Word will not open any files or will not open itself. I have tried finding normal.dot to delete but it is not there anywhere when I do a search for it. The only thing that works to open files is to run winword.exe /a then it will open temporarily once but not again, I have to run it everytime to open a file. I am using XP, Word 2002. I am stumped.

In Windows XP normal.dot is a hidden system. To unhide it: Click My Computer On the Task Bar at the top Click Tools Click Folder Options Click the View Tab Next, put a check where it says "Show hidden files and folders" and UNCHECK "Hide extensions for known file types" and "Hide protected operating system files". You should now be able to locate the Normal.dot file. MIKE http://www.skeptic.com/

alright I did that and still no search results for normal.dot. And Word will still not open without prompting winword.exe /a Any other things I could try.

Try here: http://personal-computer-tutor.com/... MIKE http://www.skeptic.com/

went to the tutor & checked add ins there was only MSFilter.dot which i can not delete so I added normal.dot (I actually was surprised when it popped up cause I have searched for it with no results before) it works 1 time but when i try to open again or another doc it freezes again and I have to run winword yet again each and everytime I want Word to work. I am very flustrated I even tried to fix it with the install disk. I am not doing something and can not figure it out yet. still tryin to figure it out between two jobs when I can.almost ready to back stuff up print stuff out and dump the whole shabang...

Did You could try to edit the registry: Go here and see Step # 4 http://www.officearticles.com/word/... MIKE http://www.skeptic.com/

Well did step #4 Same thing, it launches but then when I try to use it, it goes gray and everything still disappears. And saved docs won't open at all, still just gray. (I changed last step back to original name , so I do not forget what the heck I did. ) OK still have to run winword.exe /a to work with word. Ah heck I am stumped yet again. Thanks Mike for all your help, it is greatly appreciated. I will keep trying stuff though, something has got to fix it it is a machine after all right?