Using Word with Angel

[Wordmeister]

I use Vista on a PC. I frequently use Angel as a communication device with
students. When I upload Word files to Angel, I get messages like "Word could
not create the work file. Check the temporary environment variable" or "Word
cannot open the existing file (Normal)" or "Word cannot save this file
because it is already open elsewhere
(C:\Users\Bill\AppData\...\Normal.dotm)." Then I have to exit Word using Task
Manager.

Later, when I check Word Templates, I find those same messages in folders
labeled Normal, Normal11, and oldNormal.dotm. Once I delete those messages, I
can use Word normally again until I upload to Angel. Then the whole business
repeats. Any suggestions?

 

[Beth Melton]

I use Vista on a PC. I frequently use Angel as a communication device with
students. When I upload Word files to Angel, I get messages like "Word
could
not create the work file. Check the temporary environment variable" or
"Word
cannot open the existing file (Normal)" or "Word cannot save this file
because it is already open elsewhere
(C:\Users\Bill\AppData\...\Normal.dotm)." Then I have to exit Word using
Task
Manager.

Later, when I check Word Templates, I find those same messages in folders
labeled Normal, Normal11, and oldNormal.dotm. Once I delete those
messages, I
can use Word normally again until I upload to Angel. Then the whole
business
repeats. Any suggestions?

I don't know anything about Angel. How do you upload a document? Are you
doing it within Word? If so, is it a web site? Are you using a Word add-in
for this? What version of Word are you using?
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Melton
What is a Microsoft MVP? http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/gp/mvpfaqs

Guides for the Office 2007 Interface:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/training/HA102295841033.aspx

 

[Wordmeister]

I am using Word 2007 Home and Student. Angel Learning Management Suite 7.3 is
a web-based program purchased by my college to facilitate instructor/student
communication. It advertises itself as "A Complete Set of Enterprise
Teaching and Learning Tools." In Angel, we can upload Zip, Word, Excel, and
graphic files from our computers so students can access them. What I do is
browse documents to find my file, then left-click on it in preparation for
opening so that Angel can upload. As soon as I click on the file to ID it for
opening, I get the message "Word could not create the work file. Check the
temporary environment variable." I can still upload, but at this point I
begin to get the series of messages described in my original Office Online
complaint.

I never used to get this problem when I used Office 2003 Professional. I'm
wondering whether switching to a more limited program (Home and Student)
places roadblocks as I try to interact with this commercial program. I don't
think it should. Many of my students use Home and Student.

 

[Beth Melton]

First, the applications in the Home and Student edition aren't any different
from say, the Professional edition. The only difference is the included
applications, the cost, and the license agreement.

Second, what I'm still not grasping is why if you are uploading a file it's
being accessed by Word. You said, "you browse for the file". Is this outside
of Word in your Angel application? If so, in the dialog box you are using to
upload your file is there a preview pane showing the document? Are you
uploading files in the new file format (*.docx) or the 97-2003 file format
(*.doc)? Do you encounter the same message when you upload both of these
file types? Does it make a difference if Word is not running when you upload
the files?

Also, do you have SP1 (and all available updates) installed for Office 2007?
I seem to recall a similar errors when previewing 97-2003 Word documents in
Windows Desktop Search and this issue was corrected in the patch.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Melton
What is a Microsoft MVP? http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/gp/mvpfaqs

Guides for the Office 2007 Interface:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/training/HA102295841033.aspx

 

[Wordmeister]

I consciously went back and retraced steps to answer your questions. First,
when I browse to upload a file to Angel, I do not go to Word. I just go to my
Documents, knowing that certain Word files happen to be there. When I do
that, I browse to locate the file (in this case under me as user, Documents,
and Angel). As soon as I click on the file to open it, I get the message
"Word cannot open the existing file. (Normal)." Even so, the .docx file
opens, and I can upload it to Angel. Just for the heck of it I also tried
this with Word open. The same thing happened.

I did another thing. Ignoring Angel, I went to open the file in Word. I got
the message "Word could not create the work file. Check the temp environment
variable." Regardless, the file came up. Then after I closed the file and
went to exit Word, I got the message "Changes have been made that affect the
global template, normal. Do you want to save those changes?" I answered no
and Word closed.

I don't think I ever downloaded and installed SP1. I will do that soon.

Thank you for your concern. I am reasonably certain I can continue using
Word by stepping around these obstacles, but it would be easier not to.

 

[Wordmeister]

I just checked. I previously did save and install SP1.

 

[Beth Melton]

Thank you for the details. One question I have and didn't see answered
is whether you have a Preview window displayed when you upload a file or in
the Open dialog box in Word?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Melton
What is a Microsoft MVP? http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/gp/mvpfaqs

Guides for the Office 2007 Interface:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/training/HA102295841033.aspx

 

[Wordmeister]

When I open Word, I get the Home screen with Document 1. If I click on the
logoed circle in the upper left corner, I get a drop-down menu with choices
(New, Open, etc.) I also get a list of Recent Documents. That's it.

If I upload a file to Angel, I get the Word message "Word could not create
the work file. Check the temp environment variable." If I click OK on that, I
get "You cannot close MS Office Word because a dialog box is open. Click OK,
switch to Word, and then close the dialog box." As soon as I click OK, I get
"Word has encountered a problem" along with a Show Help box. The Show Help
message gives irrelevant info but also mentions that an incompatible
antivirus program could be interfering. Hmm. I use Norton 360. Could that be
the culprit?

 

[Beth Melton]

I most definitely could be Norton. It has an Office Plug-in that is known to
cause conflicts with Office documents. That would certainly explain why the
documents are being accessed when you are simply uploading files - that's
why I was asking if you were using a Preview pane when viewing the
documents. Check the Norton Options and disable the Office Plug-in. You'll
still be protected by the AutoProtect layer. The only thing the Office
Plug-in does that the AutoProtect layer doesn't is scan files that are
password protected.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Melton
What is a Microsoft MVP? http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/gp/mvpfaqs

Guides for the Office 2007 Interface:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/training/HA102295841033.aspx

 

[Wordmeister]

I went to Norton 360 and tried deleting both the Identity Safe and Phishing
filter. I still got those messages popping up (Word could not create..., You
cannot close MS Office Word..., Word has encountered a problem...). Once I
get thru those messages, then everything goes back to normal. So apparently
Norton 360 is not the problem. I didn't see anything labeled "Office
Plug-in." Perhaps I could contact Norton.

 

[Wordmeister]

I contacted Norton. Had the tech enter my computer and check. He found
nothing wrong with Norton. Said it must be a Microsoft problem.

 

[Graham Mayor]

Checking of Word/Office documents can usually be deselected in the AV
program e.g. in Norton AV by turning off its Office Plug-in.

With some versions of the Norton product it may be necessary to unregister
the calling DLL by running the following command line from Windows > Start >
Run

regsvr32 /u "c:\program files\norton antivirus\officeav.dll"
or
regsvr32 /u "c:\program files\norton systemworks\norton
antivirus\officeav.dll"

Locate the path to officeav.dll and substitue it in the above line(s)

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

My web site www.gmayor.com

<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>

 

[Graham Mayor]

"Said it must be a Microsoft problem" - Of course he did. That's the first
call of the incompetent! But did he tell you how to turn off the useless
Office plug-in that has been a source of annoyance to Office users in Norton
AV iterations for at least 5 years?
Norton is a horrible bloated program that sits all over your computer and
slows it to a crawl. I have even heard it considered worse than some of the
viruses it is supposed to protect you from. You could have saved some money
and used AVG which is free and does a sterling job without bringing your
computer to its knees, provided you don't install some of the unnecessary
web checking and turn off its office plug-in.

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

My web site www.gmayor.com

<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>

 

[Beth Melton]

As far as Symantec is concerned their software is functioning correctly --
it's scanning Office documents for viruses. Only problem is the plug-in
takes issue with your Office documents and either prevents them from loading
or you encounter odd error messages. I guess it depends on the user's
interpretation of "functioning correctly". When I used Norton my
interpretation was the Office Plug-in was not functioning correctly for my
needs since I needed to open Office documents. <grin> Here's a quick search
of past issues the Office Plug-in has caused:
http://support.microsoft.com/search/default.aspx?catalog=lcid=2057&spid=global&query=officeaviss

As Graham noted, you may need to manually disable the plug-in using
Start/Run.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Melton
What is a Microsoft MVP? http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/gp/mvpfaqs

Guides for the Office 2007 Interface:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/training/HA102295841033.aspx

 

[Wordmeister]

Graham --

Attempting to turn off the Office Plug-in, I tried your suggestion. Windows
said it could not locate what I typed in. I tried it numerous times. I'm
wondering if there is another way to do this.

I have Norton 360 on Vista.

 

[Graham Mayor]

Search the program files area for officeav.dll and substitute the path in
the command line

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

My web site www.gmayor.com

<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>

 

[Beth Melton]

Graham --

Attempting to turn off the Office Plug-in, I tried your suggestion.
Windows
said it could not locate what I typed in. I tried it numerous times. I'm
wondering if there is another way to do this.

I have Norton 360 on Vista.

In Norton Options do you have an option along the lines of "scan Office
documents"? If so that's the option you are looking for - apparently they
renamed it.

Otherwise you need to search for Officeav.dll as Graham suggested. Note this
file will not appear if you use Windows Desktop Search. You need to use the
Windows Search Companion if using Windows XP and for Vista the Advanced
Search and search for files in locations not in the index.
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Melton
What is a Microsoft MVP? http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/gp/mvpfaqs

Guides for the Office 2007 Interface:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/training/HA102295841033.aspx