WD2000: Word Problems with Lines That Are Made Up of Repeated Non-Alphanumeric Characters After a Tab Stop

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This article was previously published under Q329525

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SYMPTOMS

When you create lines in your Word document that are made up of repeated non-alphanumeric characters, Word may quit unexpectedly. You may receive an error message that is similar to one of the following:

WINWORD.exe has generated errors and will be closed by Windows. You will need to restart the program. An error log is being created.

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

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CAUSE

This problem may occur if all the following conditions exist:

You create the line after a tab stop.
You create the line by pressing the SHIFT key in combination with a non-alphanumeric key. For example, SHIFT+*, or SHIFT+_.
The line that you create wraps to the next line in the document.

Word incorrectly handles the way in which lines that are made up of repeated non-alphanumeric characters wrap to the next line in a document.

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RESOLUTION

A supported hotfix is available from Microsoft. However, this hotfix is intended to correct only the problem that is described in this article. Apply this hotfix only to systems that are experiencing this specific problem.

If the hotfix is available for download, there is a "Hotfix download available" section at the top of this Knowledge Base article. If this section does not appear, submit a request to Microsoft Customer Service and Support to obtain the hotfix.

Note If additional issues occur or if any troubleshooting is required, you might have to create a separate service request. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for this specific hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Customer Service and Support telephone numbers or to create a separate service request, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support (http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support)

Note The "Hotfix download available" form displays the languages for which the hotfix is available. If you do not see your language, it is because a hotfix is not available for that language.
The English version of this fix should have the following file attributes or later:

Date         Time   Size       File name
------------------------------------------------
07-Nov-2002  16:20      2,962  Readme.txt
07-Nov-2002  16:05  3,667,096  Winword.msp
07-Nov-2002  16:41  4,684,436  Winword_admin.msp

After the hotfix is installed, the English version of this fix will have the file attributes (or later) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in coordinated universal time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time tool in Control Panel.

Date         Time   Version     Size       File name
------------------------------------------------------
01-Nov-2002  13:15  9.0.0.7031  8,826,932  Winword.exe

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