You receive a "Word is waiting for another application to complete an OLE action" error message when you try to insert a Visio 2002 drawing into a Word document

When you try to insert a Microsoft Visio 2002 drawing as an object into a Microsoft Word document, the Visio 2002 object is not inserted into the document. Additionally, you receive the following error message: If you click Switch To, you may experience one of the following symptoms:

• Task Manager is started. If you click Microsoft Word on the Applications tab and then click Switch To, the Visio 2002 drawing may be inserted into the Word document after a short delay.
• Visio 2002 may start after a long delay.
• Word may stop responding (hang).

If you click Retry, the Visio 2002 drawing may be inserted into the Word document after a short delay.

If you click Cancel, the Visio 2002 drawing may be inserted into the Word document. Alternatively, you may receive the following error message:

This issue may occur if any one or more of the following conditions are true:

• The Visio 2002 process is not ended correctly after you insert a Visio 2002 drawing as an object into a Word document.
• You use one of the following methods to insert a Visio 2002 drawing as an object into a Word document:
  • You click Object on the Insert menu. Then, you click Microsoft Visio Drawing on the Create New tab.
  • You click Object on the Insert menu. Then, you select an existing Visio 2002 drawing on the Create from File tab.

To work around this issue, use one of the following methods.

Method 1: Retry the operation

In the error message dialog box that is described in the "Symptoms" section, click Retry. The Visio 2002 drawing should be inserted into the Word document after a short delay.

Method 2: End the Visio 2002 process and the Word 2002 process

In the error message dialog box that is described in the "Symptoms" section, click Cancel. If you receive the following error message, click OK: End the Visio 2002 process and the Word 2002 process. Then, try to insert the Visio 2002 drawing again.

To end the Visio 2002 process and the Word 2002 process, follow these steps:

1. Start Task Manager. To do this, click Start, click Run, type taskmgr, and then press ENTER.
2. On the Processes tab, click Visio.exe.
3. Click End Process.
4. Click Yes to the following message:
   WARNING: Terminating a process can cause undesired results including loss of data and system instability. The process will not be given the chance to save its state or data before it is terminated. Are you sure you want to terminate the process?
5. On the Processes tab, click Winword.exe.
6. Click End Process.
7. Click Yes to the following message:
   WARNING: Terminating a process can cause undesired results including loss of data and system instability. The process will not be given the chance to save its state or data before it is terminated. Are you sure you want to terminate the process?
8. Quit Task Manager.

For more information about a similar issue, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: