cassidy3

Q: I purchased microsoft office mac in 2004 and suddenly I get an error message. It won't launch. I click reopen and it does the same thing. I get a long message in the panel. It tells me it will send a report. I still can't access any microsoft item - word

I purchased microsoft office mac in 2004 and suddenly I get an error message. It won't launch. I click reopen and it does the same thing. I get a long message in the panel. It tells me it will send a report. I still can't access any microsoft item - word, excel, nothing works.
I have a mac book pro 10.6.8
Thanks

Posted on Apr 1, 2012 11:47 AM

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Q: I purchased microsoft office mac in 2004 and suddenly I get an error message. It won't launch. I click reopen and it does the same ... more

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  • by fane_j,

    fane_j fane_j Apr 1, 2012 9:50 PM in response to cassidy3
    Level 4 (3,677 points)
    Apr 1, 2012 9:50 PM in response to cassidy3

    cassidy3 wrote:

     

    I still can't access any microsoft item - word, excel, nothing works.

    Copy the following line

     

    defaults read ~/.MacOSX/environment

     

    Open Terminal (command line interface). If you don't know where it is, use Spotlight to locate it.

     

    Wait for the prompt. When the prompt appears (the insertion point blinks), paste the line. The press the Return key to execute the command.

     

    If the reply is something like, "Domain /Users/[your_user_name]/.MacOSX/environment does not exist", then the problem is elsewhere. If it's anything else, copy it and paste it here.

  • by bluetopazocean,

    bluetopazocean bluetopazocean Apr 1, 2012 10:44 PM in response to fane_j
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 1, 2012 10:44 PM in response to fane_j

    I can't find Open Terminal or Spotlight, unfortunately .

  • by bluetopazocean,

    bluetopazocean bluetopazocean Apr 1, 2012 10:50 PM in response to cassidy3
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 1, 2012 10:50 PM in response to cassidy3

    Same thing's happening to me, Cassidy - with no relief yet.  Would love ot hear if you can fix it.

  • by fane_j,

    fane_j fane_j Apr 1, 2012 10:56 PM in response to bluetopazocean
    Level 4 (3,677 points)
    Apr 1, 2012 10:56 PM in response to bluetopazocean

    bluetopazocean wrote:

     

    I can't find Open Terminal

    There's no such thing as "Open Terminal". That was an instruction, as in "launch Terminal" or "run Terminal".

    I can't find […] Spotlight

    Read

     

    Mac 101: Mac essentials

    <http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2477>

  • by cassidy3,

    cassidy3 cassidy3 Apr 2, 2012 1:31 AM in response to bluetopazocean
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 2, 2012 1:31 AM in response to bluetopazocean

    Well I did not find a fix and with a pressing deadline and no time to troubleshoot or wait for these responses, I purchased the 2011 office mac package. Good news is that I can access all my documents. Bad news is I had to pay $150 for it. But I guess that was the plan Microsoft had. It would have been great to get some kind of warning that said, hey you won't be able to use this software unless you upgrade to the newer version. I spent a lot of time trying to find a solution before buying.  I did not try the launch terminal solution. I did a disc utility repair permission exercise that would not work. And I moved the microsoft folder to the desktop and tried to launch. That did not work. And in another forum somebody suggested finding a plst file related to office and move it out of library preferences to the desktop and that did not work either. So, I tried several things but in the end, opted to buy an updated version of office mac. Good Luck with your issue. I will check back so I can find out what to do should this happen again.

  • by fane_j,

    fane_j fane_j Apr 2, 2012 1:47 AM in response to cassidy3
    Level 4 (3,677 points)
    Apr 2, 2012 1:47 AM in response to cassidy3

    cassidy3 wrote:

     

    I did not try the launch terminal solution

    The procedure I suggest above, using Terminal, is not a solution. It is a test, to check for a specific problem. Updating Office does not deal with it. If you do have it, it is serious, so I urge you very strongly to do this test. If the result is negative, then you're fine, but if it's anything else you should post it here ASAP.

  • by X423424X,

    X423424X X423424X Apr 2, 2012 1:55 AM in response to cassidy3
    Level 6 (14,237 points)
    Apr 2, 2012 1:55 AM in response to cassidy3

    cassidy3 wrote:

     

    ...

    Good news is that I can access all my documents. Bad news is I had to pay $150 for it.

    ...

    I spent a lot of time trying to find a solution before buying.  I did not try the launch terminal solution.

    ...
    I will check back so I can find out what to do should this happen again.

     

    More possible bad news.  If you had followed what fane_j had asked you to do you might have found out it wasn't microsoft's fault for your problem and wouldn't have had to spend $150.  Because while you may have an Office that works, fane_j was not suggesting a solution but probing for a trojan (google "flashback trojan") that has been crashing powerpc code which is what Office 2004 is.

     

    So if you do have the trojan, while you can run a version of Office, the trojan may still be in your system since installing a version of Office isn't going to remove it.  So I'll make another request.  Launch Terminal (in your Utilities folder) and copy/paste the following line into the terminal window and hit return:

     

    defaults read ~/.MacOSX/environment

     

    If you see anything other than a "does not exist" error message you almost certainly do have the trojan and post the results in this thread.

     

    The choice is yours.  You can ignore this and take the risk.  Or do what has been requested.

  • by fire bad,

    fire bad fire bad Apr 2, 2012 9:35 AM in response to X423424X
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 2, 2012 9:35 AM in response to X423424X

    I have the same problem, and I tried the terminal command. I got the following reply:

     

     

     

    "DYLD_INSERT_LIBRARIES" = "/Users/Shared/.libgmalloc.dylib";

     

    I couldn't paste the text directly in here, so I retyped as best I could. I may have added a space. thanks for your answers, I appreciate the help. When I create another user, it works on that account, but not my main one. Frustrating.

  • by X423424X,

    X423424X X423424X Apr 2, 2012 12:01 PM in response to fire bad
    Level 6 (14,237 points)
    Apr 2, 2012 12:01 PM in response to fire bad

    Read this and follow the links referenced there.

  • by Grant Lenahan,

    Grant Lenahan Grant Lenahan Apr 2, 2012 1:01 PM in response to cassidy3
    Level 4 (1,468 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 2, 2012 1:01 PM in response to cassidy3

    start with the baics:

     

    1 repair permissions on your drive

    2. trash and rebuild the office 2004 p[refs (whcih may be individual for word, excel etc)

     

    See what happens.

     

    You could also re-install office (after deleting it and its prefs)

     

    I cannot think of any reason this would occur except something is corrupted.

     

    Grant

  • by fane_j,

    fane_j fane_j Apr 2, 2012 2:57 PM in response to Grant Lenahan
    Level 4 (3,677 points)
    Apr 2, 2012 2:57 PM in response to Grant Lenahan

    Grant Lenahan wrote:

     

    I cannot think of any reason this would occur except something is corrupted.

    Look at the link provided by X423424X. Also this one

     

    <http://www.f-secure.com/v-descs/trojan-downloader_osx_flashback_i.shtml>

     

    fire badhas been infected by a strain of the Flashback Trojan Horse, which may be true of the others. This is what one should suspect at this point if all PPC apps crash without apparent cause.

     

    X423424X is right. This is what I suspected, given the symptom described by cassidy3. I didn't mention the Trojan Horse because I didn't want to alarm her needlessly, in case I was wrong.

  • by Templeton Peck,

    Templeton Peck Templeton Peck Apr 2, 2012 3:01 PM in response to cassidy3
    Level 9 (62,070 points)
    Apr 2, 2012 3:01 PM in response to cassidy3

    I suggest you post your question on Microsoft's own forums for their Mac software as it's their product you're having issues with:

     

    http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/mac

  • by fane_j,

    fane_j fane_j Apr 2, 2012 3:57 PM in response to Templeton Peck
    Level 4 (3,677 points)
    Apr 2, 2012 3:57 PM in response to Templeton Peck

    Templeton Peck wrote:

     

    I suggest you post your question on Microsoft's own forums

    Goodness gracious me! Are you telling them to go to Microsoft for a fix for a Trojan Horse infection which seems to have been facilitated by a Java vulnerability patched on Windows over a month ago—but which Apple still hasn't patched?

  • by fire bad,

    fire bad fire bad Apr 2, 2012 4:06 PM in response to fane_j
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 2, 2012 4:06 PM in response to fane_j

    Indeed. I took the steps that X423424X detailed and Office 2004 is working again. I downloaded MacScan to keep these things out. Thanks for all the help!

     

    Anything else I can do to prevent this from happening again?

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