I came downstairs this morning to find my Vista computer applying fixes and then rebooting. Yesterday six new updates were installed automatically by Windows Update.
Since that update, Microsoft Word no longer functions properly. Clicking a .doc document results in Word starting but not opening the file. Dragging a file into the open Word application window will open the file, but the scroll bars do not function. Eventually without too much effort Word will simply crash and then restart itself. Even just closing Word can cause it to crash.
Windows Update says there are no additional updates to install for either Vista or Office. I'm left to uninstall Office and attempt a reinstall at this point.
Keeping your software up to date is very important from a security perspective, but when doing so blows away your productivity because of poor installation or compatibility quality issues, life is very painful.
Microsoft. You get a grade of F for this round of patches.
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You're lucky!
The latest updates have stopped my pc from booting into Vista at all!
It won't even boot in safe mode and because it came with the software preinstalled I don't have a disc to get to the recovery console.
Worst update ever :(
You might be able to use Recovery Manager
Wow, Huge bummer.
I don't know what brand of PC you have but if it is a HP, you might have a recovery partition on that disk. With HP computers, which I'm using, you can boot into the HP Recovery Manager which will let you reinstall the computer back to "factory defaults", e.g. it recovers the disk back to just like it was the day you took your PC home.
The only problem with that is you of course lose EVERYTHING that was stored on your computer; files, apps, etc., that were added or changed since you started using the computer. It's only an option of last resort.
I hate that you no longer get Vista disks with many computers you buy for exactly this reason.
Best of luck to you.
Mitchell Ashley
Converging Network, LLC
Personal blog: http://theconvergingnetwork.com
Personal podcast: http://www.clickcaster.com/ss
This is likely due to a known issue and there is a simple fix
See Microsoft Knowledge Base article 940791 "You may experience several problems after you install an automatic update for Word 2007 on a Windows Vista-based computer" at http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;940791 for more information.
How would Joe Computer User know to solve this?
So if this problem shows up on my mom's computer, how would an average computer user like her ever find out about such an issue? Joe Computer User isn't going to find and fix such a problem.
Mitchell Ashley
Converging Network, LLC
Personal blog: http://theconvergingnetwork.com
Personal podcast: http://www.clickcaster.com/ss
Thank you!!
This was it! Many thanks for sharing.
np. Glad this helped you
np. Glad this helped you figured out the Vista / Word problem. What a frustrating bug.
Mitchell Ashley
Converging Network, LLC
Personal blog: http://theconvergingnetwork.com
Personal podcast: http://www.clickcaster.com/ss
Update Fix
Wow, I can't thank you enough. I lost a whole morning of productivity at crunch time.
The question is, how did you know to delete that registry key? How does someone troubleshoot something that can be stated as Install an OS Update ==> Word Doesn't Work Anymore. There are no clues to what is wrong.
Thanks - more help needed
Thanks for the tip, it works perfectly.
I have another issue, linked with MS Update: the latest updates all fail, including Vista SP1. I saw several fixes on the Internet (...scannow) but none works. Any solution ?
Word problems due to Windows Vista update
Thank you for the suggestion, the suggested registry change fixed the problem! I was getting pretty frustrated as trying to re-install, fix or restore Word wasn't getting it done, and this did.
Vista update
That is 2 for 2. Last month Microsoft trashed internet explorer, this month they got Microsoft word. You could not ask for a better reason to switch to Linux. Microsoft has your money if Windows does not work that is your problem. Nothing is their fault, remember they never make mistakes only you cause things to go wrong. You are the one who meddles with your system. If you don't want system to malfunction, don't use it then it will be fine. In general this is what I believe about Microsoft and their policy of patches that do more harm than good. Microsoft has no fault for anything. You are totally at fault if anything goes wrong, including any and all patches. because Microsoft is never wrong. Microsoft patch trashed internet explorer on some systems, did Microsoft offer a patch NO you the customer had to jump through hoops find a work around and fix it your self(they have you money) they don't care. You need to reinstall for any reason you might be a CROOK. The list goes on and on, the only way they will learn is when they no longer can rely on having a customer base to do all of their work for them. Back in win 95 you could count on a patch really worked those times are gone. For a company that offered so much promise, they now offer only WILL THE PATCH BREAK MORE THAN IT FIXES.