Page 1 of Help with Word!

All of a sudden when I try to open Word I get the following message...

`System is dangerously low on resources`

Then it asks me if I want to shut down Word (not responding), but when I try to shut it down the computer freezes. I`ve tried opening other programs etc and have had no problems...it`s just when I try to open Word that this happens.

Should I try to re-install Word first before I do anything else?

I have tried re-installing, defragging, and even uninstalling a few programs to free up space etc, but it still says that the system is low. It says that I don`t have enough memory to open word documents yet it says that I have 60% free system resources.

I have now started to get a blue screen that displays the following message with regards to windows with regards to the system being unstable...

`A fatal exception has occurred at 0167:BFF9DFFF`

Everything else appears to work fine at any other time, but if I try to open word then it just dies on me. Could there be something that is using all my memory that I don`t know about? Word was working fine a couple of days ago!

I have Win98SE, 384MB of memory & approx 4gig of my hard drive still unused.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

Cheers.

look down by the clock, how many icons have you got there when you`re fully booted up? if there`s quite a few, that many be taking up some runtime. I always had about 15 running before I found out that I could choose what programs start up when I turn the PC on. It freed up some memory and shortened up the booting time by about 50%

in the run command, type `msconfig`

in general, selct `selective startup` then hit the startup tab.

as long as you know what command lines belong to which program, you can uncheck any programs you don`t want.(if you need these programs during your session, they`re still available thru programs)

personally, the only extra programs I have on startup are my firewall, anti-virus, bigfix, and my logitech mouse software.

Hope it helps

Thanks for the help...I`ve looked into what`s on start up and to be honest I don`t have that much apart from my anti-virus, my firewall etc! Everything has been fine up until today...and I`ve done nothing different.

Once Word crashes then I have to restart because I get a message saying that there isn`t enough memory to open anything...but if I don`t try to open Word I can open quite a number of applications without any problems.

I`m not too clever when it comes to computers (stating the obvious here!) but it doesn`t make sense that I can open everything else and run more than one application (basically do whatever I want) and the computer handles it no problem...but when it comes to opening Word I get the memory message etc!

I don`t really know what to do next (finding the hammer is looking very tempting, though), or where to look, but if anyone can give me some advice (apart from...packing the computer in a box, putting it in the loft and leaving it alone) I would be very grateful.

When you say you`ve tried re-installing, what do you mean? Re-installed Word? Is word installed as part of a package - Office, Works etc.? It definitely sounds like some sort of missing or corrupt file to do with Word.
Also, you`ve re-installed something. Without sounding stupid, did you uninstall it first? Also, if you`ve got the original disk, I think that allows you to attempt a repair.

Ste

check system restore & restore to a date before the problem occured this has helped me on numourous occasions

Depending on which version of Word you have it may be able to self heal. Rerun setup for MS Office or Works and you should get three options delete, install and repair files, try the third one ( Obviously ;-)) )
Good Luck

Thanks for all the input guys! I have since uninstalled & re-installed Office 2000 Premium (which Word is part of) and now it allows me to open Word but when I exit it I start getting the same problems. I`ve tried repairing etc but nothing is working...the only thing I haven`t tried is the system restore...how do I do this?

Thanks again for the help!

****the only thing I haven`t tried is the system restore...how do I do this?****
I don`t think you can with Win98 it`s an XP trick.

Have a look at the Microsoft site as there could be a problem with the software (there used to be a bug in Office 97 and Excel that used all your memory if you opened a saved file?) and you might find an upgrade to cure your problem.

Steve..

This item was edited on Saturday, 4th January 2003, 23:51

Re Fatal Exception 0167:BFF9DFFF

I`ve just done some digging on google and it`s come up with a few links, most notibly http://www.nocrash.com/ncbbs/msgs/647.shtml which states it is related to corrupt video card drivers (mainly nVida GeForce but others are also affected).

Try reinstalling your graphics card drivers (download from your manufacturers website, then in Control Panel/Display/Settings change your graphics card to VGA, reboot and then reinstall the new drivers!

Let us know how you get on!
Rob!