Normal Template Error Messages - Word does not work

[simhut]

After several years of using Office 2004 for Mac, I am suddenly having
problems with Word. When I open Word, I get an error message that
reads "Word cannot open the existing global template. (Normal)" When
I click "OK" and then type something on the page and try to save it, I
get the following message: "Word cannot save this document due to a
naming or permissions error on the destination volume.
(Document1.doc)" I have already repaired the permissions on my
computer (a Mac 15" PowerBook G4, but that did not seem to have any
effect. And if I try to open a Word document that I already created,
I get the following message: "[NAME OF DOCUMENT] is being used by
'another user'. Do you want to make a copy? When I try to quit, I get
the message "Do you want to replace the existing "Normal"?" and when I
hit "Cancel" and try to close Word again, I get the message: Changes
have been made that affect the global template "Normal". Do you want
to save those changes?"

I tried removing Microsoft Office from my computer, using the software
that comes with Office, and then reinstalling it, but I still get the
same error messages, and Word still does not work.

If anyone has any thoughts on what I can do to correct this problem, I
would really appreciate it.

-SimHut

[CyberTaz]

Hello -

If you've correctly Removed/Installed Office I would suspect a file system
problem. Keep in mind that reinstalling Office, however, is rarely the fix
for most situations. In this case it probably would have resolved the issue
[temporarily] as it would have created a new MS User Data folder with a
fresh Normal. Since that didn't happen to improve things it seems rather
pointless to go the standard route by replacing Normal and it appears you'll
need to go a little deeper.

The first thing I'd suggest is to start up from your OS X install disk (or a
boot volume other than your regular HD), launch Disk Utility (from the
Utilities menu if using the install disk or the respective utility from
either of the others mentioned below), run Repair Disk (*not* Repair Disk
_Permissions_). If any errors are reported run it repeatedly until there are
no errors found. If you have Disk Warrior, Drive Genius or TechTool Pro you
may prefer to use them instead - might as well get your money's worth:).

Next, make sure that you have both OS X and Office fully updated. Use the
appropriate OS X *Combo* updater from the Apple site - you fail to mention
what version of OS X you're running so I can't tell whether that would be
10.3.9/10.4.9 on your G4. Repair Disk Permissions afterward. For Office,
apply the 11.3.3 update followed by 11.3.4, Repair Disk Permissions again &
restart your Mac.

If you still have problems reply to this thread with complete details.

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

On 4/13/07 9:53 PM, in article
1176515632.0...@q75g2000hsh.googlegroups.com, "simhut"

[John McGhie [MVP Word, Word Mac]]

In addition to what Bob said:

That error message usually means that the file named "Normal" is not
actually a Template. A template file has a different internal structure
from a document. If you name a document "Normal" and place it in the place
where Word expects its template, you will get this error.

I would have a look on your system for all files named "Normal" and remove
them all to the desktop, then re-start the computer.

It might help (or at least produce a different error...).

Cheers

--

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

http://jgmcghie.fastmail.com.au/

John McGhie, Consultant Technical Writer
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
Sydney, Australia. GMT + 10 Hrs
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:jo...@mcghie.name

"simhut" <sim...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1176515632.0...@q75g2000hsh.googlegroups.com...

[simhut]

Thanks very much! I'm running version 10.4.7 of OS X. I will go
through the steps you recommended and let you know what happens.
-SimHut

> 1176515632.046279.180...@q75g2000hsh.googlegroups.com, "simhut"

[simhut]

Thanks for the advice! I did a search for any documents named "Normal"
but could find none, for some reason....
-SimHut

On Apr 15, 12:16 am, "John McGhie [MVP Word, Word Mac]"

<j...@mcghie.name> wrote:
> In addition to what Bob said:
>
> That error message usually means that the file named "Normal" is not
> actually a Template. A template file has a different internal structure
> from a document. If you name a document "Normal" and place it in the place
> where Word expects its template, you will get this error.
>
> I would have a look on your system for all files named "Normal" and remove
> them all to the desktop, then re-start the computer.
>
> It might help (or at least produce a different error...).
>
> Cheers
>
> --
>
> Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.
>
> http://jgmcghie.fastmail.com.au/
>
> John McGhie, Consultant Technical Writer
> McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
> Sydney, Australia. GMT + 10 Hrs

> +61 4 1209 1410, mailto:j...@mcghie.name

[John McGhie [MVP Word, Word Mac]]

Hi SimHut:

Ah, well there's your problem :-) Word certainly can't use the Normal
template if it is not there, or Word can't see it.

Note: That's two possible conditions: The file may not be present, or when
you are logged in, your access permissions may prevent Word from reading or
writing to the Normal template.

Either condition will prevent Word from operating.

When you open Word, then close it, your Normal template should be created
and saved. Unless you have specified a different location in your Word
Preferences, it will be created in your Microsoft User Data folder.

I suggest that you do another search, using Finder. This time, do NOT
specify a file type of any kind, or a location. Search your entire hard
disk for a file named "normal", just like that. Due to a design bug in word
for Mac, the Normal template does not have (MUST not have...) a .dot
extension. So make sure you are not constraining the search by looking for
either a file type or a document. It's not either of those :-)

If the file is really not there, then run the Remove Office tool to remove
the Preferences, then do a drag-and-drop re-installation of Office.

Hope this helps
--

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

http://jgmcghie.fastmail.com.au/

John McGhie, Consultant Technical Writer
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
Sydney, Australia. GMT + 10 Hrs

+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:jo...@mcghie.name

"simhut" <sim...@gmail.com> wrote in message

news:1176659127.2...@d57g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...

[simhut]

I tried following all of Bob's recommendations, but ran into an error
message that I could not get rid of when I tried to repair my hard
drive. The error is "invalid leaf record count." At the bottom of
the list, Disk Utility tells me "1 HFS volume repaired" followed by
"One volume could not be repaired." As there is only one volume, the
computer's hard drive, I'm not sure what this means. I repaired all
disk permissions, upgraded Microsoft Word to the latest version, but I
was hesitant to upgrade OSX from 10.4.7 to 10.4.9 because I use Avid
Express Pro on this computer and I don't think Avid has quite caught
up with Apple's latest system software yet, so I'm afraid it might not
work if upgrade.

[John McGhie [MVP Word, Word Mac]]

That error probably means the Disk Utility is too old to correctly check the
disk:

See here:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301266

--

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

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John McGhie, Consultant Technical Writer
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
Sydney, Australia. GMT + 10 Hrs
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:jo...@mcghie.name

"simhut" <sim...@gmail.com> wrote in message

news:1176772106....@y5g2000hsa.googlegroups.com...

[simhut]

Thanks, John. I found the Normal template using the advice from your
earlier posting -- actually several versions, which I removed to the
desktop. I restarted, opened up Word again, but got the same error
messages. I then tried removing Word with Remove Office and
reinstalling it. When I opened it for the first time after
reinstalling, the screen froze and I had to force quit the
application. When I opened Word again, I got the same error messages
I'd been getting before. I'm wondering if I shouldn't just back up
all my files and reinstall the system software, then try installing
Word again. Any thoughts? Thanks again.
-SimHut

[John McGhie [MVP Word, Word Mac]]

If you can do this in an hour or so, it will fix the problem.

This is a disk integrity or file permissions problem.

Repairing disk permissions doesn;t do what it sounds like it should: it only
repairs the UNIX permissions on files installed with installer packages. It
doesn't affect Microsoft Office files.

In this case, for some reason, the Logged In User does not have permission
to read and write the Normal template. I do not know how the system got
into that condition, and it could take us several more days to figure it
out.

So if you have the ability to nuke the thing from orbit, that will certainly
fix "everything" :-)

Make sure that you apply all the updaters. I would install Office BEFORE
you apply the OS X Updaters, then apply the OS X updaters so you are sure
they update OS X correctly, then apply the Office 2004 updaters. You may
have to run the last OS X updater twice: once before the Office updaters,
and again after.

Hope this helps

--

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

http://jgmcghie.fastmail.com.au/

John McGhie, Consultant Technical Writer
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
Sydney, Australia. GMT + 10 Hrs
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:jo...@mcghie.name

"simhut" <sim...@gmail.com> wrote in message

news:1176785139.1...@q75g2000hsh.googlegroups.com...

[simhut]

Thanks, John -- I'll give it a try this week when I have some time,
and let you know how it goes. I really appreciate the explanation of
what is going wrong -- I had no idea -- and also the advice about
updaters and installation order.
-SimHut