Microsoft KB Archive/290931

= Part 3: Troubleshooting problems when Word 2002 encounters a problem and closes =

PSS ID Number: 290931

Article Last Modified on 9/9/2004

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The information in this article applies to:


 * Microsoft Word 2002

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This article was previously published under Q290931



For a Microsoft Word 2000 version of this article, see 236423.

For a Microsoft Word 97 version of this article, see 168198.



SUMMARY
This article is part 3 of a series of three Microsoft Knowledge Base articles that present a systematic approach to eliminating error messages in Microsoft Word 2002.

For additional information and troubleshooting steps, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

290929 Part 1: Troubleshooting problems when Word has encountered a problem and needs to close

290930 Part 2: Troubleshooting problems when Word has encountered a problem and needs to close



MORE INFORMATION
Continue troubleshooting invalid page faults and exception errors with the following steps after you have completed parts 1 and 2 of this series of articles.

The following topics are covered in part 3:

Using Safe Mode to Troubleshoot

Repairing Microsoft Word or Microsoft Office

Removing Microsoft Word or Microsoft Office

Reinstalling Microsoft Word or Microsoft Office

Reinstalling Microsoft Windows 98

Microsoft Support Options

Using Safe Mode to Troubleshoot
By this point, the invalid page fault or exception error is proving to be difficult to solve, and a different approach to troubleshooting may be needed. The rest of this article discusses a troubleshooting method in which you start Windows in Safe Mode and then start Word with the &quot;/a&quot; switch. If this does not work, the problem may be related to a bad installation of Word, Office, or Windows. If this method works, you will be presented with a few more ideas for solutions.

Starting Windows in Safe Mode
Safe Mode is a way to start your computer so that Windows is started in the simplest method possible. It bypasses many drivers and supporting files that could cause problems if they are damaged.

For additional information about how to start Windows in Safe Mode, click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

180902 How to Start a Windows 98-Based Computer in Safe Mode

202485 Description of Safe Boot Mode in Windows 2000

Starting Word As Cleanly As Possible
In this procedure, you start Windows in Safe Mode AND start Word with the /a switch. This starts Word in the most basic environment possible.

To do this, follow these steps:  Start Windows in Safe Mode by following the steps in the &quot;Starting Windows in Safe Mode&quot; section earlier in this article. Start Word with the /a switch by following the steps outlined in the section titled &quot;Start Word with the Defaults&quot; in part 1:

290929 WD2002: Part 1: Troubleshooting Invalid Page Faults (IPFs) and Exception Errors

 Try to reproduce the problem.

If the problem does not occur, follow the steps in the &quot;Starting Word with Windows In Safe Mode&quot; section later in this article.

If the problem still occurs, follow the steps in the &quot;Removing Microsoft Word or Microsoft Office&quot; section later in this article.

Starting Word with Windows in Safe Mode
In this procedure, you take one step back from the extreme restarting procedure mentioned earlier in this article. Windows is started in Safe Mode, and Word is started normally. To do this, follow these steps:
 * 1) Start Window in Safe Mode by following the steps in the &quot;Starting Windows in Safe Mode&quot; section earlier in this article.
 * 2) Start Word as you would normally (without using the /a switch) and try to reproduce the problem.

If the problem occurs, the most likely cause is a damaged Normal.dot file, data key, or item in the Startup folder. Follow the steps in the &quot;Reset Word Back to Default Settings&quot; section in part 1:

290929 Part 1: Troubleshooting problems when Word has encountered a problem and needs to close

If the problem does not occur, continue troubleshooting by following the steps in the next section of this article.

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Repairing Microsoft Word or Microsoft Office
If the invalid page fault or exception error is still occurring, it is likely that Word or Office files have become damaged. This section guides you through a process of removing and reinstalling Word or Office to achieve the cleanest possible reinstallation.

The easiest way to correct a Word or Office installation is to run a Repair Office (or Repair Word). Although this is very fast and frequently corrects the problem, there are situations in which it does not correct the problem and a more complete removal and reinstallation may be necessary.

To perform a repair of Word or Office, follow these steps:
 * 1) Quit all Microsoft Office applications.
 * 2) On the Windows Start menu, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
 * 3) Double-click Add/Remove Programs.
 * 4) Click the Office or stand-alone version of Word you have installed, and then click Add/Remove.

For example, click Microsoft Word 2002, Microsoft Office XP Standard, or Microsoft Office XP Professional.
 * 1) After you enter the Setup program, click Repair Office (or Repair Word).

The Setup program checks the installed files and replaces or installs any files from an earlier version that are the wrong size, damaged, or missing. After the Setup is complete, restart Word normally (without using the /a switch), and try to reproduce the problem.

If the problem is corrected, you may have identified the problem as being a damaged file. If Word fails to work correctly, continue troubleshooting using the steps in the &quot;Removing Word or Office&quot; section of this article.

Back to Topics

Removing Microsoft Word or Microsoft Office
This procedure guides you through the steps for removing as much of Word or Office as possible. After the removal, you install Word or Office again.

CAUTION: This procedure can result in data loss. Before performing the steps in the remainder of this article, you should back up any user files that may be important. This includes custom templates, documents, and the Normal.dot file.

Use the Setup program to remove as many files as possible. To use Setup to remove Word or Office, follow these steps:
 * 1) Quit all Microsoft Office applications.
 * 2) On the Windows Start menu, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
 * 3) Double-click Add/Remove programs.
 * 4) Click the Office or stand-alone version of Word you have installed and click Add/Remove.

For example, click to select Microsoft Word 2002, Microsoft Office XP Standard, or Microsoft Office XP Professional.
 * 1) From the Setup program, click Remove All, and then click Yes to confirm the removal.
 * 2) You are asked whether you want to remove shared components. Click Remove All.
 * 3) After the Setup is completed, you are prompted to restart Windows.

Cleaning the System
NOTE: Be sure you have backed up your documents, templates, and the Normal.dot file before you proceed with these steps.  Delete the Microsoft Office installation folders by following these steps:  Right-click Start, and then click Explore.</li> Select the following folder:

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\

</li> On the File menu, click Delete.</li> When you are asked to confirm the deletion, click Yes.</li> Select the following folder:

C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared

</li> On the File menu, click Delete.</li> When you are asked to confirm the deletion, click Yes.</li> On the File menu, click Close to quit the Windows Explorer.</li></ol> </li> Use Disk Cleanup (available in Microsoft Windows 98, Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Me), Microsoft Windows 2000, and Microsoft Windows XP) to remove unneeded files from your computer. To do this, click Start, point to Programs (in Windows XP, point to All Programs), point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Disk Cleanup.</li> Delete temporary files from your computer. To do this, follow these steps.

NOTE: Be sure to quit all Windows applications before you proceed with these steps.In Microsoft Windows XP:

 Click Start and then click Search.</li> In the All or part of the file name box, type the following:

~*.*

CAUTION: Be sure to type the tilde character (~) as the first character. Failure to do this may result in deletion of all files on your system.

NOTE: If you do not see the All or part of the file name box, click All files and folders.</li> Change the Look in box either to the drive that you want to search, or to Local Hard Drives.</li> Click Search.</li> After Search Results completes the search, click Select All on the Edit menu.</li> On the File menu, click Delete.</li> <li>Click Yes to confirm the deletion of the files.</li> <li>Repeat steps a through g, using *.tmp in the All or part of the file name box of step b.</li></ol>

In Microsoft Windows 98 or Microsoft Windows NT 4.0:

<ol style="list-style-type: lower-alpha;"> <li>Click Start, point to Find, and then click Files or Folders.</li> <li>In the Named box, type the following:

~*.*

CAUTION: Be sure to type the tilde character (~) as the first character. Failure to do this may result in deletion of all files on your system.</li> <li>In the Look in list, select your local hard disk.</li> <li>Click Find Now.</li> <li>After Find completes the search, click Select All on the Edit menu.</li> <li>On the File menu, click Delete.</li> <li>Click Yes to confirm the deletion of the files.</li> <li>Repeat steps a through g, using *.tmp in the Named box of step b.</li></ol>

In Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Windows Me) or Windows 2000:

<ol style="list-style-type: lower-alpha;"> <li>Click Start, point to Search, and then click For Files or Folders.</li> <li>In the Search for files or folders named box, type ~*.*

CAUTION: Be sure to type the tilde character (~) as the first character. Failure to do this may result in deletion of all files on your system.</li> <li>In the Look in list, select your local hard disk.</li> <li>Click Search Now.</li> <li>After the search completes, click Select All on the Edit menu.</li> <li>On the File menu, click Delete.</li> <li>Click Yes to confirm the deletion of the files.</li> <li>Repeat steps a through g, using *.tmp in the Search for files or folders named box of step b.</li></ol> </li> <li>To check your hard disk for errors, run the ScanDisk utility. To do this, follow the appropriate procedure for your version of Windows: <ul> <li>Windows 98 and Windows Me:

Click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click ScanDisk.</li> <li>Windows 2000: <ol style="list-style-type: lower-alpha;"> <li>On the Windows Desktop, double-click My Computer.</li> <li>Select the disk you want to check.</li> <li>On the File menu, click Properties, and then click the Tools tab.</li> <li>In the Error-checking section, click Check Now.</li> <li>In the Check disk options section, click to select the Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors check box, and then click Start.</li></ol> </li></ul> </li> <li>To defragment the files and free space on your hard disk drive, run the Disk Defragmenter utility. On the Start menu, point to Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Disk Defragmenter.</li> <li>On the Windows Start menu, click Shutdown.</li> <li>In the Shut Down Windows dialog box, click Restart and then click OK.</li></ol>

Back to Topics

Reinstalling Microsoft Word or Microsoft Office
At this point, most traces of Word or Office have been removed from the computer and the system is optimized. You can now run Word or Office Setup from the original location to install the programs.

After Setup is complete, start Word as you normally start it (without using the /a switch), and try to reproduce the problem.

If the problem is corrected, you may have identified the problem as being a damaged file.

If Word fails to work correctly, continue troubleshooting, using the steps in the &quot;Reinstalling Windows&quot; section of this article.

Back to Topics

Reinstalling Windows
By this point, the most likely cause of the invalid page fault or exception error may be a damaged Windows file. You may want to obtain additional Windows technical support help using one of the methods listed in the &quot;Support Options&quot; section of this article.

For additional information about installing Windows, click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

193902 How to Install Windows 98 Into a New Folder

188881 How to Install Windows 98: Helpful Tips and Suggestions

250297 How to Install Windows 2000 or Upgrade from Windows 98

Back to Topics

Microsoft Support Options
If you cannot resolve this issue, several support options are available to assist you.

Quickly Find Answers Yourself Online
Use Microsoft Online Support to search the Microsoft Knowledge Base and other technical resources for fast, accurate answers. You can also customize the site to control your search.

To begin your search, browse to the following Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/support/

Microsoft Product Support
Contact a Microsoft Product Support professional to assist you with troubleshooting problems.

For more information about obtaining help with troubleshooting Microsoft Windows, click Help Topics on the Help menu in Windows Explorer. On the Contents tab, double-click to open the Troubleshooting book. Then double-click to open the Contact Microsoft Technical Support book to view your support options.

For more information about obtaining help with troubleshooting Microsoft Word, click About Microsoft word on the Help menu, and then click Tech Support.

For additional information about Microsoft support services, please click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

102344 Microsoft Product Support Options Q&A

Microsoft Solution Providers
Microsoft Solution Providers are independent organizations that have teamed with Microsoft to use technology to solve business problems for companies of all sizes and industries.

To locate a Microsoft Solution Provider in your area in the U.S. and Canada, call the Microsoft Sales Information Center at (800) 426-9400. If you are outside the United States, contact your local subsidiary. To locate your subsidiary, see the Microsoft World Wide Offices Web site at:

http://www.microsoft.com/worldwide/

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Additional query words: tshoot IPF IPFs inf

Keywords: kbsetup kbtshoot kberrmsg kbinfo kbhowto KB290931

Technology: kbWord2002 kbWord2002Search kbWordSearch

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