please help, word is all of a sudden not working!!!!

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ok so im not well versed when it comes to technology and computers and stuff like that so please forgive me if this question seems stupid or an easy fix


i have a mac book pro and i have microsoft office on it (word, powerpoint, excel ect..

all of a sudden microsoft word is not working (only word by the way, powerpoint works and so does excell)
i tried the whole software update thing and it still wont work

im a college student and i have very important documents that i need to print out soon

everytime i try to open word it says "check with the developer to make sure microsoft word works with this version of mac os x. you may need to reinstall the application. be sure to install any available updates for the application and mac os x"



im afraid if i "reinstall" word that all my documents will be erased! please help!
 
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im afraid if i "reinstall" word that all my documents will be erased! please help!
Don't worry, there's no chance of that happening. Your documents are completely separate files; Word only opens/edits/re-saves them, they're not part of the app like the progress save files on a game.

If you're worried, just make back-up copies of your documents on a USB stick or external hard drive; then go ahead & reinstall.

I'll just check one other thing; have you recently upgraded from OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard to 10.7 Lion? If so that may have been what messed it up; but Office:mac 2011 should work with Lion, so reinstalling Office should get it working again either way.
 

chscag

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Thread moved here to the correct forum.

Which version of MS Office are you running? If it's only Word that is not working right, it may be corrupt or its data base might be in error. The only way to cure that is to completely remove Office and reinstall. You can not just reinstall Word without reinstalling PP and Excel. As the other reply stated, your documents will not be effected. But back them up anyway before reinstall.
 
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The only way to cure that is to completely remove Office and reinstall.

By the way, that means use the Remove Office application (uninstaller). Don't just drag the MS folder to the Trash. And no, your files will not be affected. (Just thought a third reassurance would ease your mind ;) )
 
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Didn't know that Harry, but OP did not say which version...
 

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Office 2008 comes with an uninstaller, however, it's not very effective as it leaves a lot behind. Office 2011 does not include an uninstaller. Microsoft now has uninstall step by step instructions for both Office 2008 and 2011. It's recommend that they be used.
 

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