Strange error message (Word 2003 – XP)

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Hello,

Just recently I’ve been having a strange error message window pop up when I try to open a document I have chosen from a file folder…not from within Word itself. I have no dialogue windows open anywhere, in fact I have rebooted my computer, tried to open a document from a file folder and still get this message. If I click on “OK”, the file does open with no further messages or problems. I’ve tried opening several unrelated files with the same result. Can someone help?

Thanks,

Marilyn

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I suspect this is caused by an Add-In of some sort, try following the instructions in Phil Rabichow‘s Systematic Approach to Behavioral Problems in Word.

StuartR

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Hi Stuart,

Thanks for the suggestion. I did explore that site, but I don’t feel comfortable making the changes it suggests. Though I have been using a computer for a long time, I started in the DOS days and never learned to use DOS. So messing with the registry and some other things puts me in panic attacks. Show me a blue DOS screen and I freeze up. I entered the computer world as DOS was going out and Windows was entering the picture (or at least you could avoid using DOS), and I chose to deal with Windows after some bad experiences with DOS. I wish I had stuck with it though, since those who know DOS seem to have a better comprehension of how all this works.

I’m involved in some complicated projects right now for a few clients as well as for myself, so don’t want to upset the apple cart big time until these projects are finished. I can live with this little annoyance as long as it just pops up this window whenever I try to access a file by double clicking on it rather than open Word first. And when I open Word first, I never get this warning window. Maybe I can try the MS repair option once I have all these projects wrapped up.

Thanks for your suggetion though.

Marilyn

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Hi Marilyn,

Your reluctance to muck around the registry is understandable. Fortunately, Microsoft finally got the hint and put together a troubleshooting template that does all the dirty work for you, even making backups of key registry entries.

Check out http://support.microsoft.com/kb/820919%5B/url%5D for more information. Depending on your Office installation, you may already have this template on your computer, but if not, it’s a snap to install.

Hope this helps.

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Hi Stuart and Andrew,

I found the answer in MS Newsgroups. I had recently upgraded Norton’s Internet Security and thought I had turned off the auto protect for Office. I had not. Norton allows you to save your settings before upgrading, but that is a waste of time and never works, at least not for me. So I turned off the protection involving Office and the warning window went away.

I will remember your suggestions for other problems, however. Thank you for the time you took to answer me.

Marilyn

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Great, thanks for letting us know.

StuartR

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