Word freezes when using Find/Replace while connected via WiFi but NOT when connected by network cable. Similar problem with Outlook.

Question

This is just so bizarre.  I have a Lenovo laptop.  Just 2 years old and pretty powerful.  I do high-end CAD work so it's a powerful laptop.  32G RAM, etc. Using Office 2013 on Windows 7.

When I am plugged in via an Ethernet cable to the Internet, Word and all of office works beautifully. As soon as I am either offline or using a WiFi connection, Word freezes up when using the Find/Replace command.  This doesn't seem to happen with any other dialog box.

I have tried with an existing file and with a new document. I have tried with the laptop on a power source and off.

Similarly, I find that when I try to open Outlook when on WiFi, it also freezes. In both cases if I run Word or Outlook in safe mode, they work just fine.  I can find and replace.

This seems to have started when I created a new family mail account at outlook.com so I could have a family calendar. I have had a personal live.com account for a long time and never saw a problem there. Can there be an issue with Exchange ActiveSync? Does Word continually try to connect to my account?

While safe mode is work around, it isn't great if I want to be productive.  I work from home so I can plug in in my studio.  But if I want to work outside on a nice sunny day, everything becomes problematic.

Is this because my Ethernet connection is super fast but my WiFi is not (like when I am out of town and using a Verizon Jetpack for a connection)?  My wireless adapter's driver is up-to-date.

Anyone have a clue?

Chris

Answer 1

Well, Doug, there may be some hope here.

I tried the graphics acceleration item and in an initial test, Word and Outlook aren't freezing.

I will give this a try in the next few days in my various locations where I work without an Ethernet connection.

The big test will come in two weeks when I am on a work road trip.

Maybe there was a driver update or an Office update that is causing a clash.

And I am still puzzled - why would graphics acceleration have anything to o with how I am connecting to the Internet?

Chris

Answer 2

Hi -

Thanks for this but I don't think any of this addesses my issue.

To recap the salient points:

1. All of the office products work fine when I am connected to my Ethernet network (that is by cable).
2. This only happens when working with a WiFi connection.
3. This didn't start happening until I added a second Exchange ActiveSync email acocunt.
4. I made no other changes to my software or hardware at that time or since.
5. It all used to work fine (both cables and WiFi).  In fact, since I first installed Office 2013 in March 2013.  I added the other email account in March of this year.  So it all worked fine for a full year.

A couple of things.  I have changed my ISP twice in the last year.  From Verizon FIOS to Cablevision and back to FIOS (consistent internet speed is my primary reason).  But this happened, again, well after the two ISP switches.

I am leaning towards this: there must be something about Office that seems to be needing to poll the Internet no matter what you are doing, and with a slower connection, such as working off a 3G hotspot when I am on the road), it just can't handle it.  PLEASE SOMEONE AT MICROSOFT: if this is true how do I take my Office products OFFLINE (this is the desktop full price version)!!!!  Without doing Safe Mode because I don't like that I can't customize templates while doing so.

I am going to replace my antiquated WiFi access point in my house to see if that will speed up my Internet access and maybe solve this.

I just looked through your list again (in the future I would just ask that you either enumerate your list so that a reader can easily see when one issue ends and another begins, or include only those that are relevant to the asked question - it's a lot to read through).  The only one that may apply (though the linked-to question is not my problem) may the NVIDIA hardware acceleration issue.  Although, again, this used to work fine until I created this other email account.  I will try the NVIDIA fix too just to see if that makes a difference.

Chris

Answer 3

A lot of problems with Office 2013 are caused by third party (non-Microsoft) applications.  This is my (expanding) list of things to try when Office 2013\365 won’t start or crashes:

See the Article “Why can’t I start my Office 2013 application at:

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/support/why-cant-i-start-my-office-2013-application-HA104011864.aspx

For the error message Error: "Microsoft Office cannot verify the license for this product." See:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2797062/en-us

Refer to the following website for information on repairing Office 2013\365:

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/project-help/repair-or-remove-office-2010-HA010357402.aspx

See Office 2013 install woes - http://office-watch.com/t/n.aspx?a=1834

See the KnowledgeBase article “Office 2013 applications crash on launch at the splash screen” at:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2813143

Or see the KnowledgeBase article Error: “Something went wrong and we can't sign you in right now” when trying to install Office 2013 at:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2811180/en-us/

Try to run word in safe mode by typing winword/safe.

If thatdoes not helpthen, in the search box type winword --> Word 2013 will be displayed --> right click on it --> Select Properties --> Go to the compatibility tab --> Check to see if there is a check mark next to compatibilty mode.

If it is checked then uncheck it and then uncheck the option of Run as Administrator if its checked.

Now run the word

Also see my response in

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/office/forum/office\_2013\_release-word/microsoft-word-2013-has-stopped-working/67b81016-849f-481a-bce5-bf04797ac03b

Do you have Abbyy Finereader installed on the PC? A number of people have reported that removing it overcomes problems with 2013.  See:

Office programs may crash with the FineReader add-in installed at:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2755838

Do you have “Fun Tools” add-in? A number of people have reported that removing it overcomes problems with 2013

Do you have Toshiba Book Reader installed on the PC?  It has been reported that uninstalling that brings Office back to working status.

Do you have the Acrobat PDFMaker add-in.  It has been reported that uninstalling that overcomes an issue with a message appearing that states "The document contains macros. Macro support for this application is disabled. Features requiring VBA are not available. Would you like to open this document as a read only?"

Also see: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/office/forum/office\_2013\_release-word/microsoft-word-has-stopped-working-when-i-close/8375b5b6-4f7e-46ed-a02b-90152ecad287#LastReplyand

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/office/forum/office\_home-word/word-and-excel-2013-crashing-on-windows-7/5389390c-e989-4c8e-8fe0-62673f1410ce?page=4#LastReply

It appears that there may be some hardware incompatibilities as well.  If you have the NVIDIA driver NVWGF2UM.DLL, try renaming it as: NVWGF2UM.oldas was mentioned in:

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/office/forum/office\_2013\_release-word/microsoft-word-has-stopped-working-when-i-close/8375b5b6-4f7e-46ed-a02b-90152ecad287#LastReply

From the File tab, select Options and then click on Advanced and then in the Display section of the dialog, check the box for Disable hardware graphics acceleration

For the error message "There was a problem sending the command to the program", use Windows Explorer to access the C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office15 folder and right click on WINWORD.EXE then on Properties, go to the Compatibility tab and uncheck all the boxes.  It has also been reported that the problem can be overcome by editing the registry at HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Word.Document.12\shell\Open and deleting the ddeexec key.

The ddeexec can also be deleted from

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Word.DocumentMacroEnabled.12\shell\Open.

That fix is described at ...

http://www.dilloway.co.uk/there-was-a-problem-sending-the-command.html

It has been reported that uninstalling FastPictureView and FastPictureViewer Pro… overcomes the issue of the Minimize, Maximize, Close and Help buttons not being visible in Office 2013.

If you have a Canon 8350 printer, try using the Canon MF8000 UFRI LT XPS driver as detail in the post by Riad Amstha on April 14 in the thread at:

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/office/forum/office\_365hp-word/office-2013-crashes-with-canon-8350-printer/e2bf6530-92e0-47ef-b6ec-e803a91793d0?page=3#LastReply

For the problem of nothing appearing when you start typing in a blank document in Word in Office 365 Home Premium, and you hear a bell sound with each keypress, but no characters appear, disable the SMARTInk add-in for an interactive whiteboard.