I've been undergoing various problems with my computer since it got drowned with malware/viruses/trojans and all that sort. With the wonderful help I've recieved here, those problems were taken care of. However, my Microsoft Word, which began messing up around that time, is still an issue.

I was told to rename the "Normal" file to something such as "oldNormal" and I did so. Yet, a few days later the problem still occured. I tried renaming once more but this time it had no effect.

This isn't only effecting Microsoft Word, but it's also prohibiting some of my other programs (such as GIMP) to function correctly, and it's even caused the taskbar to freeze up.

If anyone with knowledge on how to fix this nuisance, it would be much obliged.

Hi Dashing,

The first thought that comes to mind would be to ask you are your Windows Updates current? I have Word, but don't use it that often so am not knowledged regarding your specific problem...........sorry.

Check your Windows Updates please.

kind regards,

Hi Dashing,
Please note that it is not usually effective to rename "normal.dot" in the way you have have done, "oldnormal" (although you might be lucky and it works!)

When Word fails, it is often because of a corrupted Normal.dot file.
Renaming "Normal.dot" to "Normal.old" will force Word to create a fresh "Normal.dot " hopefully without any errors, the next time Word is opened.
Here's a way for you to try:

1 Close all instances of Microsoft Word
2 Using My Computer or Windows Explorer - Navigate to: C:\Documents and Settings\"YOUR USERNAME"\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates\
3 Right-Click - Normal.dot - Select Rename - (type) Normal.old
4 If there are additional instances of ???.dot files, repeat the above for each file with extension ".dot"
5 Open Microsoft Word.
now see how you go
Regards
paws

tallin,

Yes, my Windows is currenlty up-to-date.


paws,

I have tried this method before and yet it still doesn't work. I've noticed that there's no ".dot" file anywhere on my computer. It's ".wpt" instead. (it's Microsoft Word 7.0, if that helps any)

Hi Dashing
Are you sure? (It's easy to make a mistake with the exact form of the spelling)
Microsoft Word 7 is an old piece of software that was introduced for use with Windows 95........and that is going back a bit now!

The .wpt file suffix is used for various pieces of software notably Brother Word processors and Coral Word perfect documents......it was not generally the typical file format for Microsoft Word
When you searched for "Normal dot" did you remember that Normal.dot is usually a hidden system file and on a lot of systems not readily visible?
Regards
paws

This post has been edited by paws: Mar 8 2008, 04:18 AM

I did a search for "Normal dot" and yet nothing came up. There's only two "Normal" files located on my computer. The one I mentioned in my previous post and the BIN file. The BIN file was the original file that I renamed and it worked for a short time.

Hi Dashing,
OK,
Try this:
1 Click on My Computer
2 Click on Tools
3 Click on Folder options
4 Click on View
5 Find the following and execute the instruction in brackets:

Do not show hidden files & folders (Clear the circle)
Show hidden files & folders (mark the circle)
Hide extensions for known file types (clear the square)
Hide Protected operation system files (clear the square)

6 Click on OK
7 Close down your computer in the normal way
8 Wait 30 seconds with a blank, black screen
9 Restart your computer
10 Follow the instructions in Post 3 again

If this is not successful then :
11 Click on Start
12 Click on Search
13 Click on All Files and folders
14 in the top white box type
Normal.dot
(That is exactly as it appears above with the dot between the l and the d and with no spaces)
15 in the box labelled "look in"
set to:
My Computer
16 Scroll down to "More Advanced Options"
17 Make sure the top 3 boxes all have a checkmark (tick) in them
18 Make sure the bottom 2 boxes are clear of checkmarks (ticks)
19 Click on Search
You should now be able to see the Normal.dot file so you can re-name it in accordance with my prervious recommendations in post 3

Let us know how you get on
When all has been done successfully then you can reverse the steps between 5 and 6 above.
Regards
paws

This post has been edited by paws: Mar 8 2008, 08:40 AM

Again, no conclusive result.



This is the only Normal file located in the Template folder as I described before.



This is the only other Normal file located on my computer. This is the file that I originally renamed to "oldNormal" and that seemed to fix Microsoft Word for a few days but it randomly acted up again one night while I was away from my computer.

Dashing,
Maybe I'm confused but could you please verify that you have Microsoft Office installed as well as Microsoft Works?
It makes a difference in the answers you're going to get for your problem.

I don't think so, or at least, it's not listed in Add/Remove programs.

A few nights ago I noticed a common message popping up that my virtual memory was/is too low. I changed it. Rebooted. Microsoft Word worked perfectly fine, as did my other programs. I turn on my computer the next day and Word reverted back to the same problem.

I don't know what it is.