Runtime Error! Program: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE11\WINWORD.EXE

Question

Dear Support Team:

I own an Acer Aspire with Windows Vista SP2 and Office 2003 Professional installed and I have two issues that I would appreciate advice for if possible.

1. Every time I open MS Office Word 2003 I get the following message:

            (Runtime Error!

            Program: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE11\WINWORD.EXE

            This application has requested the Runtime to terminate it in an unusual way.

            Please contact the application’s support team for more information.)

I am able to open the program on a second attempt because it gives me the option of opening it in “Safe Mode.” Obviously this is undesirable since it restricts use of parts of the program. I Googled the problem for a solution but found nothing useful.  Please help!

2. Apparently a number of recommended security updates have been installed on my computer for MS Office 2007 even though I do not have this program installed.  Will it help or hurt my computer to uninstall/delete these updates, and could this be responsible for issue number one?

Thank you

Rob

Answer 1

If the program can start in safe mode, the most likely cause of the error is a badly behaving add-in or template. Try disabling all add-ins and start Word then. If that doesn't solve the issue, with the add-ins still disabled, rename normal.dot (the normal template for Word) so that a new one gets created next time you start Word.

Answer 2

Try repairing the Office installation as detailed in the Knowledge Base article at:

https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Repair-an-Office-application-7821d4b6-7c1d-4205-aa0e-a6b40c5bb88b?CorrelationId=1b0030f4-8cc5-4485-b495-810e2a7d1284&ui=en-US&rs=en-US&ad=US

Answer 3

it is not a template, it is the MSVC Runtime Library DLL.  Something installed an incompatible version.  What I need to know is how to correct it.

Answer 4

When you start in Safe Mode, the default built-in Normal template and the default Registry settings are used, and all add-ins are disabled, which is why you don't see the Adobe PDF menu items and toolbar. Starting in Safe Mode is only a diagnostic tool. Ordinarily it is used to diagnose other problems.

For further troubleshooting, see “How to troubleshoot problems that occur when you start or use Word 2010, Word 2007, Word 2003, or Word 2002” at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/921541.

Answer 5

Hi Yves,

Thank you for the attempt at helping me with the Runtime Error I am having the problem with but unfortunately neither of those solutions seems to be the answer.  However, it may also be that I am not sure if I am following your instructions properly.  I found the Normal.dot file you referenced and changed the name but the only change I noticed was that the option to open in safe mode quit. I also found the ADDINS folder but there was no option to disable them only delete and so I moved them to another hard drive and that made no difference either.

I wonder if it has anything to do with the merge between MS Word 2003 and Adobe Acrobat? The other thing I noticed, in addition to only opening in safe mode, is the Adobe .PDF Converter at the top of the window is no longer there.

Still stumped,

Rob