[SOLVED] Removing software mac want to reinstall office for mac 2011

[eyeball_mk1]

hi all, Office Mac 2011 is complaining about normal.dotm. Word isn't opening windows made Word files from my old pc. Deleting and reinstalling did not help. am iI forgetting something?
Thanks in advance!

Pieter

 

[amdfangirl]

See if Libreoffice can open the files. If it can you can copy it across to Office 2011.

Command C, Command V 😉

 

[eyeball_mk1]

The problem is when I want to open a Word file it says normal.dotm isn't functioning. It won't open any Word files. Tried to delete Office completely and reinstalled but problem remains! I switched to Mac but now I almost regret it....

 

[danny2000]

The problem is when I want to open a Word file it says normal.dotm isn't functioning. It won't open any Word files. Tried to delete Office completely and reinstalled but problem remains! I switched to Mac but now I almost regret it....

I don't know anything about MACs, but as a PC tech, I would delete normal.dotm and it should recreate that file; It is either corrupted or infected.

 

[eyeball_mk1]

I don't know anything about MACs, but as a PC tech, I would delete normal.dotm and it should recreate that file; It is either corrupted or infected.

Thanks Danny but as I said (i think) I deleted Office completely (I checked the existance of a Normal.dotm on my machine) but it still keeps giving me these messages :-( It even won't save a new document. I really begin feel my switch to Mac was not a good one.....

 

[oxfordcomma]

Could you submit the actual wording of the error message you received?

Did you already try deleting the normal.dotm file? Did you previously have MS Office 2004 installed on this same machine?

Try deleting the normal.dotm file from the following location:
Macintosh HD/users/YOUR NAME/Documents/Microsoft User Data

If you're installing a recently-purchased retail copy of MS Office, try calling MS Support. They will probably know whatever it is that is not working with your office installation. However, if you are under the impression that MS Office not working is a reason to not purchase a Mac, then I would suggest that it is also a good reason to not purchase a Windows PC.

 

[danny2000]

FWIW here are a few thoughts and comments:

1. A Normal tempate has to exist, Word will not run without one and it recreates a new Normal template if the original has been deleted.

2. Apple's Finder app stinks as a search tool. It does not search system folders unless you tell it specifically which one to search. Thus you cannot locate the Normal.dotm template with a general search of your system. The path to the template is: ~/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Office/User Templates/Normal.dotm

3. If you have both a Normal.dot and Normal.dotm in the User Template folder, this will cause problems on exiting Word

4. If you have both Word 2008 and Word 2011 in the system, they both use the same Normal template from the same User Template folder could this cause the issue of the save message??

5. Certain versions of Norton Anti-Virus have caused this issue in the distant past on the PC ... could a current version be causing it again on the Mac???

6. Styles set in the document or the template to Auto Update could cause this issue.

7. Auto run macros in a global template that update something in the normal template could cause this issue.

8. Try starting Word in Safe Mode (hold down the Shift Key while starting Word) and do not have ANY other Office app running. If the behavior goes away it's probably a Global template in the Startup folder that's causing this issue.

9. Unless you have deleted files, renamed folders, or moved the Microsoft Office 2011 files and folders to other locations, reinstalling Office is probably not the answer.

10. A virus could casue this issue ... get a good program and scan your system.

 

[eyeball_mk1]

FWIW here are a few thoughts and comments:

1. A Normal tempate has to exist, Word will not run without one and it recreates a new Normal template if the original has been deleted.

2. Apple's Finder app stinks as a search tool. It does not search system folders unless you tell it specifically which one to search. Thus you cannot locate the Normal.dotm template with a general search of your system. The path to the template is: ~/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Office/User Templates/Normal.dotm

3. If you have both a Normal.dot and Normal.dotm in the User Template folder, this will cause problems on exiting Word

4. If you have both Word 2008 and Word 2011 in the system, they both use the same Normal template from the same User Template folder could this cause the issue of the save message??

5. Certain versions of Norton Anti-Virus have caused this issue in the distant past on the PC ... could a current version be causing it again on the Mac???

6. Styles set in the document or the template to Auto Update could cause this issue.

7. Auto run macros in a global template that update something in the normal template could cause this issue.

8. Try starting Word in Safe Mode (hold down the Shift Key while starting Word) and do not have ANY other Office app running. If the behavior goes away it's probably a Global template in the Startup folder that's causing this issue.

9. Unless you have deleted files, renamed folders, or moved the Microsoft Office 2011 files and folders to other locations, reinstalling Office is probably not the answer.

10. A virus could casue this issue ... get a good program and scan your system.

Option 8 seems to fix startup problem but I still can't save files : This in not a valid filename. check if path is correct or select file from list with files or maps. (sorry this is a translation from Dutch)

 

[danny2000]

It sounds like Word is trying to load a template that is not there any longer according to option 8. I would go in an uncheck it in options. Try the one in Global Template.
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word-help/load-or-unload-a-template-or-add-in-program-HA010105537.aspx

 

[danny2000]

1.Click the Microsoft Office Button , and then click Word Options.
2.Click Add-Ins.
3.In the Manage list, select Word Add-ins, and then click Go.
4.Click the Templates tab.
5.Do one of the following:
To unload a template or add-in but leave it under Global templates and add-ins, clear the check box next to the name of the item.

 

[danny2000]

I deleted the 2nd option since we do not want to delete anything; We only want to prevent it from loading. There may be more than one template trying to load, so you may have to do a trial and error to see which one is causing a problem, if any.

 

[eyeball_mk1]

Found the User data directory, deleted Normal.dotm and opening Word seems ok! BUT: I can't save any file?? Tried all variants like Word 97 etc but keep getting Message:

" this is not an valid file name" Check if path is correctly, select a file from list of files or maps. (translation from Dutch)

 

[eyeball_mk1]

It sounds like Word is trying to load a template that is not there any longer according to option 8. I would go in an uncheck it in options. Try the one in Global Template.
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word-help/load-or-unload-a-template-or-add-in-program-HA010105537.aspx

Thnx but this seems to effect on office 2007? I can't find any button like that.

 

[danny2000]

I don't see a MAC version of Office 2007. However, http://support.microsoft.com/kb/924460.
Try searching for templates in the help menu of Word to see where to go; It should give you an idea on where to go, and probably even be able to get to them via the help menu itself.

 

[kolp]

I don't see a MAC version of Office 2007. However, http://support.microsoft.com/kb/924460.
Try searching for templates in the help menu of Word to see where to go; It should give you an idea on where to go, and probably even be able to get to them via the help menu itself.

Hey i had the same messages coming up and i couldn't save any word documents but i fixed it by changing the name of my Mac Hardware Drive for some reason it was "/". I have no idea how it happen but by renaming it fixed the problem, hope it helps.