Problem with Outlook / Word 2003 WINWORD.EXE process

Discussion in 'Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS), Office 365' started by Arroryn, Dec 3, 2008.

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  1. Arroryn

    Arroryn we're all dooooooomed Moderator

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    Dec 3, 2008 #1
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    Hi guys

    Throwing this open to the world of CF, as Microsoft's KB and Google cannot help me!

    I have a lappy that runs XP SP3 and Office 2K3 SP3.

    Can I clarify now, Word is NOT the primary email editor, and emails by default are created as rich text.

    When Outlook is opened, the WINWORD.EXE process opens in the background. Whenever an attachment is opened, it invokes another WINWORD.EXE process that is then stopping our DMS from integrating / allowing users to save attachments into the DMS from Outlook.

    Any ideas why the winword.exe process is starting when Outlook starts, without Word being the primary editor?

    The lappy has been virus checked, and is clean.

    Ta,
     
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  2. Qs

    Qs Semi-Honorary Member Gold Member

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    Yeah...

    Firstly - check the startup folder for either Microsoft Office Quick Startup or QuickFind and delete them.

    Secondly - Reinstall the Office suite.

    Thirdly - Check the following link which makes for interesting reading - http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/100867-35-winword-running-windows-open

    Qs

    EDIT - Thought of something else which is very obvious, but still... check MSConfig to have a thorough look at the programs loading on startup. See if you can find winword.exe or the aforementioned FindFast, QuickFind etc executables and disable them.
     
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  3. Arroryn

    Arroryn we're all dooooooomed Moderator

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    Dec 3, 2008 #3
    Using the Sysinternals process explorer, I can see that when the winword.exe process fires up its parent is winlogon.exe instead of explorer.exe, which is where I see my Outlook appear.

    Startup is clear, and this is a fresh install of the application anyways (sorry, should have mentioned that).

    That third point / link unfortunately doesn't seem to have anything relevant.

    The 'Command Line' in the image file for the process states the following:

    "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE11\WINWORD.EXE" /automation -embedding

    I've tried googling this too, but a lot of the answers are to do with VB and I'm honestly quite clueless on it.
     
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  4. Arroryn

    Arroryn we're all dooooooomed Moderator

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    Dec 3, 2008 #4
    Hey Qs - nothing Office related is invoked on Startup. The issue is when Outlook starts - which then fires up winword.exe (but not the Word GUI).
     
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  5. Notes_Bloke

    Notes_Bloke Terabyte Poster

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    Are there any add-ins installed in Outlook?

    NB
     
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  6. BosonMichael
    Honorary Member Highly Decorated Member Award 500 Likes Award

    BosonMichael Yottabyte Poster

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    Have you tried enabling Word as your default e-mail editor, then disabling it again?
     
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  7. Arroryn

    Arroryn we're all dooooooomed Moderator

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    Dec 3, 2008 #7
    There are no COM add-ins, but there are several add-ins under addin manager.

    I have tried running Outlook with all these unchecked (and Outlook in safe mode, don't know if that's technically the same thing) with negative results - still brings up the winword process.
     
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  8. Arroryn

    Arroryn we're all dooooooomed Moderator

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    Trying this now :)
     
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  9. Qs

    Qs Semi-Honorary Member Gold Member

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    Ah right, maybe I read this a bit too quickly then, so my apologies. I had assumed that you had just found the winword.exe process inside task manager and may have overlooked the fact that it was related to outlook specifically.

    Still - a full reinstall of the software should be your first fix (I know that you said it was a clean install but something may have changed post installation). That should overwrite the email editor option (it's disabled by default) as well as resolve other niggles that may be causing the problem.

    Let us know.

    Qs
     
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  10. Arroryn

    Arroryn we're all dooooooomed Moderator

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    Dec 3, 2008 #10
    Hokey, my first line guys have said a full reinstall was done earlier today with the issue produced immediately again afterwards.

    Having Word as the editor then turning that off again (amidst app restarts, etc) also hasn't had an effect.
     
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  11. Notes_Bloke

    Notes_Bloke Terabyte Poster

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    Dec 3, 2008 #11
    If you look in the registry, was is the value of this key:-
    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Outlook\Options\Mail - EditorPreference

    NB
     
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  12. Arroryn

    Arroryn we're all dooooooomed Moderator

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    Dec 3, 2008 #12
    Hi NB - it's 196610
     
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  13. Arroryn

    Arroryn we're all dooooooomed Moderator

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    Dec 3, 2008 #13
    Also, this key is the same as on my own PC, and I cannot replicate / have never had this problem.
     
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  14. Qs

    Qs Semi-Honorary Member Gold Member

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    Dec 3, 2008 #14
    Outlook uses Word for two common processes. Once is to edit all email messages the second is to read only Rich Text emails.


    If the user is creating emails by default in a Rich text format, all responses will more than likely be in Rich Text format too (Outlook analyses the email format and changes the reply format automatically) - hence why the Winword.exe process is running in the background.

    To turn it off -> Outlook ->Tools -> Options -> Mail Format Tab -> Untick "Use Microsoft Office World 2003 to read Rich Text e-mail messages"

    Makes logical sense to me...

    Qs
     
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  15. Arroryn

    Arroryn we're all dooooooomed Moderator

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    Dec 3, 2008 #15
    Qs - that box isn't ticked either (otherwise would have done it!)
     
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  16. Qs

    Qs Semi-Honorary Member Gold Member

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    Dec 3, 2008 #16
    You don't make these puzzles easy, do ya? :p

    *mumbles*

    Reinstall it yourself again. Do a full virus scan. Do a full SpyBot S&D scan.


    If all else fails - reformat the bugger, that'll solve it. :D

    Qs
     
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  17. flounder10

    flounder10 Nibble Poster

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    Aaah... the good old "slash & burn" technique :p
     
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  18. Notes_Bloke

    Notes_Bloke Terabyte Poster

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    Ok. What is the value in this entry:-

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Outlook\Options\General - Body Editor

    NB
     
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  19. Qs

    Qs Semi-Honorary Member Gold Member

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    Dec 3, 2008 #19
    Surely by uninstalling and then reinstalling the software all of these keys are reset to their default values anyway, right NB?

    ...You are doing that aren't you Arro? Uninstalling fully, restarting, and then installing again from scratch?

    Qs
     
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  20. Arroryn

    Arroryn we're all dooooooomed Moderator

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    Dec 3, 2008 #20
    {00020906-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}

    - again, this is the same as on my own machine.
     
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