Microsoft KB Archive/109425

Knowledge Base

Can't Start Programs from Microsoft Toolbar

Article ID: 109425

Article Last Modified on 8/16/2005

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APPLIES TO

• Microsoft Office 95 Standard Edition
• Microsoft Office 4.2 Standard Edition
• Microsoft Office 4.3 Standard Edition
• Microsoft Word 95 Standard Edition
• Microsoft Word 6.0 Standard Edition
• Microsoft PowerPoint 95 Standard Edition
• Microsoft PowerPoint 4.0 Standard Edition
• Microsoft Excel 95 Standard Edition
• Microsoft Excel 5.0 Standard Edition
• Microsoft Access 2.0 Standard Edition
• Microsoft Access 95 Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q109425

SUMMARY

In any of the Microsoft Office programs listed at the beginning of this article, you may not be able to use the buttons on the Microsoft toolbar to start or switch to other Microsoft programs if those programs have been renamed.

WORKAROUND

If you want to use the Microsoft toolbar, use either of the following workarounds:

Method 1: Do not rename any Microsoft executable files.

Method 2: Make sure the file name is listed in the Path statement of your Autoexec.bat file.

NOTE: Microsoft does not support the renaming of executable files. Thus, problems that you encounter as a result of renaming an executable file will not be supported by Microsoft Product Support Services (PSS).

MORE INFORMATION

In the Microsoft Office programs listed at the beginning of this article, you can use the Microsoft toolbar to start or switch to other Microsoft programs. To view and use the Microsoft toolbar, do the following:

1. On the View menu, click Toolbars.
2. In the Toolbars dialog box, under Toolbars, select the Microsoft check box.
3. Choose OK to accept the change.

The Microsoft toolbar will appear on the screen.

This toolbar includes buttons for the programs listed in the following table.

Program                        Executable name
----------------------------------------------

Microsoft Word for Windows     Winword.exe
Microsoft PowerPoint           Powerpnt.exe
Microsoft Access               Msaccess.exe
Microsoft FoxPro for Windows   Foxprow.exe
Microsoft Project              Winproj.exe
Microsoft Schedule+            Schdplus.exe
Microsoft Mail                 Msmail.exe
                

If you rename the executable file for any of these programs, you may be unable to start that program from the Microsoft toolbar. Instead, you may receive the message:

Cannot run '<Program Name>'. The program or one of its components is damaged or missing.

If the renamed executable file is already running, choosing its button on the Microsoft toolbar may launch a second instance of the program instead of switching to the currently running instance.

For example, if you rename Winword.exe To Winword6.exe and then click the Microsoft Word button on the Microsoft toolbar, you may receive the following results:

   Condition                  Result
   ---------------------------------------------------------------

   Winword6.exe not running   The above error message is displayed
   Winword6.exe running       A second instance of Winword6.exe is started
                

Or, if you rename Msmail.exe to Msmail30.exe and then click the Microsoft Mail button:

   Condition                  Result
   ---------------------------------------------------------------

   Msmail30.exe not running   The above error message is displayed
   Msmail30.exe running       Switches to Microsoft Mail (since Microsoft
                              Mail only supports one instance of itself)
                

The results you get vary depending on the program you are trying to start or switch to.

Additional query words: 5.0 7.0 97 launch filename application

Keywords: KB109425

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