FIX: Word 2002 May Drop Keyboard Input on Windows 98 and Windows Me When Accessibility Client Runs

When you input characters from the keyboard on your computer, characters may be lost, and characters you expect to see in the document may not appear. This problem occurs when Microsoft Word 2002 runs on Microsoft Windows 98 or Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Me) and an Accessibility client runs at the same time. The Accessibility client repeatedly calls the Word document window by using the AccessibleObjectFromWindow application programming interface (API) for access to the IAccessible interface.

The severity of this problem is directly proportional to the number of calls that are made per second and the thread priority of the caller at the time of the request. The more calls that are made per second and the higher the priority of the calling thread, the more key strokes that may be lost in processing.

The problem does not occur in Microsoft Word 2000. This problem also does not occur in Word 2002 if you run on Microsoft Windows NT, Microsoft Windows 2000, or Microsoft Windows XP.

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: 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.NOTE: To properly install this fix, you must run Word 2002 with Service Pack 2. You may have to install Windows Installer 2.0 before you run the patch.

For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 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. The English version of this fix should have the following file attributes or later:NOTE: In addition to the new files noted earlier, you must make the following registry changes to enable this functionality.

IMPORTANT: This article contains information about modifying the registry. Before you modify the registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that you understand how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For information about how to back up, restore, and edit the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: To make the registry changes, follow these steps:

1. Start the Windows 98 or the Windows Millennium Edition Registry Editor (Regedit.exe).
2. Locate and then click the following key in the registry:
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Word\Options
3. On the Edit menu, click New, click DWORD Value, and then add the following numeric value to the registry:
   Value Name: DontPeekNullMessages
   Value Data: 0x00000001 (to Enable) or 0x00000000 (to Disable)
4. Quit Registry Editor.

WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.

Service Pack Information

This problem was first corrected in Office XP Service Pack 3.To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Microsoft Office XP. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: