Microsoft Word

[chokkie]

Hi techie ABers out there ... all of a sudden, Microsoft Word has stopped working for me. it was fine most of yesterday and when I went to use it yesterday evening, it just wouldn't open. Logged off and then on again, but absolutely nothing doing. Is there a problem at the Microsoft end, or is it me/my computer? Would be grateful for some guidance/advice. Many thanks, cheers, Chox.

[davegosling]

"Logged off and then on again"
That's highly unlikely to help. You need to shut the machine right down and then switch it on again.

"Is there a problem at the Microsoft end"
Assuming you're using the desktop version of Microsoft Word and not Office 365, no.

[fiction-factory]

Do you own the copy of Word or did you buy it for a fixed term period?

[chokkie]

HI both, sorry, what I meant to say was that I did completely shut down and switched it on again .... and it's our copy of Word, it came with the device. Chox.

[davegosling]

You've also forgotten to say which version of Word it is and which version of Windows it's installed on...

[chokkie]

it's Word 2007, don't know which version of Word it's installed on, yes, it's the desktop version.

[davegosling]

Seriously? You don't know which version of Windows is running on your computer?

[chokkie]

It's Word 2007. That's all I know, you're talking to a bit of a technophobe really ........

[davegosling]

1) Hold down the Windows key and press the R key
2) Type notepad in the box and press Enter
3) Click File, About from the menu - what do you see?

[chokkie]

done all that, there was no "about", and when I did it again, it was "not responding".

[davegosling]

If even Notepad is crashing, it sounds like you have a system-wide corruption but it's (almost) impossible to tell.

How old is the machine? Time to upgrade, I reckon!

[chokkie]

many thanks for your help. will look into it further.

[davegosling]

"will look into it further"

How?

At the very least, you should make absolutely certain that your most recent backup worked correctly.

[Quoi]

when you get to notepad click HELP and ABOUT (not file and about)

[bhg481]

Click on the Microsoft symbol at the bottom-left of your screen, then open "System". That will tell you all about your computer.
If you have the discs for your copy of Microsoft Office you can use them to repair the installation.

[Old_Geezer]

Doing nothing eh ? My actions would be to check the drive for corruption. Then see if anything happened if I tried having booted into safe mode. Then probably try a system restore in case a recent installation had corrupted something.

Came with the device... did it come with the Word install disks ?

[davegosling]

"probably try a system restore"

Do not UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES do this from Safe Mode without knowing exactly what you're doing!

I'd respectfully suggest that it's time to take the machine to a specialist who knows what they're doing...

[Old_Geezer]

You worry too much. Any recent changes can be reinstalled.

[Old_Geezer]

Anyway, restore doesn't need to be in safe mode.

[davegosling]

"You worry too much"

And you clearly don't know enough!
https://davescomputertips.com/system-restore-a-laymans-guide/

[Old_Geezer]

Saw nothing there to change one's mind. If the issue isn't gone first time, use an earlier restore.