Winword error

flossy_splodge

I do a lot of work at a nearby Uni which runs Kaspersky antivirus. I save plain text files to a memory pen and then put them onto my home computer after scanning using MY software protection (AVG antivirus, Adaware and Spybot). The problem is that often (but not always) as I am editing the text file and resaving it in rtf format Word crashes and gives me an error message saying winword has generated an error. The whole computer reboots on its own but I've lost the work since the previous save. I am having to do a manual save every half page jsut so I don't have to keep redoing the same stuff. This is time consuming and irritating to say the least. This problem ONLY arises when I am using Word to open the txt file and then proof read/edit it and resave in rtf format. I NEVER have this problem on my computer at ANY other time or using ANY other package. using Word for simple word processing is fine. Any thoughts or help anyone can offer please. it's driving me nuts. Doesn't happen if I do the work on one of the Uni's machines. :eek:

sho_me_da_money

1. Start>run>regedit>enter>hkey_current_user>softwar>microsoft>office>11.0 (or whatever .0 number there is)>delete WORD folder and say Yes. Restart Word.

2. Failing the above, repair MS Office Suite via add/remove programs

3. Failing step 2, uninstall and reinstall MS Word.

4. Open Office, or use wordpad.

Jzpop

It may well be a corrupted installation of Word, but it might be the way that you are handling your workflow.

A few things to double-check...

1. Can you not do a save as rtf at uni? It will save all that conversion to/from .txt files, as well as retain the formatting.
2. When you bring the files home from uni, do you physically copy them from the memory stick to a hard drive on your PC before you open them in Word? If not, it may be that there is insufficient space on the memory stick for all the temporary files that Word will create. By default, it will create them on the same drive as the original .txt file.
3. If you copy the .txt file to your PC, open it in Word, then instantly save it as a .rtf file, then commence your editing, does Word still crash? If so, try the steps in 4. below before you reinstall Word, mess with your registry etc.
4. Many, many crashes in Word are caused by a corrupted normal.dot file (the file that creates the blank sheet of paper when you open a new document). Use Start > Search to find all copies of normal.dot on your PC (it is not unusual to have several copies), and delete them all. When you next start Word, it will automatically create a new copy of Normal.dot, without the corruption that is causing the crash.

albertross_2

if it is a recent version of office, try word, help, detect & repair

flossy_splodge

Thanks very much all for your thoughts.
Jzpop- sometimes I DO save the file as rtf on the Uni machine but I can't recall if this then was one of the times my own machine crashed so I will look at that as a possible solution.
2. No, I merely open the file from my stick directly to screen and if it is already an rtf file I just continue work. If not, I often start work as the txt file and THEN save as an rtf file. I'll have to think about all this.
3. I have noticed that if I save to my usb stick I do not get this problem. It seems to happen when I save first to my usb pen and then (as a backup) to my folder on my hard drive. The big aggro is that it is not consistent. This morning for example, I have been working for a couple of hours and have stuck to doing all my saves onto the usb pen UNTIL I was ready to call a halt and then I have backed up to both a floppy and my hard drive. I haven't recommenced work yet so not sure if that will have triggered the problem.
4. Will give this a go. Thanks a lot.

sho-me-da- money - thanks - will try that as a last resort as although I am quite capable on computers I have always avoided like the plague messing around in the registry!! However will give it a go.

albertross- how recent is recent? I am running Windows 2000 with Office suite 2000.

Incidentally, the work I do is for a visually impaired student and the files HAVE to be in a specified format for them to work with the students screen reader so not sure if Star Office or open source anything would be an answer.
Many thanks all. Will let you know how it works out.