office 2003 unstable on 1 out of 3 machines

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  1. Posts : 16
    Windows 7
       #1

    office 2003 unstable on 1 out of 3 machines


    I have 3 legit instances of Win7 Ultimate 64b. I have licenses for Office 2003 and Office 2003 Pro. (Like others, I just prefer 2003).

    Office 2003 works perfectly on two of the Win7 machines (These are both DIY home built PCs).

    However, on the machine that I need it the most (my work laptop), Office applications would suddenly stop working. It would tell me it has stopped working. It shuts down and restarts ... causing me to lose work.

    I have installed SP3 for Office 2003. I have run the applications in XPSP2 and XPSP3 compatibility. I run it as administrator. However, I cannot get Office to be stable on the laptop.

    Generally, I can cause a crash in Excel by copying contents of one cell to another. It doesn't happen all the time though. I have not figured out the pattern to cause Word or Powerpoint to crash. I think generally it has something to do with the scratch pad.

    This is killing me since I am wasting a lot of time redoing work. I have installed Open Office, and am seriously contemplating installing XP mode (the CPU supports virtualization). But I really don't think I should do this. I mean it works just fine the other machines.

    Any tips on what gremlins to look for?

    A little bit more info:

    Lenovo T61p. Core 2 Duo T9300. 2GB of RAM
    7200RPM drive with lots and lots of space (i.e. it is not crashing because of pagefile.sys limitations)

    As for applications, this is a work machine, so unlike my other computers, this one only has a few essential apps. Neither Outlook nor Access are installed since I don't need them.

    This machine was running stably for years with XP. I did a fresh install of Win7 at the beginning of the year and re-installed Office 2003 at the same time.

    Thanks in advance.
      My Computer


  2. whs
    Posts : 26,210
    Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8
       #2
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  3. Posts : 16
    Windows 7
    Thread Starter
       #3

    Thanks. But not sure how a removal tool would help. Would someone explain?

    I have a clean install of Win7. I have a clean install of Office 2003. However it's unstable. So I patched with SP3. Still unstable. There are no other Office installations.

    Other machines have similar set ups. But they work just fine.
      My Computer


  4. whs
    Posts : 26,210
    Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8
       #4

    I would uninstall and reinstall it - maybe there is a corrupted file.
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  5. Posts : 16
    Windows 7
    Thread Starter
       #5

    Uninstall did not work. I removed all vestiges of Office and re-installed the CD I have and Office SP3. The Office on this machine is still unstable.

    As an example, I opened Excel. Then I got distracted and switched to doing something else not on the computer when I turned my attention back to this machine, Excel had stopped working and closed. I had not even opened a file yet.

    Any ideas of other things I can chase down?

    I am heading out on a long business trip. After I come back, I may reinstall Win7 and see if that works.

    Errrgh. Very frustrating.
      My Computer


  6. whs
    Posts : 26,210
    Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8
       #6

    If I were you, I would get Office 2010. It is always a drg with those older programs. But I understand if that would not be your choice.
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  7. Posts : 16
    Windows 7
    Thread Starter
       #7

    Thanks for responding. If it were a case of Office 2003 not working on any of my machines, I would have given up.

    But the darndest thing is that Office works on 2 of 3 Win7 machines - flawlessly. In one case, Office has been functional for over a year.

    I am looking for other things to try.

    BTW, in the interim, I am so tired of losing work due random shut downs, I have switched to Open Office. It is pretty close to 2003 and is stable. A bit slow. But stable.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 3,009
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
       #8

    I found a thread with similar problems on a different laptop - they found that the problem was some blue-tooth software:
    Office 2003 crashes w/ Windows 7 x64

    I found the problem- "WIDCOMM Bluetooth Software".

    We found that the problem was specific to some new Dell Latitude E4310 laptops, which use a Broadcom chipset for Bluetooth connectivity, known as the Wireless 375 Bluetooth Module. When I uninstalled that, the problem went away on multiple computers.

    This is listed in Control Panel/Programs and Features as "WIDCOMM Bluetooth Software" by Broadcom, version 6.3.0.3102. This version is known by Dell as version A02, and is the latest released by Dell as of now (August 26th, 2010.)
    On the Dell support site, it is listed under the E4310/drivers/Windows 7 64-bit/Network/Dell-Application/Applies to Wireless 375 Bluetooth Module.

    Since we don't use Bluetooth much, we will probably not worry about reinstalling it at this time, and wait for updates in the future to revisit supporting the Bluetooth module
    .

    Maybe another thing to explore... :)
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 16
    Windows 7
    Thread Starter
       #9

    Irene said:
    I found a thread with similar problems on a different laptop - they found that the problem was some blue-tooth software:

    ...

    Maybe another thing to explore... :)
    THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!

    I think this is it. I do not have Widcomm drivers, but I do have some Thinkpad bluetooth drivers.

    I disabled the drivers in Device Manager and tried Excel. A simple act of copying a cell caused a shutdown.

    I then uninstalled the device and tried Excel again. After repeated copies and moves, Excel did not shut down. Yippeee!

    Clearly, I have not done extensive testing yet. I was so excited I wanted to come back and thank you first before more testing.

    Thanks again!!!!
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 3,009
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
       #10

    Sounds very promising. I think you may now have a resolution.
      My Computer


 
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