In this article, I'll explain how to fix one of the most common problems Word
users face. The scenario differs, but the reasons are usually pretty much
the same. Say you attempt to open a document, or maybe just open Word directly,
and you get and error. Now this error can have many different messages. Maybe
it says there's an error in some hidden module? Maybe it says some command
failed to run? Maybe it says some toolbar is missing?
The messages may appear very different to the untrained eye, but to support
folks who see this same type of thing over and over...with the same solution...we
have a good idea that these errors all fall back to the same problem—some add-in
template is calling code that will no longer properly work.
So what does that mean? It means that some code, probably contained in an
outside template that Word is attempting to run prior to opening, is
causing a problem. However, note that it is extremely rare that this problem
is actually cause by an internal problem with Microsoft Word. Probably 99.9%
of the time, this problem is caused because the user doesn't understand how
Word works and...at some point in time...they either installed or ripped
out part of some program from their computer that used Word as it's report
writer program of sorts. Part of that program is
still trying to run, but either the code is no longer working properly
or part of the information that program needs is now missing. Or, they upgraded
their version of Word, but didn't realize this template works with Word so
they didn't bother to also upgrade the template and it no longer works with
this newer version.
See if any of these sound familiar...
- You installed a program that installs a template to Word's startup, but
you upgraded Word and didn't upgrade the old program, so the code in
the template no longer works.
- You deleted some program from your computer, but didn't use the proper Add/Remove icon
from your Control Panel, so the template was left and
is still trying to work, even though he's now all alone!
- You deleted some toolbar or macro that the left-over template relies
on to work. Since the needed part is no longer found, you receive an
error.
- Or, maybe the add-in template has just become corrupt.
On rare occasions, the problem actually lies within the Normal.dot template.
(Word's master template. See Normal.dot
Template–Explained for details on
this template.) Sure, the Normal.dot can and does become corrupt. And sadly,
that happens more and more due to the Normal.dot needing to control so much
more in each version of Word. But when Normal becomes corrupt, the errors
are usually displayed in other ways, such as menus missing or duplicating
or you receive an error message about winword.exe, to name a few
ways.
When an error message is displayed, while attempting to open Word, that
appears to be saying "something I need isn't there or
won't work anymore," it's generally being caused by some other template
that is trying to load.
If you look at the image below, you can see that—when
you double click a document, so that it will open in Word—you might
also be calling up templates from several different locations. These templates
have been installed, by you or your company, at some point, to allow
them to be accessible to you while you're working with Word, in some way.
They may contain company macros or some code needed for some third-party
program such as Adobe Acrobat, Palm Pilot or some design or document management
program you run. And if you didn't read the manual for that third-party
program, you may not realize it uses Word to run part of its own application!
As you can see in the image above, extra templates, or DOT files, might be
called from the Word Add-in menu (Tools > Templates and
Addins), or the Office
or Word startup folders.
If the code in these templates is old, or the program that is associated
with these templates has been deleted, improperly, there's a good chance
these templates will not be able to work. This can cause the errors
you're experiencing.
How Can I be Sure This is My Problem?
There is a test you can use to see if an Add-in is actually your problem.
Try starting Word using the /a switch that will stop any add-ins from
being loaded. If this solves your error problem, you know it's an add-in
causing the trouble. If this test doesn't help, then you have to keep drilling
down for a solution to your particular problem.
To run this test, do this:
- Click Start > Run (or just hit Windows
+ R keyboard
shortcut)
- In the Run dialog box, type this: winword.exe
/a (note the space after exe and before the /a switch)
- Hit the Enter key
Does Word still open with the error? If not, an add-in was causing the
problem. Time to hunt it down!
So How Do I Fix the Problem?
The fix can actually be pretty simple. You just need to get rid of the problem
template! But how and where you do this can cause you a little more work
depending on your knowledge and experience with computers.
The first thing you need to do is find the problem template. And
that, in itself, can be a lesson in computer science!
The most basic solution is to look at both your Word Add-in
menu and your
Word and Office Startup folders and see if there is anything listed in any
of those locations. If so, then you're nearly finished. If not, you have
more hunting to do. But some folks have a heck of a time even finding their
startup folders.
Why is it difficult to find these folders? Because Microsoft gave in and decided
to go the route of so many system admins and companies—rather than teach
the user how to use their computer properly, it's easier to just hide
stuff from users so they won't be tempted to mess with it!
I can't blame Microsoft or these admins/companies, as frustrating as I personally
find this method. With so many new users who don't bother to take the time
to read any instructions given them, I, too, become frustrated and see the
value in just not bothering to take the time to explain it! Why spend your
valuable time typing up instructions for 100 users in the company when only
10 of them will actually take the time to read them? The other 90 are going
to ignore your instructions and end up calling you complaining that this
or that isn't working right and you'll have to spend more time explaining
the problem individually and fixing it for those remaining 90 people! Admins
become frustrated and decide it's probably better to just hide the information
from all 100 and then they only need to explain the fix to those 10 who question
the practice, since 90 other users won't even notice anything is missing.
This is pretty much what Microsoft must have decided. So many users didn't
bother to read the instructions and would end up trashing their systems by
fussing with important system files, that someone, obviously, decided it's
best to just hide all the important stuff from the average user. Those who
need to know will ask and figure it out.
Allow me to show you how to figure it out.
I Don't See Any DOT Files!
That's probably because your system is out-of-the-box (new and not
yet customized) and those file extensions are still hidden from you. To change
this, you need to go into your Windows Explorer and reset
the default that hides file extensions.
To enter Windows Explorer, you can either:
- Hit the Windows + E keyboard shortcut.
- Right click Start and click Explore.
- Click Start > My Computer (or double click the My Computer icon if you
have one on your desktop)
Once you are within the Windows Explorer, click Tools
> Options. Within the
Folder Options dialog box shown below, click on the View tab.
Here you will find several options that will allow you to adjust what you
see and don't see within your computer. Notice the highlighted item in the
image above. This is checked by default in newer versions of Windows. Uncheck
this option and you will now notice that your files will show a three letter
set of characters or extension after a period that follows the name
of the file. This extension identifies the type of file.
If a file
is called MyFile.doc, you know it's a document that will open in Word.
If it's called MyFile.dot, it's a template for Word. If it's called MyFile.jpg,
it's an image file. If it's MyFile.avi, it's a video file.
Renaming Problem Files
Now that you can see which files are actual DOT files, you can go
into your startup folders and rename any files from [whatever
their name is].dot to [whatever their name is].old.
Sure, you can just delete the file and that will stop the problem, but what
if you really need that file for some of your work? It's much better to rename
the file to OLD. This will cause the file to no longer be recognized as a
DOT file and Word will no longer attempt to install the file on startup.
This will solve your immediate error problem. Then you can investigate further
by asking your system admin why that file was put in your startup. Or, you
can contact the maker of that file and ask for an updated version that will
work with your new version of Word. Or, you can reinstall the program if
you need it working properly. Or, you can just delete it if you know you
no longer need that Palm Pilot or Acrobat template in there!
If you find several DOTs in your startup, rename them all to OLD and then
rename them back, one by one, to DOT files and try to start Word. If it opens
without issue, that one is not the culprit. Eventually you should
hit the problem file and you'll know who is causing the trouble.
I Can't Find My Startup Folder!
This can be a trial in itself, too! The folders may be hidden. Or, maybe you
are using one version of Windows and the instructions you received to find
the path were for a different version of Windows. Newer versions of Windows
usually put this stuff under the Documents and Settings folder.
But if you're running an older version of Windows, you probably won't have
a Documents
and Settings folder,
so those instructions won't help much.
Note! Learn more about this newer folder
organization by reading this TechTrax article: Why
Does Explorer Think I Only Want to See My Documents.
However, Greg
Chapman has built a wonderful, free utility (template) that you can download
from MouseTrax.com. (See http://www.mousetrax.com/downloads.html.)
It's called the Word Options Utility. Just download this template, unzip
it and double click it. It will open in Word and will display, after a few seconds,
a document showing you all your Option settings currently configured in your
version of Word. Quite useful!
Note! If you need help learning how to download files, read this TechTrax
article: Downloading
101.
Among the settings, you'll find the path for your Startup folder, as shown
below.
Once you know the path, you can navigate to it via Windows Explorer to see
if you have any renegade DOT files in there. If so, time to rename them to
fix your problem.
However, if I navigate into my ...word/startup folder, I don't see any files
in there. So this must not be the problem location.
But if I go into my ...office/startup folder, I find a template in there.
So I can now right click on the file and choose Rename.
Now this file will not be recognized as a template and will no longer be loaded
when Word starts. With luck, this is the problem and it'll now be solved.
Later I can track down what program or who put this template in my startup
folder and for what purpose. If it's something I need, I can try to get a
corrected version, since there's a good chance that, if this template is
causing me a problem with Word, it's probably causing a lot of other users
the same problem and the developer of this template may have created a newer
version. However, if this is part of a program I no longer need, I can feel
safe just deleting this file or leaving it renamed as *.old.
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