"Publisher has encountered a problem and needs to close" error message when you try to start Publisher

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This article was previously published under Q322102

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SYMPTOMS

When you try to start Microsoft Publisher, you may receive an error message similar to the following:

Microsoft Publisher has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience.

If you were in the middle of something, the information you were working on might be lost.

We have created an error report that you can send to help us improve Microsoft Publisher. We will treat this report as confidential and anonymous.

To see what data this error report contains, click here.

The data in the error report contains an error signature similar to the following:

   AppName     AppVer       ModName     ModVer       offset  
   mspub.exe   10.0.2621.0  mspub.exe   10.0.2621.0  000f714C

As a result, you cannot start Publisher.

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CAUSE

This problem may occur if you try to start Publisher after it is in reduced-functionality mode. In reduced-functionality mode, no times remain when you can start Publisher without activating the product.

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RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, activate Publisher. To do so, follow these steps:

Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Microsoft Office Tools, and then click Activate Product.
Follow the on-screen instructions to activate Publisher.

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MORE INFORMATION

For more information about Office XP activation, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

293151 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/293151/ ) Description of the Office Activation Wizard

828958 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/828958/ ) How to activate a license in Office programs

For more information about product activation, visit the following Microsoft Web sites:

Piracy Basics: Microsoft Product Activation
http://www.microsoft.com/piracy/activation.mspx (http://www.microsoft.com/piracy/activation.mspx)

PressPass: Microsoft Product Activation Frequently Asked Questions
http://www.microsoft.com/piracy/activation_faq.mspx (http://www.microsoft.com/piracy/activation_faq.mspx)

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