Jeff from New Jersey left a comment on one of my posts telling me about a problem he was having with Word 2007 after applying a new patch which he downloaded from Windows Update. The problem was that after installing the patch he couldn't use Word - it just froze. A bit of a weird problem but after speaking with the Word team it had been reported by a couple of users before. Here's how to get round the problem:
1. Run regedit.exe from the command line (regedit.exe)
2. Navigate to and delete HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Word\DataPlease note this is not an official workaround.
Just as a side note, before I worked for Microsoft my perspective of the company that there was no way to interact with it and no way of getting an issue resolved. Now that I work for them, I feel like I can make a difference with my blog providing a gateway into the company and its experts. It's just a small thing but it makes me feel good.
I’m having the same problem with the 2007 suite. The computer freezes after it’s been on awhile. It’s happened with WORD and ACCESS. My OS is windows XP. Any ideas?
Thanks for the info Peter. GLad you got the problem sorted out. Check out this page for Anti virus software: http://onecare.live.com/standard/en-us/onecare_default.htm
Glad to hear you guys found the fix useful!
Cheers
James
I was dealing with a similar problem here, and discovered that Norton Anti-Virus has a Microsoft Office Plug-In that requests a virus scan every time you open a file (even a new file). This can slow down the system incredibly, or even bring it to a grinding halt. I had to go so far as to delete Norton Anti-Virus (the pre-installed version, which wouldn’t let me turn off the Office plug-in) from my system.
This is info I got on another blog that might help, though:
1. Start Norton AntiVirus.
2. If Norton AntiVirus is part of Norton Internet Security or Norton SystemWorks, then start that program.
3. Click Options.
4. In the left pane, click Miscellaneous.
5. In the right pane, under "How to keep Microsoft Office documents protected," uncheck Enable Office plug-in.
6. Click OK.
All of my Office programs are running fine now, and I’m looking for another virus protection software to use other than Norton, toward which I am not feeling exceptionally kindly at the moment. 🙂
Peter Carlson
Hi Hockynutz, can you email me please at james@microsoft.com and I’ll get it sorted out for you.
Thanks
James
Guys, if you can email me james@microsoft.com I can setup you up with an individual support call to get this sorted.
Cheers
James
I removed the data folder as instructed, but Word 2007 still freezes after I do anything to the document that was opened.
Hi Shinynavigator,
Have you tried the regedit fix yet?
James
Hi Frank
Sorry to hear that you had a hardware failure, but it’s not fair to say that Vista was responsible for this. Sometimes you just get bad luck with hardware components and they can fail no matter what age it is.
As for your comment about Vista not being better than XP, please check out my article here: http://blogs.technet.com/james/archive/2008/01/17/windows-vista-facts.aspx
If you care about Security, Mobility (Laptop use) or End User productivity, then Vista is the superior operating system. period.
James
I did run the regedit file and also removed the updates dated 28 August. Yet still Windows Vista word 2007 freezes up every time it is opend. Microsoft do not seem to care ! Is there any thing else I can do apart from moving to an apple progam. Very disapointed as this is occurring on a new soney Vaio 17 inch. 10s of thousands spent to have the best and feel as though I have the worst program ever.
I’m using Vista Home Edition and the regedit fix did not work for me either. I’m looking at 5-7 minute delays to open any 2007 Word doc and Outlook as well. Access, PPT, and Excel all open up just fine. I uninstalled a group of MS Office updates as well as Vista SP1 to no avail. There are two updates, 2007 MS Office Suite Service Pack 1 and Update for Office 2007 (KB950582) that won’t even give me a uninstall option. I did all of these updates in a 2 day time frame. Any help would be great as I’m currently a full time student and work as an IT tech from home.
Wow! This fix is great. I had uninstalled and reinstalled office 2007 twice to no avail. I was just about ready to do a Vista reinstall when I found this site. Did the Regedit think and now I’m rockin!
Thanks so much!!!
Why is this still happening on Sep, when this was going on back in June?
Hi John sorry to hear it didn’t work, what happened exactly when you tried the solution?
Hi Fahad – glad to hear you liked it – your comment just made my day 🙂
Cheers
James
@Tim
Sounds like a problem that needs some specialised help – where are you located and I can arrange a free support call with Microsoft support. Drop me a line james@microsoft.com
James
Don’t worry Mike – this post is now immortalised forever more 🙂
Thanks for your comments
James
ZOMG! It worked and I now have a man-crush on you!
After about 40 hours of working hard at this issue I found a few other intersteing things. Norton had stopped working and I wasn’t able to open it (thanks to Vista bringing this to my attention via firewall alerts) even though the tray showed it as up and running. I un-installed/re-installed Norton and 3 trojans were found on my Laptop. Upon quarantine, all MS Office and Norton are working properly. Who knows if their was a virus in the actual Windows Update or if I picked one up while Norton was deactivated. Either way, issues resolved, thank goodness.
Hey thanks for the tip!
Was just about to reinstall Vista – this bug was doing my head in.
Hope the guys at MS are working on a fix to the update.
Cheers,
Ross
Hi,
I’m having the same problem not able to open word or powerpoint 2007. they freeze as soon that I open them?
I have tried the above solution did not work
HI,
I tried this solution, but it doesn’t work.
This was EXTREMELY helpful. I was ready to revert to XP and/or throw my Vista machines out the window (no pun intended).
Thank you, thank you , yahnk you – this worked like a champ – I tried a number of other tips – with no luck. thanks again
Paul Downs
Awesome. You just solved a months-long persistent headache.
Sincerely – THANK YOU!
I woke up to a restarted computer after a MS update and was unable to use Word. This was the best (and easiest) instant gratification fix I’ve ever had.
You Da Man! teaches me to patch Office! the reg fix worked.
My daughter just had the same problem after Windows Update performed an unrequested fix on 11th April 2008. Your fix worked immediately. As she is a busy barrister, this was invaluable information. Thank you!
Nothing. I was hoping that it would be this easy but not my luck.
You rock man! the work around works. really grateful. this small thing you are doing is making a big impact. Keep up the motion.
Fahad
Thanks – I was just about to install OpenOffice, as I needed to get to my documents. Luckily, I noticed that an update had just been done (could see it in the history as well)… and I thought I can’t be the only one around with this problem… You were my first hit!
Thanks again!
Yours
Filip
Belgium
Thanks!!! This just started happening yesterday (along with a problem with the mouse which required deleting an Adobe add-in) and this fix worked.
Thanks! Worked great. This is the 2nd time an update has screwed me up, but this solved it.
Mike
YESSS!!! Finally a solution–only one I could find. Thank you!
Hi James,
First time I experienced this problem was end of last year. I did reinstall the whole computer and worked until late last night to find a way to prevent me from doing this again. It always seems to happen when updates are run automatically somewhere during the night.
I cannot tell how happy I am that somebody pointed me to your blog. This saved me many hours reinstalling the system again and waiting for the next update….
Hello…thank you so much for your solution for Word 2007 freezing after downloading a new patch. I’ve been without my new laptop 2 weeks now; it’s been in the local computer shop. I forwarded the link to your blog to the owner of the computer shop. Your suggestion solved the problem. I’m grateful!
I want to thank you, for the free advice and free fix, if it does eradicated my issue. However, I am not very happy with vista! You see, the software was already installed on my new Dell, purchased from Best Buy a month ago. My HP pavilion, 7520n was less then two-years old and huffed the hard-dive made by Sea-gate! My schooling is far more important to me, then repairing an HP that died so young. However, we were spoiled by Windows Office XP Student and Teacher addition! Vista, complete with user icons, is nothing more then a revised, or redecorated version of Millenium! Indeed, vista is like an egg shell without the egg.
Why, would a company choose such an inferior software program, take a chance on alienating thousands of repeat customers when Windows XP was the Bomm? Well, thanks again, keep up the good efforts. Nice to see one of the smart boys pay it forward for a change, when we all know if the software was glitch free from the begginig, we would not need all these fixes and updates?
Thanks for this one. Saved me a lot of time. Ususally, I reinstall the whole program (my way to solve Win problems)… And by the way: That’s why I use Linux when I am not doing chemistry….
My problem is slightly different than this but related. My computer started freezing awhile back and I thought it was the internet card (PCMCIA) or HD. Got new ones for both and the problem was fixed…until I installed Office 2007. Running XP Media Center and all software was updated 2 nights ago. Computer is still freezing at random, even without Office 2007 running.
Any ideas? Like others on this forum, I’m about this close to going back to 2003 and fighting through it (and beating my head against the wall), as it’s cheaper than a new computer and I don’t have the RAM capacity to run Vista (system is max 1GB).
HELP!!!
Thanks a lot for the tip. It worked great. The same thing happened to me a few months ago and I fixed it by system restoring before the last update and reapplying the update. That time the bug could be reproduced by installing the update with Word running. This time I didn’t have a restore point that would fix the bug. But, your fix worked.
I have similair, but different problem. I use a server and XP SP1 and MS office on my PC. Whenever windows update runs everything seems fine, I can access the server and see my files (word, access, excel) but try and open one and I get and error (disc or network error). The only cure is turn off windows update restore to the original format and stay with XP SP1- is there another way?
Don’t ever delete this post. I have it bookmarked and have used it at least 5 times. (I guess I should just close Word when it’s not in use so the automatic updates don’t mess with me.)
About MSword 2007 freezes…
Glad I found you because I have tried hours of quite a few things to find a solution but nothing worked even the MS diagnostics built inti this programme that found everything was perfect?
Thanks and hope that when I boot up again and lose your feedback page it will have been the correct thing to do. If not I will get back with a new question! Many thanks and good night!
thanks for this information. My options were disabled after a recent service pac installation. I removed it and tried your suggestion of removing the reg key. Word is back on track!
Thanks
Hi James,
I’ve tearing my hair out for a while on this one. Word very slow to open/unresponsive – all other Office Apps OK.
Tried your fix but no joy I/m afraid.
Any further advise?
Many thanks.
Great information; however, it didn’t work for me. I’ve tried all the options above, yet I still have the problem.
I tried restoring to a previous save-point, MS Office Diag, MS Office Repair (from CD), MS Office reinstallation (of which also failed).
All other MS products work; MS Word will not.
Any other ideas?
Thanks.
Fantastic solution! Microsoft Word has been freezing after recent automatic update, and I have spent all morning trying to fix it. This solution worked like a charm, and I so much appreciate that someone associated with Microsoft gives a D***. I have never had problems like those Vista and its freakin update disasters have given me over the last year.
Workaround still working! Am running Vista with Office 2007. Just recently Word started to freeze everytime I used it. The workaround you provided has put things back to normal.
Good Work.
Woops!
The very same happened if you install the Security Update for Microsoft XML Core Services 4.0 Service Pack 2 (KB936181).
Fortunately James’ original comment about deleting the entry "Data" and the content works!
1. Run regedit.exe from the command line (regedit.exe)
2. Navigate to and delete HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftOffice12.0WordData
Thanks millions, had me REALLY annoyed most of this afternoon.
Morten
Please never delete this page. I use this at least once a month….
A big thank you
I printed this "fix" for Microsoft Word because I have the problem every time Microsoft Vista performs an update. You are a lifesaver! Thanks for the solution.
Does this also work for Microsoft PowerPoint? I am having a similar issue where the programs stops working. It isn’t freezing up, it just stops working and tries to report the problem to Microsoft every time I use it. Thanks!
PowerPoint 2007 has the same problem – Running Office Enterprise 2007, Vista Ultimate, after critical update MS PowerPoint began to respond the same way it still has most of its functionality however, it prompts the same error message when I close it.
Any suggestions?
And btw thank you for the MS Word Fix!!!
Thanks James. I knew about this fix some time ago and most of the time manage to close office before the update kicks in. This time I was away, didn’t get there and had forgotten how to do it.
Maybe if you are in the inner sanctum you could put in a word for everyone – its a silly bug which undermines the software and gives people an excuse to sharpen the axe again.
As Fahad said – you rock man!
Graham
I have had a Word 2007 freeze happen twice in two weeks – each after a Windows Update. Your solution worked both times (the second time I found it was only necessary to delete the Settings file in the Data directory).
My question is, for how long will we have to live with this?
It worked for me! Thanks.
-Dave
Mine just started to freeze a week ago. I did a system restore back to November 15, and it worked. Then, today it froze up again. It will always happen when I try to insert a figure.
It does not freeze up when I insert text. Both options were tried using ctrl-V. I can also make it freeze up when clicking on insert, then picture. That’s as far as I get (it doesn’t let me even select a folder, etc. for the picture.
I am rebooting the system now, after trying your fix. But it’s December 2008, and this started happening back in June 2007? One and a half years to fix this, and they know what the problem is?
The fix did work, but I’ve got a university paper I have to submit tonight, and it’s going to be a late night.
While the regedit worked, it apparently wiped out the Snipping tool. Which I just recently started using, which was just a little before Word started to freeze.
Maybe they’re tied together?
that was sooooooooo helpful, i had reinstalled it so many times previously… so simple THANKYOU
Thank you thank you thank you a million times, you have no idea how many IT I have spoke with to resolve my stupid freezing problem on word 2007. Following these directions really work out great.
1. Run regedit.exe from the command line (regedit.exe)
2. Navigate to and delete HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftOffice12.0WordData
I am always looking for a computer consultant, maybe we can work something out.
Great tip, works a treat.
This page is so useful – I have had to do this at least one every three months and each time cannot remember the exact registry string to edit – a real timesaver.
Thanks.
James, My problem with Word 2007 started immediately upon applying the 12/2008 patches. As soon as I attempt to type anything into a document, it freezes. All the other apps in Home and Student appear to still work. I deleted the registry key, but no joy. It was installed over Office XP and Update continues to offer patches for it in addition to the new software. I’m about ready to clean everything out and start over unless you have a less drastic idea. Thanks, Mike
The registry key is not there! Any other ideas?
I spent days fighting with Word. Thank you for posting this fix. Works great!
Cheers,
Michael
Thanks a million for this great tip. I was just about to move to Open Office til I found it.
Bye and greetings from Chile!
Hi,
I just recently installed MS Office 2007. I have to reboot 5-10 times a day because my mouse/computer freezes. It freezes when Outlook is open and also when it is closed. I don’t know where the problem is coming from. Sometimes I am just in Internet Explorer and it will freeze. None of these problems were here until I installed MS Office 2007.
I also installed the new IE 8. Thought that might be the problem so I uninstalled it. Still having the problems.
Any ideas? I run my business from this computer, so it’s incredibly frustrating to have to reboot that many times.
For what it’s worth, I also had trouble installing the new MS Auto Updater. Not sure if I ever did it or not.
I followed your advice above for the Word crashes. Not sure if it will fix my problem or not.
OS is XP.
Tammy
I also tried this regedit and it does not resolve the issue.
I can open Excel, Power Point and Access but Word freezes everytime. Any other suggestions?
Joe
I installed ms office2007 after the install I tried to open Word. it show that virus scan is running after that Word is not responding..the other applications (excel,powerpoint etc opens with no problem) how do i correct word to open
Thanks the fix at the beginning works wonderfully.
Thank you solved my problem after trying everything other than a format!
Thanks SO much for the regedit tip – been struggling with Word 2007 for the last 2 years – you’re a genius 🙂
Thanks!! It worked perfectly! 🙂 🙂