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I create a new file on Word 2010. I type a few words. Then I press Ctrl + S to save it or click on the diskette icon on the toolbar. But Word does not save. Does nothing. When I want to close the file clicking the X button of the window, it prompts me if I want to save the changes or not.

Then I have uninstall MS Office 2010 and installed MS Office 2013. I wanted to understand if the problem is sourced by wrong configuration and/or settings. But NO!

The same problem persists on MS Office 2013 Std too.

I have searched for similar problems on Google, but found no helpful solution. I think it is a macro virus but do not know how to overcome it.

UPDATE by Art Gertner:

Experiencing identical problem. Excel and PowerPoint also affected. Attempted the following:

  • Restarting PC
  • Deleting Normal.dot
  • Starting in safe mode (winword /safe)
  • Disabling all addons
  • Cleaning up c:/temp
  • Checking Office activation status (shows valid license)
  • Checking that default file location in word (options > save > default file location) is valid path
  • Creating a new user account (issue is still present)
  • Checking the file system with chkdsk /r (no effect)

Additional details:

  • OS: Windows 7 x64 pro. Office 2010
  • Disk encryption is not used
  • the issue used to be intermittent for several days. Used to disappear after restart. Now it is permanent. Cannot save documents at all.
  • File > Open and File > save actions are also affected (nothing happens when clicked)
  • The following workaround is valid. Use windows explorer to navigate to directory where you want to save the file. Right click to call context menu. Select New > Microsoft Word Document. Document is created. Any changes to this document will be successfully saved.
Community
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  • and what happens when you choose "yes" when Office ask to save it? – H. Pauwelyn Mar 16 '16 at 17:29
  • Nothing happens. The dialog box blinks and reappears as if you just pressed close again. (same problem here) – Art Gertner May 18 '16 at 15:02
  • Have you tried Process Monitor? https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/processmonitor.aspx - Add word.exe as the process name and capture events previous to clicking on the save option. What happens when you click on Save As and pick the Desktop as a place to save? Have you tried sfc /scannow in Windows Safe Mode? Also, chkdsk c: /f as Administrator? – Sun May 18 '16 at 15:46
  • @LunaMezza, `Save as` + pick desktop won't work, because no dialogue shows up after clicking `Save as`. Will try the file-system check as you advised – Art Gertner May 18 '16 at 15:49
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    What is your Windows operating system? I'm taking a guess that your comdlg32.dll may be corrupted or being intercepted. This is DLL that gets referenced when you want to open or save a document in Office: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/bb776913(v=vs.85).aspx – Sun May 18 '16 at 16:42
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    Test system integrity with [sfc /scannow](http://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/2895-sfc-command-run-windows-10-a.html) and do a deep scan using the free version of [Malwarebytes Anti-Malware](https://www.malwarebytes.org/mwb-download/). And what is your Windows version? – harrymc May 18 '16 at 17:33
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    Two ideas: 1. check if the default save path points to an illegal place (File/Options/Save/Default File Location); 2. are you using encryption on your hard disk? When I try to save in such a place, instead of the file-Save dialog, a little icon appears on the bottom right (and it might be set invisible, so check under the up arrow), and when clicked, it says 'a file operation needs your encryption key' - only after you complete this dialog, the file/save dialog comes up. – Aganju May 18 '16 at 22:53
  • @ArtGertner: You should really also answer the comments above. – harrymc May 19 '16 at 11:10
  • Have you tried deleting the `Wddata.reg` Located in the Registry `HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Word\Data` and seeing if this corrects the problem? – NetworkKingPin May 19 '16 at 11:15
  • @NetworkKingPin, I don't have such entry in registry. `HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Word\Data` is there, but `Wddata.reg` is not inside – Art Gertner May 19 '16 at 11:44
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    @LunaMezza, your advice solved my problem: `sfc /scannow` – Art Gertner May 20 '16 at 13:07

5 Answers5

3

The Only answer I could find for this problem was to create a new user account and move data over.

My customer said:

It was random initially and then became frequent and then permanent and then spread from MS Office products to other programs as well.

Creating a new user account might not be the most ideal thing for everyone but I had to give up & move on at some point. :( looser

Different stuffs I tried in two days are below:

  1. Not only disable the add-ins but uninstall programs which had any add-in for Office Apps like Mcafee & Lexmark printer toolbar
  2. Clean boot the computer
  3. Plug HDD to a different computer and run virus/malware scans
  4. Tried Office apps in safe mode for sure
  5. Disconnect Network drives as I have seen them causing problem with file Save & Open action at times in past

  6. Played around with Process Monitor, compared then deleted and re-created following registry keys with another similar system.

    HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Common\OpenFind\MicrosoftWord\Settings\SaveAs

    HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CIDSave

    HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\ComDlg32

  7. Ran chkdsk /r

  8. Re-installed MS Office too
  9. No component store corruption detected on DISM /CheckHealth & /ScanHealth
  10. Didn't try System File Checker because I haven't been lucky with it ever

Affected system was a Windows 10 with Office 2013 installed, Which I upgraded to Office 16 later and the problem was still there until a new User account was created

Özkan ÖZLÜ
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clhy
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    Classic example of something being corrupt with the Windows user profile! – Vomit IT - Chunky Mess Style May 19 '16 at 05:18
  • Thanks for the info. I have domain account so deleting account and recreating it is not an option. Any advice? – Art Gertner May 19 '16 at 06:58
  • @ArtGertner - ask a new question and don't use the comments for this. – SPRBRN May 19 '16 at 07:02
  • To save time for anyone else looking for the same answer: http://superuser.com/q/512484/281154 – Art Gertner May 19 '16 at 07:05
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    @ArtGertner You won't believe me but I did this for a domain joined user. All you need is a local account with admin rights. Then boot the computer in safe mode, rename the userprofile from `c:\users\`, rename the userprofile key from `HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList` and reboot, login using the domain account. It will create the profile folder again and then move the data over. and you are done. – clhy May 19 '16 at 07:11
  • Unfortunately the answer by @The_IT_Guy_You_Don't_Like did not solve the problem. Recreating the account did nothing. In fact the issue is present even in newly created local admin account. – Art Gertner May 19 '16 at 07:51
  • @ArtGertner Did you just copy the whole profile data into new profile ? I have had issues with it. What I am saying is a lot of junk comes from `%APPDATA%` & `%LOCALAPPDATA%` – clhy May 19 '16 at 08:55
  • No, I did not copy anything. Literally created a new, fresh, unused profile - same problem present. – Art Gertner May 19 '16 at 08:58
  • Maybe I was just lucky ツ – clhy May 19 '16 at 11:13
  • @ArtGertner How about replacing Explorerframe.dll from `system32` and `syswow64` ? – clhy May 20 '16 at 02:42
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    Eventually `sfc /scannow` did the job. Must have been corruption in one of DLLs. Thanks everyone who posted here. – Art Gertner May 20 '16 at 13:06
  • Hmm I guess I don't get the bounty even though I gave the right suggestion and eventual answer. :( – Sun May 20 '16 at 16:54
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    Seems to be so. There's not much that can be done about an awarded bounty. – Journeyman Geek May 21 '16 at 10:45
3

Try running a c:\>sfc /scannow

The comdlg32.dll may be corrupted. This DLL gets referenced when you want to open or save a document in Office.

Sun
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0

From another site I learned that to start word in safe mode, that is word while pressing the control key (and saying yes when prompted) allowed save anew. And also that macros could be a problem, to be dealt with in Word itself, file / options / addins

My issue was with Word 2010 under Windows 10

igor
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    I suspect that this is more of a workaround for a limited set of cases than a solution to the underlying problem. You shouldn't need to run in safe mode if Word is working properly. – fixer1234 Nov 25 '18 at 18:33
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Ok, so I tried Ctrl-Opening Word and choosing Safe Mode, and it could Save As; whereas before, I didn't get a dialog for Save As, when simply creating a new doc, typing a few letters, and trying to Save As. Going into "file / options / addins", as suggested by Igor, and disabling all the addins (two active) in the "COM Addins" category, got things working when I restarted it without Safe Mode. One of the suspects was a MSO OneNote addin, and the other was a Foxit Reader plugin. I tried re-enabling the other one; and disabling the Foxit plugin. That did it. I don't know why the Foxit Reader addin suddenly started making it impossible to save a file; but it certainly did. I didn't have automatic updates on either, so there was no recent Windows or MSO update, nor recent update of Foxit reader either, for that matter.

Note that Foxit Reader is an excellent substitute for Acrobat Reader on Linux (although there is an Adobe Reader there, too). They make some premium PDF software; and by and large the Foxit Reader works great for me. I am especially fond of the free Foxit PDF print device you get when you install Foxit Reader - which is my primary reason for installing it. That being said, I have no need of a PDF COM addin in Word; and if I did, I could use an Adobe one, presumably. Simply disabling the addin neatly solved my problems; not that Foxit Reader is bad software for the most part.

CodeLurker
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According to me when you make a MS word document then don’t save direct to the file. Firstly you have to go in file then then go to info after that there are to option given but you have to choose only one that is recover unsaved document.

After that MS Word open the location where a copy of draft resides. It just a matter of selecting a draft.

Now opening it up as a fresh MS Word document and then saving it properly as a save as button on the business bar at the top of the document. Copies of unsaved document are kept for four days then they are automatically deleted.

When you want to open a document then you can also use Open & Repair feature for trubleshooting document that might got corrupted or damaged.

Geema Moore
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