Office 2003 Not so "Pretty" Anymore 1

[kjv1611]

I do not know exactly how to say this, but it appears that the "pretty" features have quit working on my machine at work. I'm just curious as to whether there is one file that controls this or what the situation is.

Before, this would happen when there was a system update on occasion, and I'd have to restart my machine in order to get the "pretty" features back. However, for the past week or so, they've been stuck at not being available. This in all MS Office products (2003) that I've noticed.

An example of what I'm talking about is the menus and buttons are supposed to have a more bubbly or polished look to them, I suppose, but now it is all flat, as if something is just missing.

Another clue is that whenever any of our tech support personnel connect to the machine remotely in order to assist with any issue, the office applications would do the same thing.

Also, the desktop "drop shadows" option seems to have been disabled from the Windows performance (visual) settings.

Below, are some Snapshots:

Access:

Excel:

Outlook:

Visio:

Word:

Desktop (drop-shadows gone):

As I was typing this post, I thought of a culprit. I am now thinking that the culprit is the Microsoft Desktop Search client we are now using at work. Oh how I wish we were not - besides the display issue (maybe), it uses a huge amount of resources, and I don't personally see the benefit - so far. I've tried it before, personally at home, but just never cared for it - here nor there.

Any ideas/thoughts/suggestions/stabs in the dark?

I may just see if I can request it be removed from my individual machine, though I doubt I'll get a "no", since it's a company-wide deal. And for whatever reason, it's supposedly being added for the transition to Office 2k7, which is supposed to be rolled out sometime before My 3 remaining hairs go gray.

--

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

 

[xlhelp]

Hopefully you have had it scanned for a virus. If it's not infected, try doing the following:

Go to Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, System Restore and pick a Date before the problem started happening and restore your system to previous good boot. You will loose any undates to your system that were performed after that date.

Have you also checked by loggin on as an Administrator and see if the same thing happens?

You still have 3?

Vita Brevis

 

[kjv1611]

I'm actually logged in as a local administrator.

I don't really think it's a virus or anything like that.

I'll possibly try the system restore option.

--

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

 

[kjv1611]

Actually, I'll have to think more than I would like about system restore, possibly... If I do that, will it lose any Windows Updates applied since the restore point? If so, I can't just go to Windows Update to get them, as they are specifically added when the company is ready via network scripts.

--

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

 

[TonyJollans]

I can only guess at what may have caused this but:

(a) it looks like your Windows settings have been changed - what is the font size for the Active Title Bar, and

(b) it looks like you have Office 2002, not 2003.

I have seen some odd effects in Word 2007 after changing Windows settings but they have always reset themselves with a restart.

First thing I would try was a Repair of Office (you might need to do Visio separately)

Enjoy,
Tony

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[kjv1611]

Tony,

(a) The Windows settings were changed after the issue with the display, so that's not it. I should have specified that earlier.

(b) It is definitely Office 2003. From Help - About:

Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 (11.8118.8132) SP2
Part of Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003

As you said - normally a restart would fix it. But lately - for somewhere between a week and 2 weeks, no restarts or anything have helped.

For the Office Repair, I forget, does that require the disk, or can it be done without the disk?


--

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

 

[xlhelp]

If you end up doing the restore, the updates will pick up later since it's as if they never happened.

Vita Brevis

 

[TonyJollans]

Repair may ask for installation media - I think it depends what it finds.

Enjoy,
Tony

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[kjv1611]

Tony,

Well, I guess I could give the repair a shot, and cancel if it needs the media.


xlhelp,
Now, we don't use "automatic updates", since they have to verify all the updates with our systems at work and all, but you're saying that a network pushed update should push the correct updates, based is on the system? That makes sense, and I would imagine that any scripts would have that sort of thing built into them, but I guess I'm looking for any opinions/thoughts on it at this point.

--

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

 

[tf1]

Before going too far, I suggest going to the Help menu (of any of the Office apps) and choosing Detect and Repair.

If that doesn't sort things, check that the Display Properties are definitely set for 32-bit colour depth.


Regards: tf1

 

[kjv1611]

Thanks, tf1, I'll try that.

I did check the color settings - 32bit.

--

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

 

[kjv1611]

I tried the "detect and repair", but that didn't give any results either.

--

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

 

[kjv1611]

Thanks to xlhelp over in this thread:
thread68-1488095

#3 in his list there took care of the issue for me! So, if anyone else has the same issue!

I should've honestly know, b/c where I work, whenever there is a system update, oftentimes it is carried out by a remote script. Occasionally after that, in the past, I would have to reboot at least once after that in order to correct the display issue. The last time, it didn't "fix", so the uninstall didn't automatically happen.

Anyway, thanks xlhelp! I'll post a star in this thread, too, though the answer wasn't posted here directly.

Here is the thread with the fix:
thread68-1488095

--

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