Outlook freezes when loading Word and Excel (all Office 2002 SP3)

J R Meyer · 03-05-2009, 10:25 AM

Hi!
This morning my Outlook 2002 SP3 started acting up. When I try to reply to an e-mail, a small window opens saying "Starting Word as your e-mail editor" as it usually does, but now Outlook freezes. The same happens when I try to open an Excel attachment, except that the screen goes blank and freezes.

This has never happened to me before. The only thing different or new on the computer is that I downloaded an update from Microsoft yesterday -- for Windows Live Sign-in Assistant. Otherwise, there were no changes. (I did say no one time to changing my Normal.dot file.)

Also, when I sign off Word 2002, a message comes up "This file is in use by another application or user. (C:\Documents and settings\...\Normal.dot)"
When I click OK, a Save AS window opens for the Templates directory with the File Name of Normal.dot. When I click Save, it says that "This file is read only. (C:\Documents and Settings\...\Normal.dot.)"

So I have to hit cancel to close that window. Then another opens saying that "Changes have been made that affect the global template Normal.dot. Do you want to save those changes?" Hitting either Yes or No closes the screen, but the problem doesn't go away.

(I am running an antivirus scan right now.)

Help?? JRM

J R Meyer · 03-07-2009, 05:24 AM

Well, no responses. This problem must really be unusual!

A couple of updates, maybe they will help.... I ran the antivirus (Avira) and nothing was found. Then two days ago when I started Outlook, Word and Excel started perfectly in it, so I thought that the problem had somehow remedied itself, but I waited a bit before adding that to this thread, just in case.

Good thing that I did, because this morning when I started Outlook, Word did not start when I wanted to reply to an e-mail and I got the error message:

"This form requires Word as your e-mail editor, but Word can either not be found or is busy. The program will open in Outlook editor instead."

Word opens on its own perfectly. No changes were made in Outlook. I suppose that I could go to a system restore from before the problem started, but will I lose any e-mails I received since then??

JRM

J R Meyer · 03-07-2009, 05:37 AM

This is weird! After writing my letter in Outlook editor, I decided to try closing Outlook and restarting it. If that didn't work, I was going to shut down and restart the computer. However, I didn't have to do that, because after reopening Outlook, Word started up right away. How long that will continue is the big question. Crossing my fingers....

JRM

ahoyle · 08-25-2009, 07:22 AM

I'm sorry that no one has responded to your post - I'm having the exact same problem. Did you ever resolve this?

03-05-2009, 10:25 AM	#1 (permalink)
J R Meyer Registered User Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 3 OS: XP SP3	Outlook freezes when loading Word and Excel (all Office 2002 SP3) Hi! This morning my Outlook 2002 SP3 started acting up. When I try to reply to an e-mail, a small window opens saying "Starting Word as your e-mail editor" as it usually does, but now Outlook freezes. The same happens when I try to open an Excel attachment, except that the screen goes blank and freezes. This has never happened to me before. The only thing different or new on the computer is that I downloaded an update from Microsoft yesterday -- for Windows Live Sign-in Assistant. Otherwise, there were no changes. (I did say no one time to changing my Normal.dot file.) Also, when I sign off Word 2002, a message comes up "This file is in use by another application or user. (C:\Documents and settings\...\Normal.dot)" When I click OK, a Save AS window opens for the Templates directory with the File Name of Normal.dot. When I click Save, it says that "This file is read only. (C:\Documents and Settings\...\Normal.dot.)" So I have to hit cancel to close that window. Then another opens saying that "Changes have been made that affect the global template Normal.dot. Do you want to save those changes?" Hitting either Yes or No closes the screen, but the problem doesn't go away. (I am running an antivirus scan right now.) Help?? JRM

03-07-2009, 05:24 AM	#2 (permalink)
J R Meyer Registered User Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 3 OS: XP SP3	Re: Outlook freezes when loading Word and Excel (all Office 2002 SP3) Well, no responses. This problem must really be unusual! A couple of updates, maybe they will help.... I ran the antivirus (Avira) and nothing was found. Then two days ago when I started Outlook, Word and Excel started perfectly in it, so I thought that the problem had somehow remedied itself, but I waited a bit before adding that to this thread, just in case. Good thing that I did, because this morning when I started Outlook, Word did not start when I wanted to reply to an e-mail and I got the error message: "This form requires Word as your e-mail editor, but Word can either not be found or is busy. The program will open in Outlook editor instead." Word opens on its own perfectly. No changes were made in Outlook. I suppose that I could go to a system restore from before the problem started, but will I lose any e-mails I received since then?? JRM

03-07-2009, 05:37 AM	#3 (permalink)
J R Meyer Registered User Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 3 OS: XP SP3	Re: Outlook freezes when loading Word and Excel (all Office 2002 SP3) This is weird! After writing my letter in Outlook editor, I decided to try closing Outlook and restarting it. If that didn't work, I was going to shut down and restart the computer. However, I didn't have to do that, because after reopening Outlook, Word started up right away. How long that will continue is the big question. Crossing my fingers.... JRM

08-25-2009, 07:22 AM	#4 (permalink)
ahoyle Registered User Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 1 OS: xp	Re: Outlook freezes when loading Word and Excel (all Office 2002 SP3) I'm sorry that no one has responded to your post - I'm having the exact same problem. Did you ever resolve this?