A partial cure Microsoft Word 2007 crashes: disable add-ins

A funny thing happened after I installed Windows Vista Service Pack 1 on my PC: Word 2007 started crashing whenever I closed it, and all but a handful of the application's settings became inaccessible.

I still haven't figured out how to keep Word from crashing on exit, but I regained access to the program's settings by disabling all add-ins. Unfortunately, it took me the better part of an afternoon to figure out this partial solution, and I'm no closer to finding the source of the crashes, though Vista SP1 is the prime suspect.

My first attempt at a fix was to close Word, and then find and rename the Normal.dotm template (it's called Normal.dot in earlier versions). Word simply recreates the template the next time it opens, with all settings back to their defaults. This catch-all repair, which I've used in the past to reset Word, had no effect this time. I then decided to run the Microsoft Office Diagnostics utility. Since I couldn't access the program via the Resources tab in the Word Options dialog box (only the options on the Popular tab were available), I ran it from the Start menu shortcut under Microsoft Office Tools.

Use the Microsoft Office Diagnostics utility to troubleshoot problems with Office apps.

None of the tests indicated any problems, though one of the results directed me to check "Download a file periodically that helps determine system problems" in the Privacy Options dialog box, after which I was instructed to wait a week for the problem to fix itself.

Microsoft Office Diagnostics may direct you to activate this feature in Word 2007's Privacy Options.

I reopened Word without loading the Normal.dotm template or any add-ins by pressing the Windows key, typing winword.exe /a, and pressing Enter. This allowed me to get to all the Word options, and to close the program without crashing. That told me the problem had to be due to a Word add-in. (The privacy setting the diagnostic program referenced was already checked, so that advice turned out to be pointless.)

I clicked the Trust Center tab in the left pane of the Word Options window, then the Trust Center Settings button, and the Add-ins tab on the left. There I checked Disable all Application Add-ins (may impair functionality) in the right window. Since my "functionality" was already pretty compromised, I figured I didn't have much to lose.

The Add-ins dialog under the Trust Center options in Word 2007

When I reopened Word the normal way I could access all settings, but the program still crashes whenever I close it. I searched the error code and mso.dll it mentioned and tried several of the suggestions offered in various forums, but nothing solved the glitch: Not updating my printer driver, not editing the Registry, not even relocating my Office 2007 installation. I may have to use System Restore or my most recent image backup to reset my PC to its state before SP1 was installed, but I'm going to wait a while before taking this step in hopes that a patch becomes available, or I stumble upon a fix.

Closing Word 2007 after Vista SP1 was installed causes a crash with this error message.

Tomorrow: the pros and cons of Windows' System Restore.

[NorseLord]

An article entitled "How to know when an add-in might be causing Word to behave unexpectedly" in the Microsoft Office Word and OneNote Support Topics blog at http://ryanchristiansen.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!3B33F1DC84E7B97B!178.entry explains how to figure out exactly which add-in might be causing the issue.

Using winword.exe /a not only disables add-ins; it disables a few other things, as well. See Microsoft Knowledge Base article 826857 "Description of the '/a' startup switch in Word" at http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;826857 for more information.

If all else fails, your first best Microsoft Knowledge Base article for troubleshooting issues has always been 259413 "How to troubleshoot problems that may occur when you start or work in Word 2000, in Word 2002, and in Word 2003" at http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;259413

[MandaLucas]

I ran in to this same problem in October - and struggled to find a solution. Word 2007 crashed consistently unless it was loaded with the /a switch which not only prevents addins from loading, but also loads word without reading the registry key - [http://HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Word\Data|http://HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Word\Data]

Eventually I removed the entire registry key (HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Word\Data) and the problem resolved. Word rebuild the key and I have not had the problem since. Interestingly, Microsoft published a VERY general KB in December (#940791) that seems to refer to this issue.

Good Luck!

Mandy Lucas, MOS, MMI - Cincinnati, OH

[doreilly]

Thank you, Mandy. Deleting the key appears to have fixed the problem. I'll point this out in a future post.

Dennis

[debakadeb]

This worked for me :) Thank you so much. I have been trying for months to figure out this problem!

[jnr6]

Hey, thanks! This problem started up out of the blue (just after one of two updates, it seems). A real tormenter as I couldn't open any files. I approached the deletion of the registry key with a little hesitation, but took the plunge and Wrod is working quite well. In fact, it's opening, and opening documents much faster than before. Thanks for posting this fix.

[delfstrom]

Amazing - deleting the registry key worked when everything else didn't (including uninstalling, reinstalling)

[IQVWorld]

Mandy - you so ROCK - I've been totally befuddled by this issue for a week now. This resolved it.

Thanks!
Jim

[slojuggler]

Mandy, your tip worked for me. Word 2007 was giving me grief and repairing/reinstalling did NOT fix the problem. Your registry tip did, however. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

[krosafcheg]

Thank you for this... This helped me a lot :D

[dennis_b_duffy]

I also tried the fix of deleting the registry key. I thought this was the winner, until last week when almost all my Office 2007 applications crash on exit. I tried to contact MS Support, but they wanted $200 to fix the issue. I though this was odd, as it is an issue that a number of thier customers have.

Because of this my Reliability score, from the Reliability and Performance monitor is below 5, sad for a machine that is only 3 months old, has a dual-core processor and 3 gigs of ram (half of which are needed to run the darn OS).

[Soloren2001]

I must say I am wondering if Microsoft really is that careless about its products or if Google somehow corrupting Microsoft files...

In any case, within a few months using a Vista installed laptop, IE wouldn't open without disabling the modules so I switched to Firefox. Then Outlook wouldn't send emails out (it received them but wouldn't send) although all the parameters were fine, so I switched to Gmail and then to Google Apps. Then MS Word began to crash on start. I tried to reinstall it altogether but now it crashes on closing. I wasn't as patient as you all. So in the meantime, since I had a Google Premium account I began using Google Docs.

It doesn't seem to be Google's style but I can't help to wonder if Google isn't responsible for these? Or is Microsoft really that careless about its products...

For those considering it: I have to say I am not fully content with it but it's getting there. Gmail and Google calendar beats Outlook despite the fact that I loved the new search in Vista and Outlook (it's actually a little better than Gmail searches which are too narrow).
Google Docs doesn't yet fully reproduce the entire MS Office experience. The Presentation already beats PPT. Spreadsheets are the most troublesome. Documents (word) is lacking a few more options: the major one being the ability to have a ruler or to display a doc in "page view" and other views. Also some functions are not there.

However they sort of make it up with the document sharing which really boosts people collaborating here at the office.

Should we start a Google conspiracy theory? Or is Microsoft simply so bad that in 8 month of using Vista I have turned away from every Microsoft products I used on a daily basis before? And I am even considering switching to a Mac because I hate Vista so much (so slow). The only great thing about Vista is the search but in Outlook at one point it took weeks to rebuilt the index and I couldn't use the search.
So Microsoft: get your s**** together!

[psg190]

From another message board:

Hi,

Like always, I ask you and others users with the same question : do you have
a HP printer? If yes, just try to unselect the HP printer
as the one by default. Select another printer by default. Don't forget when
you print to select the HP printer each time.

Hope that helps you.
GF

[MyquiH]

THANK YOU! I was also having the problem where all Office 2007 apps would crash on close, but only since upgrading to Vista SP1. I changed my default printer to Microsoft Document Writer, and that was it -- Office now closes fine. I am also using an HP printer with all their 283749273 pieces of "add on" software. HP bug?

[ShaynePierce]

I still have this same problem. I am using XPS printer as default so I can run Excel 2007 and the other Office 2007 products. I would like to keep my HP device as default. Is there any relief for this issue?

[JGMIII]

Thank you Mandy!!! Your method worked out for me!

[johnkape]

worked!!! thx Mandy.

Pesky problem. No other way to fix

[buckytherooster]

I have been having the same problem with Word 2007. I tried the work around but nothing doing it crashed upon closing. It crashes every time I close it. It also will not let me select text with the mouse as in copy. I am frustrated with Word and am thinking about looking elsewhere for a word processor that will not crash like Word 2007.
Don...Indiana

[slojuggler]

Hi Bucky,

Prior to finding Mandy's fix, I was able to workaround the issue by creating a new User profile launching Word in that new profile. Perhaps that might work for you.

Good luck.

-P

[EdmundoCruz66]

The following error is user related, the Office 2007 diagnostics doesn?t solves the problem.

Symptoms: Word 2007 crashes at exit and the left menu in the ?Word 2007 Options? screen doesn?t work.

The error is due to an incorrect value in Settings in the key [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Word\Data]

Remove the binary value ?Settings? resolves the problem. Word 2007 must be closed before remove. (The value is recreated when Word 2007 starts again.)

Have a nice day..

[marge1k]

I have never fooled with the registry but this problem has been driving me crazy for two months. Is anyone willing to give me step by step instructions for the fix?

[akrughoff]

No need to worry about editing the registry, Microsoft has released a patch for it, just go to the following link and there is a Fix It download that will take care of the problem, at least it did for me.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940791