2 Progs causing trouble after XP SP2

[Crispy]

I'm in trouble after loading SP2 on my wife's PC. I've searched through all the MS sites for a solution and many posts made here, but so far, no luck.

There only seems to be a problem when running one of two Office '97 apps. Word and Excel, and the problem is not always present. The whole thing hangs when trying to use Preview or Print, but not on every document. Some of the docs are very small, I even added a test doc of just a few words, and that just hung.

Task Manager shows two entries for the app. for some reason, and each is marked as Not Responding.

I followed all the advice given before loading SP2, apart from the ones who said 'Don't do it'.

The machine is a Dell Dimension, with very little on it. All the usual virus and Spybot type checks have been made. Any suggestions would be very welcome.

Regards,
Chris P

[macko72]

Did you tried MS Office update???
After installing XPSP2???
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/default.aspx

[RJ]

Try re-installing Word and Excel. I am running Word 97 on two PCs with Win XP SP2, and never had that problem.

RJ

[Crispy]

Hi, I'm sure I checked it at the time, but it was a couple of months ago. I just checked it again, just in case, and it seemed to be telling me to download the Office XP SP3. Reading the notes, it seemed to be talking about recent Office programs, and certainly no mention of Office '97. The fact that it's not a reversible download left me feeling more than wary - I've only just recovered from the bruises of my last update attempt.

All the best,
Chris P

[glc]

Office 97 is not officially supported on XP, but here's your best shot:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en

[Crispy]

Thanks for that glc, it's probably worth a try as she only has the SR1 loaded on at present. The thing that really puzles me is that everything worked fine on XP until I loaded the XP SP2.

I'll let you know how things go.
Chris P

[Crispy]

After the SR2 install, things seem pretty much the same. You could say the plus point is that at least nothing appears to be worse.

In both Word and Excel, previewing certain files just seems to hang, and result in Task Manager showing duplicate entries, both marked as 'not responding'.

I suppose you could say, after almost ten years of good use, that we ought to fork out for Office XP, but I'm wondering if that would definitely solve the problem.

All the best,
Chris P

[RJ]

Since it happened after you installed SP2 I assume something went wrong during that process.
Slipstream SP2, do a clean install, and then install Office 97.

RJ

[Crispy]

Thanks for the suggestion RJ, but I think for the size of the problem, the clean install is a bit over the top. I'm not in the best of health these days, and just simple updates are about as far as I can go.

All the best,
Chris P