Office 2003/7 menu view looks like 2K! 1

[RowBarker]

I've got the same problem on two systems - one being my laptop and one being a test system we use.
I only noticed it recently after installing Office 2007 - the ribbon is a grey colour, the buttons are all really bad quality and it almost looks like Office 2000.
The other system is running office 2003 and after checking this, the menu looks the same as mine.
Both the systems have recently had XPSP3 installed but I installed office 2007 after the SP3 installation.
Short of removing XPSP3, has anyone come accross this before and know what to do to resolve?
I've tried repairing Office 2007 installation. May try removing and reinstalling but it takes an age!

 

[bobw]

RowBarker,
Is the Office button (top left) available? The image you provided makes it a bit difficult to tell. Most of the commands in Word are located there -
Bob W

"If the only tool you have is a hammer, you will see every problem as a nail." - Abraham Maslow

 

[kjv1611]

If it's the same problem (looks like it) that I've had in Office 2003, it's purely superficial. In other words, it just looks bad. I've yet to figure out the precise cause, but I'd imagine it'd be the same or similar for 2003 and 2007.

--

"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me

 

[xlhelp]

You have probably looked at the display settings to make sure the colors are set at better than 256.

Next, go to Control Panel, Accessibility Options, Display tab and make sure High Contrast is unchecked.

Lastly, if you have SMS Remote Control Agent installed, remove SMS Mirror Driver (Cotrol Panel, Admin Tools, Computer Mananagment, Device Manager), shut down and re-boot.

Vita Brevis

 

[kjv1611]

Ok, xlhelp, how can I say this? Although that does not help my functionality, that has got to be one of the MOST helpful posts I've read in a LONG time. Or so it seems, anyway. I mean, I tried EVERYTHING or so I thought, before but no fix, even posted in here once!

#3 was the ticket for me.

I'll now proceed to punch "Thank xlhelp" about 20 times! Okay, well, I can only do it once, but I WOULD do 20 if I could!

--

"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me

 

[kjv1611]

This was the original thread where I asked the same question:
thread68-1481549

I'm going to put a link there to this thread!

--

"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me

 

[xlhelp]

I guess I didn't clue in before. It has happened to me before with the SMS Agent. One of the first things to go is your memory when you get older.

Vita Brevis

 

[RowBarker]

Hi all.

Yes the Office Button is available - it just looks rubbish! There are no colours and the black lines detailing the windows logo are all grainy.
My display is set to true 32-bit and true 24-bit on the two systems.
I have had Office 2007 on my laptop before - last year sometime and it was fine. We removed it as the trial was cancelled.
I do have SMS remote agent installed. Can't find the SMS mirror driver though. We have other systems running SMS that have office 2007 installed and they have no problems.
The only difference I can think of is SP3 has messed it up.
I've done a clean install of 2007 and no joy. Going to try and remove SP3 and take it from there.
Thanks for all your help so far!

 

[RowBarker]

Reinstalled SP3 after clean 2007 installation, still got same problem.

 

[RowBarker]

Reinstalled SMS tools and found the virtual mirror driver. Removed this, rebooted (twice - machine hung first time on login - may not be related) and it now works! Good advice!
However, how is it that I have the only 2 machines with SP3 and this 2007/2003 issue and the other machines not running sp3 are fine. Is there a problem with the sms virtual mirror drive and SP3 that messes office up?

 

[kjv1611]

My machine does not have SP3 installed, so it's not SP3. I've been having the issue for some time.

Perhaps a difference in the actual display adapters?

I'm running an Ati Radeon X600 in this Dell PC.

Up until the last instance, all I had to do was reboot the machine a time or two.

--

"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me

 

[kjv1611]

And I'm pretty sure it isn't related to Office directly at all, in case that helps any. Reason being, that the "drop shadows" for the desktop were also wacked out when that Office issue showed itself.

--

"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me

 

[RowBarker]

Strange one. Hopefully it won't affect other systems if and when we roll 2k7 out! Thanks everyone for their help!
Will removing sms mirror driver affect the way remote tools works?

 

[kjv1611]

I don't think so - I am not 100% sure on this, but I believe it is installed when a machine is "remoted into" whether by a person or a script, and then it is supposed to be uninstalled afterwards. At least, that's what it seems like. I've not tested it, but it mightn't be a bad idea to test and see. I can't do that here, but you might be able to..

--

"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me

 

[RowBarker]

I'll get someone to remote in and see what happens!

 

[RowBarker]

SMS remote agent seems fine with the mirror driver removed. Hopefully won't have to do this for every machine though...

 

[xlhelp]

I believe...I want to believe (lol)[sup]1[/sup]... that SMS Mirror driver improves the refresh rate on desktop controlling the remote session. Most likely on the systems with problems, it was the primary display driver. By removing the driver and re-booting the system, you essentially made the Mirror driver to be the secondary display driver.

So, the remote agents will have to wait a fraction of a second longer for the screen to refresh.

1. only because Mulder and Scully return this week

Vita Brevis

 

[RowBarker]

That makes sense I guess so I'll forget about it until I get the problem again!

Weird it happened on two machines - maybe it's something I'm doing during the install that no one else in my IT department is!

 

[kjv1611]

Hmm, I wonder if it could have anything to do with a dual monitor setup? I have dual monitors with my "problem" pc for this issue.

--

"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me

 

[xlhelp]

Hmm, I wonder if it could have anything to do with a dual monitor setup?

I doubt it.

Vita Brevis