"Word cannot load" error message or Mso.dll error signature when you start Word 2002 in Windows 2000 or Windows XP

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This article was previously published under Q323219

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SYMPTOMS

When you start Microsoft Word 2002 on a Windows 2000-based or Windows XP-based computer, you may receive an error message similar to one of the following:

Word cannot load. Would you like to run a detect and repair?

-or-

Microsoft Word 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 in To see what data this error report contains, click here in the error dialog box. An error signature similar to the following appears, where xxxxxxxx is a string of hexadecimal characters:

   AppName       AppVer       ModName    ModVer       offset
   -----------------------------------------------------------  
   Winword.exe   10.0.2627.0  mso.dll    10.0.2625.0  xxxxxxxx

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CAUSE

This behavior can occur if the current user profile is damaged.

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WORKAROUND

To work around this issue, create a new user profile. To do so, follow these steps:

Create a new user account that has the same rights and group memberships as the current user account with the damaged profile.
Log off the computer.
Log on to the computer by using the new user account that you created in step 1.
Log off the computer.
Log on to the computer as Administrator or with a user account that has administrative permissions.
Start Windows Explorer, and then locate the following folder
drive:\Documents and Settings
where drive is the drive on which Windows is installed.

The damaged user profile is contained in a folder that has the same name as the user account.
Copy the data that you want from the damaged user profile folder to the folder that has the name of the new user who you created in step 1.

NOTE: Make sure that all system files and hidden files are displayed in Windows Explorer before you copy the files.
Log off the computer.
Log on to the computer as the new user.
Confirm that the profile data was successfully copied from the damaged profile, and that you can start Word.
Log off the computer.
Log on to the computer as Administrator or with a user account that has administrative permissions.
Start Windows Explorer, locate and then right-click the following folder
drive:\Documents and Settings\UserProfile
where drive is the drive on which Windows is installed, and UserProfile is the name of the damaged user profile. Click Delete, and then click Yes to confirm the folder deletion.
Right-click the folder that contains the name of the new user who you created in step 1, and then click Rename.
Type the name of the user account that had the damaged user profile, and then press ENTER.
Log off Windows.
Log on to the computer by using the original user account that had the damaged profile.

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MORE INFORMATION

For additional information about how to create a new user profile in Windows 2000, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

305506 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/305506/EN-US/ ) How to Identify a Damaged User Profile and Create a New Profile

For additional information about how to create a new user profile in Windows XP, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

318011 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/318011/ ) "Windows cannot load your profile because it may be corrupted" error message when you try to log on to Windows XP

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