Windows 7 Word 2007 not opening on double click

DaveBrock

Extraordinary Member
Hi,
I have a recent installation of Windows 7 Professional 3 weeks ago.

The past 2 days, Word 2007 will not open when i double click a .docx document from Explorer.

For a couple of seconds a 'spinning wheel' is displayed...and then nothing.

I went to Control Panel, Defaults, and checked the Application for .docx and it is Word.

The strange thing is that sometimes it does work.

I am clicking very fast ;-)

And Windows 7 does display the spinning wheeel for a second or two.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance,
Dave
 
Hi DaveBrock, did you check if the Word process is running? Try keeping the task manager open while you click on the link, check if a Word process is present in the list beforehand, if it starts when you click and if it simply disappears when the spinning wheel turns back into a normal pointer.
Also try looking at the event log (Start-> Run -> eventvwr). Maybe you'll find some clues there as to why Word doesn't start.
 
Hi Alberto,
I tried your suggestion and opened task manager and when i clicked on the file... it opened straight away ;-) Funny .... but i will try this next time and see what shows up.

Do you know which event log i should look at if/when the error occurs next?

Thanks,
Dave
 
Glad to hear it works, even though it doesn't really help in identifying the problem... ;)
As for the event log I'd say the most likely place would be Windows Logs -> Application or Applications and Services Logs -> Microsoft Office Alerts.
 
It has not happened again since ;-)

I looked in the Event Logs under Windows Logs, and Application and only informatioin messages today... no warnings or errors.

I clicked on Applications & Services, and Microsoft, Windows...and there are many log files to choose from.

Any suggestions?

Dave
 
Well, only thing that I think might help is to wait until it happens again, check if the process gets stuck or simply disappears after you try to open word and the go check the even log. Check the most recent entries around the time of the error, regardless of whether they are information messages, warnings or errors.
Might give you an idea of what's going wrong.
 
Alberto,
Maybe i don't understand the event log very well...... when i go to Control Panel, Event Log, ViewEvent Logs
there seems to be many event logs and not just 1 that i can view?

Am i mis-understanding something?

Is there 1 single overall Event Log that i can view that will show all messages related to all services and applications? Or do i have to click on each event log in turn...check that log...and then move onto the next?

Dave
 
Dave,
there is no single event log. Windows writes a bit here and there and so do many other applications.
Event Viewer is an MMC snap-in, that is to say a panel that is designed to look like a lot of other management windows in the Windows OS. It's there to collect the various logs generated by Windows and various other applications.
In theory you'd have to check every single log individually but I think you can concentrate on the Windows Logs -> Application or Applications and Services Logs -> Microsoft Office Alerts and be reasonably safe you'll catch something interesting when Word shuts down on its own.
 
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