lenny

Reboot, make sure no Office apps are running. Put your Office CD
in the drive, it should Autoplay to setup. Take the Add/Remove
components option. Uncheck Word and then let Office remove it
from your install. Then reboot again and reverse the process. Sounds
like something is corrupted or missing. Once you get Word re-installed
go to Office Update and get all the Service Packs/Updates for it.
To preclude something in your profile affecting it, I would use the
Administrator account (If Pro) or create a new Administrative account
and log in to it to perform these modifications.
Are you reasonably sure your system if free of "Baddies" ?

 

[R. McCarty]

2003 should update/retain options over the 2000 version. Your
comment about other installer(s) leads me to believe you may
have other issues. I would go slowly, as this maybe one of those
"Quirks" that the more you do, the worse it will become".

 

[lenny]

Have all the ideas dried up then? I will try anything, the only problem is
everything that I try doesn't seem to work!

I have also tried deleting another unrelated program from 'Add or Remove
Programs' and all I get is the 'Windows Installer' Preparing to remove...
and the egg timer. Maybe it isn't anything to do with Office?
Cheers
Lenny

 

[MAP]

http://www.microsoft.com/office/com...osoft.public.word.docmanagement&lang=en&cr=US

http://www.word.mvps.org/index.html

Mike Pawlak

Have all the ideas dried up then? I will try anything, the only
problem is everything that I try doesn't seem to work!

--

 

[lenny]

thanks MAP,
I have moved the problem over to that group.
I will keep an eye on this one though incase there are any other ideas.
Lenny
P.S. Thanks for the swift responses.

 

[RA]

Have all the ideas dried up then? I will try anything, the only
problem is everything that I try doesn't seem to work!

Have you tried booting into safe mode and doing the uninstall?

 

[lenny]

Yes RA, I have tried that but i get a message that say 'the windows
Installer Service could not be accessed. This can occur if you are running
Windows in safe mode.......

Is there another way of uninstalling in safe mode?

 

[R. McCarty]

I would go to Event Viewer & Clear both the System & Application
Event logs. Then reboot and check each one for Errors (Red Icons).
Post back here, any Event ID#'s that are found

Yes, the Installer service won't be running in Safe Mode. You won't
be able to access the Office .msi package while in Safe mode.

What I might try is go to MSConfig.Exe and "Temporarily" uncheck
all Startups and boot to normal mode and attempt your uninstall. This
will effectively turn off some Security - So unplug your Ethernet or
don't connect to the web while doing this.

Otherwise my only other suggestion would be to try and find someone
who might do a Remote Assistance session to help you out.

 

[lenny]

I would go to Event Viewer & Clear both the System & Application
Event logs. Then reboot and check each one for Errors (Red Icons).
Post back here, any Event ID#'s that are found

Events to follow

Yes, the Installer service won't be running in Safe Mode. You won't
be able to access the Office .msi package while in Safe mode.
Thanks

What I might try is go to MSConfig.Exe and "Temporarily" uncheck
all Startups and boot to normal mode and attempt your uninstall. This
will effectively turn off some Security - So unplug your Ethernet or
don't connect to the web while doing this.

I have tried this and it starts OK but when 'Gathering required
information...' it gets to 3 green bars and then hangs again.