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04.11.2008 at 05:34PM PDT, ID: 23316775
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Office 2003 WORD will not open, only in safe mode, Normal.dot problem

Tags: Microsoft, Office Word, 2003
Hi,
I cannot open Word except in safe mode due to a problem with the Normal.dot template file. It just hangs at the splash screen. I did try to delete ans rename the "Normal.dot" file and it will open OK in normal mode, but as soon as it recreates "Normal.dot" the same thing happens. There are no add-ins and all other Office programs will open fine.

Where does Word get the Normal.dot from when it recreates the file? I am thinking that if I can find that perhaps I can eliminate the source of the problem. I have repaired, re-installed, un-installed and re-installed.

Thanks
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Question Stats
Zone: Software
Question Asked By: jmolhava
Solution Provided By: NJDfan1711
Participating Experts: 4
Solution Grade: A
Views: 142
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04.11.2008 at 05:40PM PDT, ID: 21339281

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04.11.2008 at 05:53PM PDT, ID: 21339339

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04.11.2008 at 06:35PM PDT, ID: 21339457

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04.11.2008 at 07:38PM PDT, ID: 21339610

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04.11.2008 at 09:13PM PDT, ID: 21339804

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04.11.2008 at 10:52PM PDT, ID: 21340013

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04.12.2008 at 07:13PM PDT, ID: 21343307

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04.15.2008 at 05:57PM PDT, ID: 21363987

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04.11.2008 at 05:40PM PDT, ID: 21339281
Try to search for every "normal.dot" in you logical drives. Then you'll know where they exactly are.
 
04.11.2008 at 05:53PM PDT, ID: 21339339
already did that and deleted them.
 
04.11.2008 at 06:35PM PDT, ID: 21339457
Do a search on your system for "Normal.dot"

For each match you get, rename it to "Normal-Old.dot"

Once you do that, start Word again. Since it won't find any Normal.dot file, it will recreate a new one.
 
04.11.2008 at 07:38PM PDT, ID: 21339610
I would've advised the same as Jim if he didn't just say it, which is that Word automatically creates a template called normal.dot every time it's started (if one doesn't already exist that is).

Just curious, do you happen to have up-to-date anti-virus protection and definitions? If so, have you run a full system scan recently and are you sure this problem isn't virus-related? I've seen this happen before where a virus infects Word, specifically the normal.dot template, even after repairs and uninstallations.
Accepted Solution
 
04.11.2008 at 09:13PM PDT, ID: 21339804
Yes I have deleted them and WORD will open once, but after closing and reopening a new normal.dot is created. EVERY time WORD creates this new version of normal.dot, it gets stuck on the splash screen and will not open. The problem is that the NEW template file prevents Word from opening.

Does anyone know how (if possible) I can fix how/where Word is recreating this file? Maybe it is not possible but this is what I am trying to find out.

In addition to all of the attempted fixes I mention above, I have also tried system restore to a date well before this began  happening.
 
04.11.2008 at 10:52PM PDT, ID: 21340013
Hi,
Just go through this Microsoft Article.
i went through this article and the issue you have related, i am working on your issue and as in many cases  if we delete the normal.dot it should fix the issues.
just go through this article.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/889495/en-us
Article ID      :      889495

Hope this should fix your issue. kindly do notify me if this fix your issue.\
Good Luck....!
 
04.12.2008 at 07:13PM PDT, ID: 21343307
You didn't mention if you have anti-virus software installed, if it's up to date, and if you've scanned your computer... have you done that?
 
04.15.2008 at 05:57PM PDT, ID: 21363987
OK, so... All is working again.
The culprit seemed to be Norton. After running a virus scan as suggested by NJD, Norton encountered an error and then disappeared. I was not actually present during this part so I do not totally understand what the user did, but they said that both Norton AV & Personal Firewall were missing as if no longer installed after the error occurred during the virus scan. Then they tried to re-install Norton and got another error. This is when I got back to it and found a Norton 'settings.bak' file which was corrupt and was preventing a re-install. After running CHKDSK I removed the offending file and successfully installed Norton. After one more scan no viruses were detected and Word opened just fine (Word actually began opening fine after Norotn disappeared from the system).

I could be wrong but I think that Norton was getting hung up on the normal.dot template because it(Norton) was broken. I am awarding the points to NJD for the suggestion to look at anti-virus software.
 
 
04.16.2008 at 04:28AM PDT, ID: 21366505
Thanks for the points. It's crazy how certain things lead to solutions that you wouldn't necessarily expect.

I'm glad you got it resolved. :)
 
 
 
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