Word not opening

[Sonikku]

My mother hasn't been able to open any documents. I'm on her computer atm and when I open word a little box in the bottom right corner of the screen that says "Opening Microsoft word". But then nothing happens. At one point urls weren't working in firefox for her a couple months ago and after digging long enough I found it had somehow been changed to run in compatibility mode for windows 95 which I was able to fix. But that isn't the case for Word and I still can't get it to open.

I'm beginning to wonder if she's changing settings without even realizing it. What could be causing this? She uses Windows XP with Avast. It's an old computer (Athlon 64 3400+ single core, X800XT, 1gb ddr1 ram) but it's been fine for web browsing/email and documents which is all she uses it for.

Moved from General Hardware.

mfenn
General Hardware Moderator

 

[denis280]

the shortcut might be corrupted.and in some case reinstall.

 

[Ketchup]

What version is it?
Does it make any difference if you open Word directly vs opening a document?
If the same problem occurs opening Word on its own, can you open it in safe mode?
Are other Office applications opening normally?

You may need to perform a repair install.

 

[C1]

Before messing any more with the document, make a back up copy of the document (ie, .doc file).

Right click the document, then from "open with" select Microsoft Word.

You should also be able to open MS Word, then from the Open command in the "File Menu" route to the folder the document is in and select & open the document. This at least tells you that the MS Word program works. (If not then you'll have to repair it using the installation disk.)

 

[VirtualLarry]

With a computer that old, I would seriously consider an upgrade. But before that, I would do a RAM test, followed by a HDD surface scan and SMART test. And a malware scan.

But in all ernesty, get them off of XP as soon as possible.

Linux Mint MATE edition is very similar to XP in UI, runs pretty well, and has LibreOffice, which is an MS Office workalike.

 

[Fardringle]

Go to Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs. Click on Microsft Office in the list, then click the Change button and choose to repair MS Office.

 

[ninaholic37]

and when I open word a little box in the bottom right corner of the screen that says "Opening Microsoft word".

Is that normal? I've never see a program saying "Opening program-name" in the bottom right corner when you click on it, it should just... open or not. I prefer WordPad though because it doesn't nag you to register / pay M$ or whatever.