MS Word stopped working with Vista

[Guest]

I'm new at this so keep that in mind. I recently purchase a HP notebook with
Vista. I installed MS Office XP Professional with Front Page. (Have product
key). Everything was working great then I get a message stating the MS word
(2002) has stopped working. Can you suggest a solution?

 

[Chad Harris]

Hi nhj--

What's the specifc wording of that error, and what's the problem? Is it
that Word won't open? What happens when you try to open Word 2002?

You have Word 2002 in Office XP, so if you go to Help>Detect and Repair, you
can run Detect and Repair and try to fix Word that way. Sometimes it works.
If you can't open Word 2002 open any Office XP Program>go to Help>Detect and
Repair and run Detect and Repair.

Have you added all the service packs available for Office 2002? The reason
I ask that is that without getting all of them, you can have a number of
problems with Office XP applications and specifically with Word 2002.

The latest Service Pack for Office XP is Service Pack 3. Have you added all
three of them? If not that's one of the first things I'd do. See:

How to obtain the latest Office XP service pack
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307841

One thing I've learned over the years. When you're trying to fix Word or
any Office application, often the error messages are specific and the fixes
are specific to that error message. My first question is what exactly is
that error message saying--usually they are more specific than that. The
reason I'm pressing for the exact error is often once you have it, you can
look up the fix in the MSKBs (the knowledge base articles MSFT has for Word
and their other software at http://support.microsoft.com .


Open Word and even if it won't open try to copy down the error message when
you try; or type event viewer in the Vista search box and click it
open>Windows logs in the left pane>Applications>and use the down error to
see if there are any Word error messages there at the time you last had the
error. (EV is one more place to retrieve your errors in Windows--it's kind
of a diary of errors). Sometimes you need to also look under System after
clicking Windows logs but not in this case.

For reference read:

How to understand the repair feature in Office 2003 and in Office XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/822238/en-us

A beginner's guide to troubleshooting problems in Word
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322743/en-us

How to troubleshoot problems that occur when you start or use Word 2003 or
Word 2002
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/820919/en-us

Good luck,

CH

 

[Chad Harris]

Nhj--

I should have added and again the exact error message is key and you haven't
found it or given it to me yet, that if Detect and Repair and the other
suggestions in the MSKBs for fixing Word 2002 don't help, I'd download the
Windows Installer Cleanup Utility and highlight every Office XP and Word
2002 associated entry and delete them and then I'd uninstall and reinstall
Office XP and turn off your AV program and firewall while installing Office
XP. Then I'd make certain at the link I gave you to install all THREE
Office XP service packs right away.

Windows Installer Cleanup Utility Download: (Scroll to bottom)
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290301

CH

 

[Guest]

Chad - Thanks for the quick response.

I did get the MS word to work! However, I now have a new problem. I went
to open my MS Outlook and this is the error message I rec'd.

"Unable to open your default email folder. The .dll file for the reference
service could not be found. MAPI was unable to load the information service
PSTPRX.DLL be sure the service is correctly installed.

I was able to download the Office XPSP2-KB832671-client-enu.exe.

The MS word seems to be working fine but I caused another problem.

Thanks for the help so far!

 

[Chad Harris]

nhj--

Usually that problem is caused by not having all the service packs for
Office XP (all three) and sometimes because Outlook needs to be specified as
the default mail client although that shouldn't be the case.

1) To fix your problem

Close all mail-aware applications (NEO, Outlook, etc.).

Click Start | Settings | Control Panel, then double-click Internet Options.

Click the Programs tab along the top.

In the E-mail list, select Microsoft Outlook.

2) Make sure that you install all three sps (sp1, sp2, sp3) for Office XP.

3) See:

FIX: "MAPI was unable to load the information service Pstprx.dll" error
message when you upgrade to Office XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/293058

I don't know whether you have an Upgrade to Office XP or not, but after
installing all the service packs, if those don't fix this problem, then
follow the directions from Methods 1 and 2 in the Workaround for the MSKB
linked above.


It will work fine on Vista, but one part of OL XP (not the problem you have)
won't--it has to do with the address book. See:

www.slipstick.com

Good luck,

CH

 

[Guest]

Chad,

Just to recap what I have done so far! I downloaded:

OXps1, Oxpsp2, Officexpxp3-kb832671-client.exe (Is that all 3 of the Service
Packs for Office 2002. Did I miss one?

Also, reference to your email 1. To Fix Your Problem

- click Start / Settings/Control Panel/ double click internet options -
click the programs tab along the top - In the Email list, Select Microsoft
Outlook - this
is what my options where:

Default web browser, Manage Add-ons, HTML Editing, Internet Programs - I
did not see the Option for Microsoft Outlook (sorry if I missed something).

Also, concerning the MAPI - I followed the instruction an set up a new
account/user and the test worked fine for the email connection.

I'm installing the Microsoft XP from a disc. I don't think I'm upgrading
since my laptop didn't have anything to upgrade from.

After all that said, when I click on Outlook the same message came up

Unable to open your default email folder. The .dll file for the
reference service could not be found. MAPI was unable to load the
information
service PSTPRX.DLL be sure the service is correctly installed.

I went back and followed Steps 1 and 2, with no success.

Got any other suggestions, Again, thanks for the help.

 

[Chad Harris]

nhj--

You got all the service packs. This will prevent troubles in the future if
it doesn't help with the immediate problem.

To set OL as your default program in Vista use:

Tools>Options>Programs tab>Programs Button>Set default Programs>Outlook

You aren't upgrading that's for sure, but the MSKB used that as a setting
for some reason.. It's solutions as workarounds should work regardless.

If the workarounds won't fix this problem, considering everything else
you've done, I would follow the directions to use the Win Installer Cleanup
Utility--a really simple little program and all you do is highligh any
Office XP or Office XP program related entries. There may be several.

This program gets rid of clutter--corrupt .dlls or registry keys that are
corrupted that may be in the way fof a clean uninstall and subsequent
install. The Office setup team at Microsoft makes liberal use of it when
there are problems, and that's why I recommended it. I've seen them
recommend it for years on the Office setup group.

Then reinstall and hopefully this time you won't have these problems.

Good luck,

CH

Chad,

Just to recap what I have done so far! I downloaded:

OXps1, Oxpsp2, Officexpxp3-kb832671-client.exe (Is that all 3 of the
Service
Packs for Office 2002. Did I miss one?

Also, reference to your email 1. To Fix Your Problem

- click Start / Settings/Control Panel/ double click internet options -
click the programs tab along the top - In the Email list, Select
Microsoft
Outlook - this
is what my options where:

Default web browser, Manage Add-ons, HTML Editing, Internet Programs - I
did not see the Option for Microsoft Outlook (sorry if I missed
something).

Also, concerning the MAPI - I followed the instruction an set up a new
account/user and the test worked fine for the email connection.

I'm installing the Microsoft XP from a disc. I don't think I'm upgrading
since my laptop didn't have anything to upgrade from.

After all that said, when I click on Outlook the same message came up

Unable to open your default email folder. The .dll file for the
reference service could not be found. MAPI was unable to load the
information
service PSTPRX.DLL be sure the service is correctly installed.

I went back and followed Steps 1 and 2, with no success.

Got any other suggestions, Again, thanks for the help.

 

[Guest]

Chad,

I think I fix the problem. I went back to a Restore Point that was working
before all my problems occured.

I downloaded the Service Pack 3 (all three of them). Everything thing seems
to be working correctly again. I hope this will continue.

thanks for all your help
--
nhj

Chad,

Just to recap what I have done so far! I downloaded:

OXps1, Oxpsp2, Officexpxp3-kb832671-client.exe (Is that all 3 of the Service
Packs for Office 2002. Did I miss one?

Also, reference to your email 1. To Fix Your Problem

- click Start / Settings/Control Panel/ double click internet options -
click the programs tab along the top - In the Email list, Select Microsoft
Outlook - this
is what my options where:

Default web browser, Manage Add-ons, HTML Editing, Internet Programs - I
did not see the Option for Microsoft Outlook (sorry if I missed something).

Also, concerning the MAPI - I followed the instruction an set up a new
account/user and the test worked fine for the email connection.

I'm installing the Microsoft XP from a disc. I don't think I'm upgrading
since my laptop didn't have anything to upgrade from.

After all that said, when I click on Outlook the same message came up

Unable to open your default email folder. The .dll file for the
reference service could not be found. MAPI was unable to load the
information
service PSTPRX.DLL be sure the service is correctly installed.

I went back and followed Steps 1 and 2, with no success.

Got any other suggestions, Again, thanks for the help.