Re: Word freezes, then crashes

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It doesn't sound like virus or malware - but then I'd never guarantee that!

However, this is really a strange problem. It would suggest that the document is corrupting at some point. Is there any pattern to when this happens? Are you maybe creating or working on similar documents with long tables? Is this all on a standalone PC or a networked PC?

As you have had the problem occurring frequently, I suggest that the next step is to clean up your system of any abandoned temp files. See the following FAQ for how to clear up after Word.

http://www.gmayor.com/what_to_do_when_word_crashes.htm

Terry

"Steve" <Steve@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:DC70C562-109E-47A6-B238-59E9BF9A60FA@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hello again Terry,

News just in... I tried exactly what you suggested, and booted Word in Safe
mode, and worked like that for a while. But Word appears not to be any more
stable in Safe mode. After about an hour or so, I encountered the same
problem: Word freezes up, hitting any key makes the program scroll rapidly
through the document, the screen freezes again, it's impossible to do
anything, and then Word just shuts itself down, closing all open Word
documents.

No warning is given, and no error messages shows up.

Also, I'll add that if I go into task manager (or whatever it's called in
English) by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Delete, this program will indicate to me that
Word is not responding. But, again (and even in Safe mode), it crashes all on
its own and I get no error message.

I've just downlowded Microsoft's malware removal program (as Charles
suggested) and run a full system scan, but no infected files were picked up.

I'm baffled.

Steve

"Terry Farrell" wrote:

Steve

That makes a big difference <g>

Try starting Word in Safe Mode and testing it to see if it is stable. That
should narrow down the field of possibilities. To start in Safe Mode, from
Start, Run, type in

winword /a

and press enter. Word will start in Safe Mode where it bypasses all add-ins,
templates, macros or any other third party changes or customisations. Try
opening and working on one of your documents now to see if it this
stabilises Word. This will give us a better idea of the area of the problem.

Terry

"Steve" <Steve@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:26F3D046-C524-40BF-ADE4-4ADF49EF22F1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Hello Terry,
>
> And thanks for your quick reply.
>
> Unfortunately, my comment about the printer was completely misleading. > I
> added it (a little too hastily) just before I hit 'post', and I what I
> meant
> to say was that I'm not connected to a NETWORK printer. I was reading > on
> the
> MVP help page entitled 'Problems Opening Word' that a network printer > can
> sometimes be the source of problems, and I wanted to make it clear that > it
> wasn't so in this case. I do have a default printer, whose driver is up > to
> date. And, in any case, Word opens fine, and works fine for a while,
> before
> it decides to freeze and then crash, quite erratically. (It doesn't do > it
> every time, just sometimes, and just enough to make it very annoying
> indeed,
> because Word doesn't always 'recover' the documents I'm working on > after
> it
> crashes).
>
> Any other ideas would be much appreciated.
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
> Steve
>
>
> "Terry Farrell" wrote:
>
>> Uninstalling and reinstalling is usually a complete waste of time. But
>> from
>> what you say, printer seems to be the probable cause. Word MUST see a
>> default windows printer to work correctly. So make sure that you have >> the
>> latest driver and install a printer and set it as the Windows default.
>> Let
>> us know if this is resolves the problem or if you need further help.
>>
>> -- >> Terry Farrell - MS Word MVP
>>
>> "Steve" <Steve@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>> news:1B273DB7-6582-41F4-A21D-3D85FB71B03F@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> > Hello,
>> >
>> > I’ve been using a version of Word contained in Office 2000
>> > Professional
>> > for
>> > about 4 years now without any problems (except the ‘usual’
>> > formatting
>> > headaches, for which I’ve found help here). I first used it on Win
>> > 98,
>> > and
>> > I’m now using XP Home SP2.
>> >
>> > Recently, Word started acting strangely indeed. As I type, the >> > program
>> > suddenly freezes, without any warning. Then, hitting any key appears >> > to
>> > make
>> > Word scroll very quickly through the document, until it suddenly
>> > freezes
>> > up
>> > again. The program then appears to take up most of the CPU usage, >> > and
>> > the
>> > computer’s fan turns up to high speed. It’s impossible to do
>> > anything
>> > in the
>> > document and, within a few seconds, or perhaps longer (it seems to
>> > depend),
>> > the program just crashes without any warning, and all open word
>> > documents
>> > close.
>> >
>> > I de-installed Office, as well as its the corresponding registry >> > keys,
>> > and
>> > after shutting down the computer, etc., I re-installed Office. I
>> > thought
>> > this
>> > would make the difference... but it didn’t. My Word documents >> > still
>> > exhibit
>> > the same behaviour. And it’s become very annoying indeed.
>> >
>> > After de-installing and re-installing Office I was a little >> > surprised
>> > to
>> > see
>> > that, when opening Word after the re-installation, my old customised
>> > toolbars
>> > were showing instead of the default ones (nothing fancy, just >> > reduced
>> > down
>> > to
>> > the icons one uses most often). I didn’t quite understand why this
>> > was,
>> > but
>> > might it be a clue as to why Word is still acting in the same way?
>> >
>> > I’ve checked out some comments and some help pages linked to >> > through
>> > the
>> > discussions here (‘Corrupt documents’ and ‘What to do when >> > word
>> > crashes,
>> > etc.), but I can’t seem to find anything similar.
>> >
>> > Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.
>> >
>> > Thanks in advance,
>> >
>> > Steve
>> >
>> > (P.S.: I’m not connected to a default printer).
>>


.

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