You receive a "Microsoft Word has encountered a problem and needs to close" error message when you try to start Word 2000

When you try to start Word, you may receive the following error message: If the error message is still displayed and you want to see the data that the error report contains, click the click here link at the bottom of the message box. Error signature information appears that may be similar to the following:

This behavior may occur if either of the following conditions is true:

• Word is installed on a Microsoft Windows XP-based computer or a Windows Vista-based computer, and Word is set up to use compatibility options for an earlier Windows operating system.
• The default template Normal.dot is corrupted or damaged.

To resolve this problem, use one of the following methods, as appropriate for your situation:

Method 1: Remove the Compatibility Mode Setting for Word

To have us fix this problem for you, go to the "Fix it for me" section. If you prefer to fix this problem yourself, go to the "Let me fix it myself" section.

Fix it for me

To fix this problem automatically, click the Fix this problem link and follow the prompts.

Fix this problem

Let me fix it myself

To fix this problem yourself use the following steps:

1. Locate and then open the following folder, where drive is the drive on which Word is installed:
   %programfiles%\Microsoft Office\Office
   • The default location is program files but the Word program may be installed in a different location on your computer. If this is the case, navigate to the location where the Word program files are installed.
2. Right-click Winword.exe, and then click Properties.
3. Click the Compatibility tab, click to clear all the check boxes, and then click OK.

Method 2: Create a New Normal.dot File

Follow these steps to temporarily rename the Normal.dot template to determine if it is the cause of the problem:

1. Close all programs.
2. Click Start, and then click Search.
3. Click All files and folders.
4. In the All or part of the file name box, type Normal.dot.
5. In the Look In box, click My Computer.
6. Click Search Now.
7. For each instance of Normal.dot, right-click the file, click Rename, and then type OldNormal.dot.
8. Close Search Results, and then start Word.

If Word starts without the error message, the cause of the problem was a corrupted Normal.dot. When Word starts, Word creates a new Normal.dot to replace the renamed file. If you customized your old Normal.dot, you must re-do all the modifications to restore your favorite options.