Problems with Office 2007 on Windows 11

[pjw001]

I am having problems accessing Word and Excel files via File Explorer on Windows 11 and am hoping that someone may have a solution.

I have spent a fair bit of time searching the web for solutions and it seems that the problem also relates to later versions of Office. Have tried some of the solutions that did not seem too risky.

Word

.doc and .docx Click on the file and a pop-up opens, out of site, with the message "Word could not create the work file. Check the temp environment variable." The folder specified does exist and has at least one recently created file.

Click OK to close the pop-up and then right-click on the file and select Open. Word opens with the "File in use" pop-up and options to open read only, create a local copy or receive a notification when the file becomes available. Selecting the first gives another error message and leaves WINWORD.EXE running and I have to kill this with Task Manager. (I did get a complete system crash and think that it is this last action that caused the crash.)

Now right click on the file again and it opens OK. Close the file. WINWORD.EXE is still running but does not appear in the task bar or desktop.

At some point in all this a pop-up appeared saying “Word cannot open the existing file. (Normal.dotm)”.

In all of this the preview pane is either blank or showing the message “This file can’t be previewed.”

I now seem to be able to open both file types without problems.

Excel

Clicking on a file in File Explorer for either a .xls or .xlsx file and the message “This file can’t be previewed.” is displayed in the preview pane.

Apart from that there don't seem to be any problems. (Famous last words!)

 

[pjw001]

Have now posted this on the Microsoft: Windows forum.

I live in hope!

 

[strongm]

>"Word could not create the work file. Check the temp environment variable." The folder specified does exist and has at least one recently created file.

I am sure you are aware of this, but that error is suggesting the relevant environment variable is wrong or missing, not that the folder is missing - so I assume that you have checked the relevant environment variable.

Also, a lot of the errors seem to be related to Explorers preview pane - so a possible workaround (not fix) is to disable the preview pane: [tt]Windows Explorer -> View[/tt] and unselect Preview Pane if it is selected

 

[pjw001]

Thanks for the reply.

>"I am sure you are aware of this, but that error is suggesting the relevant environment variable is wrong or missing, not that the folder is missing - so I assume that you have checked the relevant environment variable."

I have checked the environment variable by running a command prompt and using the set command. The folder pointed to by the variable TEMP exists and has a number of files.

I would prefer not to turn off the preview pane as I find it quite useful and overall would probably opt to live with the problem.

 

[strongm]

>The folder pointed to by the variable TEMP

Sadly, not the environment variable being talked about. Try the following:

[ul]
[li]Press Windows Key + R, type Regedt32.exe in the dialog box, then hit Enter.[/li]

[li]Go to [tt]HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders[/tt][/li]

[li]Look for [tt]AppData[/tt], check the value to see if it has been changed from the default value. If it has been changed, enter the default value: [tt]%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Roaming[/tt], then select [tt]OK[/tt].[/li] If it is already the default value then this isn't the cause of your problem

[li]Close the Registry Editor, and restart your computer. Check if the issue has been addressed.[/li]
[/ul]

(I'd advise backing up [tt]HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell[/tt] Folders before making any changes)

 

[pjw001]

The value of the registry entry is the default value as you indicated.

The temp environment variable is pointing to "local" rather than "roaming". Is this relevant?

 

[strongm]

Nope

Can you confirm the existence of the following folder:

C:\Users\<yourusername>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache\Content.Word

 

[pjw001]

In File Explorer the folder "C:\Users\<yourusername>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache" does not show, but if I try to create it Explorer complains that it already exists. (I have the "Show - Hidden Items" option ticked.)

I can see the folder in a command prompt and it contains only the folder "Low".

There are folders "INetCacheContent" and "INetCacheContent.Word", although I may have created these manually myself.

 

[combo]

but if I try to create it Explorer complains that it already exists. (I have the "Show - Hidden Items" option ticked.)

Sometimes explorer is lazy. Select the parent folder in the left (folders) pane and check the right pane. Also, check other 'View' options.


combo

 

[Andrzejek]

>Sometimes explorer is lazy.
Or use an old fashion DOS prompt: [tt]Win-R, cmd, cd .. cd <folder name>, dir[/tt]
DOS prompt is never lazy

---- Andy

"Hmm...they have the internet on computers now"--Homer Simpson

 

[pjw001]

combo, I used "... - Options - View" and unticked the "Hide protected operating system files" and the folder now shows.

strongm, The folder "C:\Users\<yourusername>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache\Content.Word" now shows and has three TMP files, but all last modified more than two weeks ago.

 

[strongm]

OK, so now check in registryt that both

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders\Cache

an d

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders

are set to that folder

 

[pjw001]

strongm

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders\Cache is set to
C:\Users\sjque\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders is not set to anything. It is the "folder" holding the variable above and a load of others.

Did you mean "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders\Cache"? That is set to
%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files

Sorry if my terminology is wrong.

 

[strongm]

>Did you mea

I did! Sorry.

Now, your results are interesting, as Temporary Internet Files folder was for Windows 7 and earlier. W8, 10 and 11 should point to INetCache

So, I'd try changing Temporary Internet Files to INetCache instead (backup the Shell and User Shell keys first so you can easily restore if necessary), reboot and see if this helps at all

(Tou may be wondering why we are looking at these - it is because the preview functionality uses the internet cache)

 

[pjw001]

strongm

Having worked in IT for close to 50 years, the most important thing I have learnt is to know when I am getting out of my depth and should stop meddling with things I don't really understand.

I am not trying to imply that your suggestion is incorrect, but I suspect that I only need to make a slight mistake in following your instructions and I could end up with more problems than I have.

So I am going to say a very sincere thank you to you for the help you have given me and decide whether I am going to live with what I have or switch to something else such as LibreOffice.

Many thanks.

 

[MiggyD]

I'll just throw this out there (but you've probably already done it).

I remember there was a "repair" option available through the control panel.

Have you already tried it?

Found a recent link to MS Support which can possibly guide you.

Good Luck.
--MiggyD

"If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around, does it make a sound?" I finally got the REAL ANSWER.

 

[pjw001]

Thanks, but I have tried repairing the Office installation. It did not help.