Opening Word or Excel file from file shortcut opens Word or Excel program, but not the file

Problem:

You double-click a file shortcut for Word or Excel in Windows
Explorer. The program opens as it should, but to a blue screen. The
file doesn't open.

This has other manifestations. If you try to open a Word or Excel
attachment in Outlook, it says the file can't be found. Similar
messages occur when trying to open Word or Excel files starting from
programs other than Word or Excel (Paperport is one example).

But if Word or Excel (the program) is already open, the problem
doesn't occur.

Solution:

I finally found the solution, at least for me. It took a while,
including four failed calls to Microsoft tech support that led me
closer and closer to resolving the issue.

First, here is what did not work:
1. Uninstalling residual components of previous versions of office.
2. Repairing Office 2007.
3. Uninstalling and Reinstalling Office 2007.
4. Uninstalling and Reinstalling Norton 360.
5. Still did not work in Windows Safe Mode after the first attempt
to open a Word or Excel file.
6. Creating a new account and working with Word and Excel within it
did work,
but not after the files from the old account were copied back
into it.

It is this last breakthrough that led to the final resolution. You
can try to create a new user account and create and open Word files
within it to see if the problem disappears in that account. If it
does, below is the likely resolution. Or you can just try it right
away; it's easy to do.

Working with your existing user account, delete the following folders,
or move them to a distant safe place so you can put them back later if
this doesn't work:
C:\Documents and Settings\[Username]\Application Data
\Microsoft\Excel\XLSTART and
C:\Documents and Settings\[Username]\Application Data
\Microsoft\Word\STARTUP

Word and Excel rebuild the folders when restarting, and in my case the
problem was immediately and permanently gone. No system restart is
required.

I can't be certain, but it appears that in my case the program
OfficeReady Pro 3.0 was causing the problem. (There were entries for
it in the removed folders, but there were also other files that seemed
to originate from Microsoft.) It had been loaded on the machine for
years, so I don't know why it would suddenly cause this issue. That
program is still available to the public and its web site gives the
(probably false) impression that it is closely affiliated with
Microsoft. In someone else's case, another program may cause a
similar problem. If this doesn't solve it, I'd recommend trying to
delete the root Excel and Word folders above, and the Office folder in
the same "Microsoft" folder, and (least likely) the Office Folder
below:
C:\Documents and Settings\[Username]\Local Settings
\Application Data\Microsoft\Office

Hope this works for you or others...

Am having related issue with Office/Home 2007. Clicking on either shortcut or
any other Word link to open Word, I get a doc opened in the taskbar, but
cannot see actual Word app or actual doc. Word seems to be hiding behind
Desktop - can't figure out how to move it forward. Any thoughts?

"betel11geuse@gmail.com" wrote:

> Problem:
>
> You double-click a file shortcut for Word or Excel in Windows
> Explorer. The program opens as it should, but to a blue screen. The
> file doesn't open.
>
> This has other manifestations. If you try to open a Word or Excel
> attachment in Outlook, it says the file can't be found. Similar
> messages occur when trying to open Word or Excel files starting from
> programs other than Word or Excel (Paperport is one example).
>
> But if Word or Excel (the program) is already open, the problem
> doesn't occur.
>
> Solution:
>
> I finally found the solution, at least for me. It took a while,
> including four failed calls to Microsoft tech support that led me
> closer and closer to resolving the issue.
>
> First, here is what did not work:
> 1. Uninstalling residual components of previous versions of office.
> 2. Repairing Office 2007.
> 3. Uninstalling and Reinstalling Office 2007.
> 4. Uninstalling and Reinstalling Norton 360.
> 5. Still did not work in Windows Safe Mode after the first attempt
> to open a Word or Excel file.
> 6. Creating a new account and working with Word and Excel within it
> did work,
> but not after the files from the old account were copied back
> into it.
>
> It is this last breakthrough that led to the final resolution. You
> can try to create a new user account and create and open Word files
> within it to see if the problem disappears in that account. If it
> does, below is the likely resolution. Or you can just try it right
> away; it's easy to do.
>
> Working with your existing user account, delete the following folders,
> or move them to a distant safe place so you can put them back later if
> this doesn't work:
> C:\Documents and Settings\[Username]\Application Data
> \Microsoft\Excel\XLSTART and
> C:\Documents and Settings\[Username]\Application Data
> \Microsoft\Word\STARTUP
>
> Word and Excel rebuild the folders when restarting, and in my case the
> problem was immediately and permanently gone. No system restart is
> required.
>
> I can't be certain, but it appears that in my case the program
> OfficeReady Pro 3.0 was causing the problem. (There were entries for
> it in the removed folders, but there were also other files that seemed
> to originate from Microsoft.) It had been loaded on the machine for
> years, so I don't know why it would suddenly cause this issue. That
> program is still available to the public and its web site gives the
> (probably false) impression that it is closely affiliated with
> Microsoft. In someone else's case, another program may cause a
> similar problem. If this doesn't solve it, I'd recommend trying to
> delete the root Excel and Word folders above, and the Office folder in
> the same "Microsoft" folder, and (least likely) the Office Folder
> below:
> C:\Documents and Settings\[Username]\Local Settings
> \Application Data\Microsoft\Office
>
> Hope this works for you or others...
>
>