Can't save word files

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Hello everyone,

My first post and I joined because I am looking for help for this problem. I searched and found some info but no solution, so I'm starting a new thread.

As of today, I cannot save new files in Word. I use a MacBook Pro, OS X v 10.6.8, Word 2004 for Mac.

I did two things. I bought a Magic Mouse and got it working, and also updated both OS X and Word.

Then, working in Word, I did a "Save As" on a file and Word froze. The "save" and "save as", and other items such as "quit word" grayed on the drop down menus and don't work. The leftmost of the three colored buttons on the top left of the document I was trying to save also froze (it uncolored, actually, no color in it)

So, I forced quit Word, restarted it, and all the appropriate items in the drop downs were active. I opened a file and I can do a "Save" on an open file. However, "save as" and a "save" on a previously unsaved document produce the freeze as described above.

Rebooting does not solve the problem. I do not get the save dialogue box where I get to name a file and tell it where to go when it freezes. I do not get an error message.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

wsupedro
 
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can't save word files

I'm having the same problem today (Feb. 2, 2012). My Word 2004 files won't save, I have to restart Word when I try saving. Word was working fine yesterday. I did do an update this morning, maybe it caused this problem.
 
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I also can't save Word 2004 docs starting 2/2

Hi,

I just joined this website because of this problem. Starting this afternoon, around 1pm, when I started using Word (2004 version) I can't save a document or quit out of Word! I have to force quit. The odd thing is the timing, as I see that the other posters also had problems this afternoon. Yesterday I had no problems.

In terms of troubleshooting, I have already re-installed Microsoft Office and called Microsoft, but they don't offer any help. I even told them others are having the same issue.

I'm not a technologically savvy person, so I really hope that someone here can help!

Thank you!
 
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white

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Also cannot save as of today about 12 noon

Absolutely the same for myself today, I have been using Word 2004 on my new imac for well over a year now, work fine, then just today, it started exactly as you others.

I cannot save as, after using save as in the drop down, nothing happens and the windows close button (red) is grey and I can't close the window! then I can't quit word either! all the save ,save as, summary, print, preview, page setup and the quit lines are all grey and not selectable. I have restarted, duplicated documents, moved them to other drives but it is all the same.

Shocked to see others posting this problem exactly yon the same day, today February 2, 2012, perhaps even near the same time?

Virus?
 
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10.6.8 update glitch wt MS Word

Reading the threads, it appears that I am not alone with this problem. I updated to 10.6.8 yesterday and tried to use my 2004 MS Word program today. It was very tricky to make a document and when I tried to save it, nothing happened. Most areas under file were grey and I had to force quit. I tried several times and then tried Excel with the same results. Ugh!
 

BrianLachoreVPI


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I didn't think Word 2004 worked on Lion. Isn't it a PPC app? If you were using it on an intel Mac - you were running Rosetta - which is no longer supported by Lion either.
 

chscag

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Must be something else going on because member "disneykaren" said she updated to 10.6.8 (Snow Leopard not Lion). As far as I'm aware, Office 2004 should still work with Snow Leopard unless when she updated, Rosetta did not get installed. ?

Also looks like the same thing happened to member "wsupedro" (note that he says he updated OS X). I'll bet Rosetta did not get installed when he updated.
 

chscag

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Those of you who are having difficulties saving Office 2004 files.. take note:

If you recently updated to Snow Leopard, Rosetta (which is required for Office 2004 to work) does not automatically get installed. You must download it from Apple and install it before Office 2004 will work.
 
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Same Problem, Not Rosetta, Not OS X Leopard

I just started having the same problem.

I updated my computer to Leopard 10.6.8 a few months ago and I have used word without any problems (besides the normal annoyances of MS Word) since then. Rosetta was installed right after I upgraded so that I could run Word, Excel, and Powerpoint. Again, its been about a month since I did that and I've used word frequently without any problems.

I created a new document today and tried to save with the same problem as described above, greyed out menu options for save, save as, quit, etc. I can also access the document text, but it will not let me copy/past the text that's there, though I am able to highlight it. I also just checked to see if it does this for old documents as well and unfortunately it does.

I did just run a software update last night, so it is possible that this may have caused the problem. I can't remember exactly what was updated, though I do recall MS Remote Desktop (RDC) being one of the updates, and I believe a security update was the other.

I'm trying to see if it might be the RDC, but until then any help would be greatly appreciated.
 

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There was a recent security update for Office 2008, and Office 2011 labeled as critical. I don't have Office 2004 but I suspect it was the same security update. Are you running Office 2004 or a later version?
 
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I have Office 2004 as noted in my original post, as do many of the other responders in this thread as they note in their posts. Will buying the newest version of Office solve this problem?

Rosetta was installed in June, 2011, v. 1. Does Rosetta need to be updated and, if so, how do I do that?

Thanks for everyone's responses.

Cheers,
wsupedro
 
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me too

I have exactly this problem

Rang Mac help this morning. INitially not very helpful as my machine is out of warranty. I pointed out the problem appeared to be Mac's responsibility and he suggested I try reapairing disk permissions using Disk Utility.

I did this and it made no difference!

Back to the phone....
 
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Word is the same for me, too.

I, too, have exactly this problem, though I use Word:Mac v x. It has worked perfectly for years and years.

I am on 10.6.8, Snow Leopard, and have been on this since it came out. Word worked fine until today. Last night I did the current Software Update. I have to believe the problem is caused by this update in some way.
 
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chas_m

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So I think what we generally have here (correct me folks if I'm wrong) is ...

People who are running very old versions of Word on their Snow Leopard Macs have, after doing an update from Microsoft, IOW not Software Update from Apple but Office's built-in, separate update mechanism, encountered a save bug.

If that description isn't accurate, please let me know.
 
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same problem

Hi,

The problem happened to me right after that update for...Snow Leopard? All I know is it was an "important" one and I always do them.

What I don't do normally is the Microsoft updates as was suggested above as a possible culprit. After Word started freezing I went looking for a solution and discovered updates for Microsoft Office. I've gone ahead and done them and it seemed to work. Except that this morning I tried to do a "Save as" and everything has frozen the way it was before. ACK! is my response. I'm trying to have a productive day....

Has anyone had any ideas? Is there anyway to uninstall the latest update for the system? I would say it has some bug or other that is doing this.
 
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chas_m
In my case it was an update from Apple that seems to have caused the trouble. In other respects your description is accurate.
BW
Andy
 
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In response to chas_m, everyone who has listed their version of Word or Office in this thread, who is having the problem, has listed Word 2004 as their current version.

If you call that very old, them I'm very ancient. Oh well!!!!!

And in answer to your question, basically yes, your description is accurate.

All of us are having an identical problem, so it seems clear to me that it is a bug in the update.

Again, thanks to everyone who has posted, and hopefully this will be resolved soon. Very soon.
 
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I too have the same problem, seemingly out of the blue. OS 10.6.8 (have been there for a while now) Office 2004.

Everything was fine two days ago, then all MS Office apps went bad (2/2/2012). No ability to save, save as, quit menu all greyed out. Not to mention lots of other menus. Have to force quit Office apps. No ability to save anything.

Downloaded OpenOffice and was able to get done what I needed to in a word like application.

May not go back to Office unless I have to and this gets fixed. Thinking about re-installing Office.

Outside of that, it involves rolling back using time machine to get back in time to a place where it all worked. Not my idea of what I like doing on a friday.
 

BrianLachoreVPI


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Crazy. It does sound like an SL update broke something.
 
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anyone know a fix?

My Word 2004 stopped saving docs today too. If it was caused by the auto update, is there a way to "undo" it?
 

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