MS Office gives black boxes and bars

[Rinnt]

When some users attempt to modify their Word docuements or compose emails in Office XP on a W2K Terminal Server w/MF 1.8, a strange effect is created. It appears that some of the text is covered by black boxes or bars. But when the application is minimized and restored, the window goes back to normal (for a while). Has anyone encounted this problem? I did some searches but found nothing... It almost reminds me of the Win98 days when black boxes would appear on certain items - usually indicating a memory issue....

TIA

 

[Phkyt]

Hello Rinnt

Network: W2k terminal server n/w, citrix 1.8 for w2k, Wyse 3320, compaq t1010 and compaq t20 winterms and office 2000

We also had this problem although never managed to find the cause! A company wide bulletin created in word cause the issue for 8 out of 220 users.

The black boxes were rectangular across the width of the document and did not show up on shadow screens. The covered text could be seen by the user if the document was viewed in print preview and the black box was not printed on print

Swapping out the effected users winterm seemed to solve the problem.

Interestingly if the document concerned was recreated - new template but same text - the originally effected users no longer had the black box.

To conclude it seemed as if it was a document specific issue that only effected certain winterms. Once we had isolated this fact we simply called the original senders of the mail and asked them to recreate and resend the document

No further investigations were carried out

HTH

Myk Do not adjust you mind - there is a fault with reality!

 

[nematodeslime]

We had the same problem, with users who connected to W2K/MFXPe servers, and then back to MF1.8 servers using the version 4 client. After upgrading the client (now using 6.30.1050) we no longer have the problem.

 

[Rinnt]

Stupid question here, but you're refering to upgrading the software on the client correct? There isn't a "client component" on the server side that needs up dating is there?

I've seen this problem happen in both true thin clients as well as thick clients running the client software... The thick clients are using a fairly new (the newest?) version of software...

 

[ahalecitrix]

That is correct. The client version is on the client side only. As Phkyt mentioned from his experience above, are you able to tell whether the problem is occurring on one or the other or both thin clients and fat PC clients? I've seen strange screen irregularity problems like this before and it usually can be resolved with an updated software client on PC's or firmware update on the thin clients.

I've also seen wacky screen stuff occur at remote sites that may be having a connectivity issue, packet loss or corruption although this is pretty rare with the ICA protocol.

I suppose what I'm getting at is can you identify any similarities between the users that are experiencing the problem? (i.e. client version, thin client device model, user location etc...)

 

[Rinnt]

The short answer is yes, it only seems to happen on my laptop and one other thin client that is an oddball to the others.

I have not seen this problem happen for a while but I assume it may be due to the fact that I have not been using Word. It was first noticed while using email. So the simple fix to this was set Outlook NOT to use Word when composing email.

Your suggestion makes sense for the oddball thin client - uprade the firmware. However, the client on my laptop is quite current so that leaves me a little stumped...

 

[ahalecitrix]

Sometimes these things just happen and the cause is hard to pin point. A few other things I would suggest looking at are:

1. The display options for the ICA session. That can cause different user experiences.

2. Make sure you have the latest service pack for Citrix MetaFrame 1.8.

 

[ahalecitrix]

Sometimes these things just happen and the cause is hard to pin point. A few other things I would suggest looking at are:

1. The display options for the ICA session. That can cause different user experiences.

2. Make sure you have the latest service pack for Citrix MetaFrame 1.8.