Word 2002 crashes when I attempt to access Symbols menu

I am unable to access Symbols on the "Insert" dropdown.
Each time Word crashes and offers the generic "word has
encountered a problem and will shut down" message.

I have tried every fix in the MS Knowledge base articles
numbered 290929, 290930, 290931, 296493, consulted
322743,319153 thru 319156, and even had an exchange with
an MVP who finally suggested posting this to the Word App
Errors newsgroup. I have cleaned my system of Office 10
XP temporary files, shared files, etc. per the
instructions in 290931. The problem is still there after
reinstalling Office SBE.

I have reinstalled printer drivers and swapped from
Postscript to PCL6, both of which work with my printer
and neither of which seems to have affected the symbols
problem. I have started Word in Safe Mode with the /a
switch when loading Word --- but the problem is still
there.

I downloaded the Word 2002 Support Template and found
that it invoked Visual Basic rather than showing
a "Select an Item" list as mentioned in all the Knowledge
Base articles that refer to this Template.

I suppose the next step is to reinstall Windows XP. But I
am hoping that someone will be able to figure out what
has happened and help me correct the problem without the
global Windows reinstallation.

Pardon the lengthy posting, but I need that Symbols menu
for use with other languages.

Any further suggestions and other helpful responses would
be appreciated.

TF
Sun Nov 30 14:33:13 CST 2003

Larry

Reinstalling Office is usually a complete waste of time and rarely fixes
problems. The fault you describe is usually a corrupt or conflicting printer
driver. Try using a completely different driver (something from the Windows
XP default drivers) and test again. If it works with a different driver,
then it must be your printer driver that is the problem.

--
Terry Farrell - Word MVP
http://www.mvps.org/word/

"Larry" <anonymous@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:001c01c3b76f$b42f56c0$a501280a@phx.gbl...
I am unable to access Symbols on the "Insert" dropdown.
Each time Word crashes and offers the generic "word has
encountered a problem and will shut down" message.

I have tried every fix in the MS Knowledge base articles
numbered 290929, 290930, 290931, 296493, consulted
322743,319153 thru 319156, and even had an exchange with
an MVP who finally suggested posting this to the Word App
Errors newsgroup. I have cleaned my system of Office 10
XP temporary files, shared files, etc. per the
instructions in 290931. The problem is still there after
reinstalling Office SBE.

I have reinstalled printer drivers and swapped from
Postscript to PCL6, both of which work with my printer
and neither of which seems to have affected the symbols
problem. I have started Word in Safe Mode with the /a
switch when loading Word --- but the problem is still
there.

I downloaded the Word 2002 Support Template and found
that it invoked Visual Basic rather than showing
a "Select an Item" list as mentioned in all the Knowledge
Base articles that refer to this Template.

I suppose the next step is to reinstall Windows XP. But I
am hoping that someone will be able to figure out what
has happened and help me correct the problem without the
global Windows reinstallation.

Pardon the lengthy posting, but I need that Symbols menu
for use with other languages.

Any further suggestions and other helpful responses would
be appreciated.

Larry
Sun Nov 30 18:15:17 CST 2003

Terry,

Thanks for the suggestion. I have replaced the printer
driver with Xp defaults -- didn't work. Then went to HP
for their latest updates. Still doesn't fix the problem.

Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

Larry

>-----Original Message-----
>Larry
>
>Reinstalling Office is usually a complete waste of time
and rarely fixes
>problems. The fault you describe is usually a corrupt or
conflicting printer
>driver. Try using a completely different driver
(something from the Windows
>XP default drivers) and test again. If it works with a
different driver,
>then it must be your printer driver that is the problem.
>
>--
>Terry Farrell - Word MVP
>http://www.mvps.org/word/
>
>"Larry" <anonymous@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
message
>news:001c01c3b76f$b42f56c0$a501280a@phx.gbl...
>I am unable to access Symbols on the "Insert" dropdown.
>Each time Word crashes and offers the generic "word has
>encountered a problem and will shut down" message.
>
>I have tried every fix in the MS Knowledge base articles
>numbered 290929, 290930, 290931, 296493, consulted
>322743,319153 thru 319156, and even had an exchange with
>an MVP who finally suggested posting this to the Word App
>Errors newsgroup. I have cleaned my system of Office 10
>XP temporary files, shared files, etc. per the
>instructions in 290931. The problem is still there after
>reinstalling Office SBE.
>
>I have reinstalled printer drivers and swapped from
>Postscript to PCL6, both of which work with my printer
>and neither of which seems to have affected the symbols
>problem. I have started Word in Safe Mode with the /a
>switch when loading Word --- but the problem is still
>there.
>
>I downloaded the Word 2002 Support Template and found
>that it invoked Visual Basic rather than showing
>a "Select an Item" list as mentioned in all the Knowledge
>Base articles that refer to this Template.
>
>I suppose the next step is to reinstall Windows XP. But I
>am hoping that someone will be able to figure out what
>has happened and help me correct the problem without the
>global Windows reinstallation.
>
>Pardon the lengthy posting, but I need that Symbols menu
>for use with other languages.
>
>Any further suggestions and other helpful responses would
>be appreciated.
>
>
>.
>

Larry
Sun Nov 30 22:18:35 CST 2003

Thanks for your suggestion regarding printer drivers, but
I have already replaced my driver with both XP default
drivers and with upgrades from HP. I've also tried using
Postscript and PCL6 drivers as alternatives. The problem
doesn't go away.

Interestingly, in Excel I CAN drop the symbols menu while
in a cell and insert with no problem. So why won't it
work within Word?

Again, any help you can offer would be appreciated.
>-----Original Message-----
>Larry
>
>Reinstalling Office is usually a complete waste of time
and rarely fixes
>problems. The fault you describe is usually a corrupt or
conflicting printer
>driver. Try using a completely different driver
(something from the Windows
>XP default drivers) and test again. If it works with a
different driver,
>then it must be your printer driver that is the problem.
>
>--
>Terry Farrell - Word MVP
>http://www.mvps.org/word/
>
>"Larry" <anonymous@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
message
>news:001c01c3b76f$b42f56c0$a501280a@phx.gbl...
>I am unable to access Symbols on the "Insert" dropdown.
>Each time Word crashes and offers the generic "word has
>encountered a problem and will shut down" message.
>
>I have tried every fix in the MS Knowledge base articles
>numbered 290929, 290930, 290931, 296493, consulted
>322743,319153 thru 319156, and even had an exchange with
>an MVP who finally suggested posting this to the Word App
>Errors newsgroup. I have cleaned my system of Office 10
>XP temporary files, shared files, etc. per the
>instructions in 290931. The problem is still there after
>reinstalling Office SBE.
>
>I have reinstalled printer drivers and swapped from
>Postscript to PCL6, both of which work with my printer
>and neither of which seems to have affected the symbols
>problem. I have started Word in Safe Mode with the /a
>switch when loading Word --- but the problem is still
>there.
>
>I downloaded the Word 2002 Support Template and found
>that it invoked Visual Basic rather than showing
>a "Select an Item" list as mentioned in all the Knowledge
>Base articles that refer to this Template.
>
>I suppose the next step is to reinstall Windows XP. But I
>am hoping that someone will be able to figure out what
>has happened and help me correct the problem without the
>global Windows reinstallation.
>
>Pardon the lengthy posting, but I need that Symbols menu
>for use with other languages.
>
>Any further suggestions and other helpful responses would
>be appreciated.
>
>
>.
>

TF
Mon Dec 01 09:39:26 CST 2003

Larry

Very strange. I was going to suggest it may be a corrupt symbol font, but
then I expect you have tried different symbols and why would it work in
Excel!!! Can you insert a symbol in a document if you start Windows in Safe
Mode?

Terry

"Larry" <anonymous@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:a16901c3b7c2$2ff32c30$a601280a@phx.gbl...
Thanks for your suggestion regarding printer drivers, but
I have already replaced my driver with both XP default
drivers and with upgrades from HP. I've also tried using
Postscript and PCL6 drivers as alternatives. The problem
doesn't go away.

Interestingly, in Excel I CAN drop the symbols menu while
in a cell and insert with no problem. So why won't it
work within Word?

Again, any help you can offer would be appreciated.

anonymous
Mon Dec 01 12:36:19 CST 2003

Terry, even with the system in Safe Mode, Word still
crashes when I attempt to open the symbols menu.

>-----Original Message-----
>Larry
>
>Very strange. I was going to suggest it may be a corrupt
symbol font, but
>then I expect you have tried different symbols and why
would it work in
>Excel!!! Can you insert a symbol in a document if you
start Windows in Safe
>Mode?
>
>Terry
>
>"Larry" <anonymous@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
message
>news:a16901c3b7c2$2ff32c30$a601280a@phx.gbl...
>Thanks for your suggestion regarding printer drivers, but
>I have already replaced my driver with both XP default
>drivers and with upgrades from HP. I've also tried using
>Postscript and PCL6 drivers as alternatives. The problem
>doesn't go away.
>
>Interestingly, in Excel I CAN drop the symbols menu while
>in a cell and insert with no problem. So why won't it
>work within Word?
>
>Again, any help you can offer would be appreciated.
>
>
>.
>

TF
Mon Dec 01 15:07:15 CST 2003

Does this happen with any document? Have you run a Detect & Repair in Word?
Is this a desktop PC or a Notebook?

Terry

<anonymous@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:026401c3b83a$0332a310$a101280a@phx.gbl...
Terry, even with the system in Safe Mode, Word still
crashes when I attempt to open the symbols menu.

>-----Original Message-----
>Larry
>
>Very strange. I was going to suggest it may be a corrupt
symbol font, but
>then I expect you have tried different symbols and why
would it work in
>Excel!!! Can you insert a symbol in a document if you
start Windows in Safe
>Mode?
>
>Terry
>
>"Larry" <anonymous@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
message
>news:a16901c3b7c2$2ff32c30$a601280a@phx.gbl...
>Thanks for your suggestion regarding printer drivers, but
>I have already replaced my driver with both XP default
>drivers and with upgrades from HP. I've also tried using
>Postscript and PCL6 drivers as alternatives. The problem
>doesn't go away.
>
>Interestingly, in Excel I CAN drop the symbols menu while
>in a cell and insert with no problem. So why won't it
>work within Word?
>
>Again, any help you can offer would be appreciated.
>
>
>.
>