Comparison of the "/a" and "/safe" troubleshooting switches in Word 2002

Microsoft Word 2002 provides two troubleshooting switches to help you determine what may be causing a problem when you start Word 2002.

This article compares the functions of the /a and the /safe troubleshooting switches.

The /a Switch

The /a switch performs the following functions when you start Word 2002:

• The global template (Normal.dot) is not loaded.
  
  A new Blank Document is opened by using Word 2002 default values.
• The Word 2002 Data registry key is not loaded:
  HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Word\Data
• The Word 2002 Options registry key is not loaded:
  HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Word\Options
• The Office Assistant registry key is bypassed:
  HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\Common\Assistant
• The Word 2002 Security registry key is bypassed:
  HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Word\Security
• Global Templates and Add-ins are not loaded.
  
  To find which templates and add-ins are loaded, on the Tools menu, click Templates and Add-ins.
• The Word and Office Startup folders are not loaded.
• COM Add-ins are not loaded.

For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

The /safe Switch

The /safe switch performs the same functions as the /a switch. Additionally, the /safe switch also performs the following functions:

• The /safe switch starts Word 2002 by using the /n switch.
  
  A new Blank Document is not opened.
• Damaged documents are not recovered when you start Word 2002.
• Documents that cause problems in Word 2002 are not added to the Disabled Items list.
  
  To view the Disabled Items list in Word 2002, on the Help menu click About Microsoft Word, and then click Disabled Items.
• The DisabledItems registry key is locked.
  
  The DisabledItems registry key stores the documents, templates, or add-ins that have been disabled in Word 2002:
  HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Word\Resiliency\DisabledItems
• The DocumentRecovery registry key is locked.
  
  The DocumentRecovery key contains the information about the document types (Recovered, AutoRecover, Original) of a document. After each one of the types is resolved, saved or deleted, the registry key is deleted:
  HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Word\Resiliency\DocumentRecovery
• The Office Safe Mode state is stored in the following registry key:
  HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Word\Resiliency\StartupActions
• Smart tags are not loaded.
• Toolbar customizations are not loaded.
• The AutoCorrect List (ACL) is not loaded, and customizations to the list during the Word 2002 session are not saved.

For more information about Office Safe Mode in Word, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: