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You receive a "Compile error in hidden module" error message when you start Word or Excel

Article ID: 307410 - View products that this article applies to.

This article was previously published under Q307410

SYMPTOMS

When you start one of the programs that are listed in the "Applies to" section, you may receive an error message that is similar to one of the following:

Compile error in hidden module: AutoExec

Compile error in hidden module: AutoExecNew

Compile error in hidden module: DistMon

Additionally, in Microsoft Windows 95, Microsoft Windows 98, or Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Me) you receive the following error message:

Excel has performed an error in module excel.exe and will be closed.

Additionally, in Microsoft Windows XP, Microsoft Windows 2000, or Microsoft Windows NT you receive the following error message:

Application name has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience.

To view the details of the error signature, click the link To see what data this error report contains, click here in the error dialog box. The following error signature appears:Note In this error signature, App.exe is the executable file name of the program where this error occurred. For example, App.exe may appear as "Winword.exe."

For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

296493

(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/296493/ )

You receive an error message when you start the program or work with a document in Word 2003 or Word 2002

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CAUSE

This problem may occur when the following conditions are true:

The Microsoft Office Startup folder or the Microsoft Excel Startup folder contains either or both of the following Adobe Acrobat PDFMaker add-in template files:
Pdfmaker.dot
Pdfmaker.xla
Norton AntiVirus software is installed.

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RESOLUTION

Method 1: Download the latest version of the add-in for Adobe Acrobat 5.0

To obtain an updated add-in for Adobe Acrobat 5.0, visit the following Adobe Web site:

http://www.adobe.com/

(http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/update.html)

Note Microsoft does not support downloading and installing add-ins from the Adobe Web site. If you need help, you must contact Adobe Technical Support.

Method 2: Move the files

Move the Pdfmaker.dot file and, if present, the Pdfmaker.xla file from the Office or Excel Startup folder to a different folder on your hard disk. For example, you can move the files to the My Documents folder.

To have us move these files for you, go to the “Fix it for me” section. If you would rather fix this problem yourself, go to the “Let me fix it myself” section.

Fix it for me

To remove these files automatically, click the Fix this problem link. Click Run in the File Download dialog box, and follow the steps in this wizard.

Fix this problem
Microsoft Fix it 50303

Note this wizard may be in English only; however, the automatic fix also works for other language versions of Windows.

Note If you are not on the computer that has the problem, you can save the automatic fix to a flash drive or to a CD, and then you can run it on the computer that has the problem.

Let me fix it myself

Note Because there are several versions of Microsoft Windows, the following steps may be different on your computer. If they are, see your product documentation to complete these steps.

To remove these files yourself this, follow these steps.

Click Start, point to Search, and then click For Files or Folders.
In the Search for file or folders named box, type pdfmaker.dot pdfmaker.xla.
In the Look In box, click the disk drive where Windows is installed, such as C:, and then click Search Now.

The Pdfmaker.dot file is located in one of the following folders:
- C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Startup (Word 2000)
- C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10\Startup (Word 2002)
- C:\Documents and Settings\User Name\Application Data\Microsoft\Word\Startup
The Pdfmaker.xla file in located in one of the following folders:
- C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Xlstart (Excel 2000)
- C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10\Xlstart (Excel 2002)
- C:\Documents and Settings\User Name\Application Data\Microsoft\Excel\Xlstart
In the Search Results window, right-click the file for each file that is found, and then click Cut.
On your desktop, right-click the My Documents folder, and then click Paste.

Method 3: Visit the Symantec Web site for Norton Antivirus information and product updates

To resolve this behavior, visit the following Symantec Web site for more information and product updates:

http://www.symantec.com/support/index.jsp

(http://www.symantec.com/support/index.jsp)

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MORE INFORMATION

For more information about how to troubleshoot other Pdfmaker.dot add-in issues, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

276001

(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/276001/ )

Adobe Acrobat buttons are missing or you receive an error message after you upgrade to Word

235326

(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/235326/ )

You receive the "Compile error in hidden module: RegistrationDB" error message when you try to start Excel 2000

291214

(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/291214/ )

"Compile error in hidden module: RegistrationDB" error message when you start or quit Excel 2002

The third-party products that this article discusses are manufactured by companies that are independent of Microsoft. Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, about the performance or reliability of these products.

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