Office 2007 no longer recognising .doc and .xls files

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I use Office 2007 for my Documents and Spreadsheets.

While I normally use .docx and .xlsx for my files, I sometimes save a spreadsheet to Dropbox as an .xls file for compatability for those using older systems.

Also, I have old files in .xls format that I have not looked at in quite a while, likewise .doc documents.

Two days ago Excel 2007 failed to save a spreadsheet in .xls format for me. It allows me to choose the folder I want to save to and then says “Microsoft Office Excel has stopped working”. It tells me it is looking for a solution and then presents a button “Close Program”.

The same thing for Word 2007 when trying to save in .doc format.

More concerning is double-clicking on a .xls or .doc file results in opening a blank file (Word) or “Microsoft Office Excel has stopped Working” (Excel). Same result with the program open and selecting a file with “Open”.

Both Word and Excel will still publish in .pdf format.

The last series of updates to Office 2007 were 15 January 2016 but this problem seems to have arisen in the last week.

Anyone else having this problem? More importantly, any solutions suggested?

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Have you tried repairing the Office installation (e.g. via Word Options|Resources|Diagnose or via Start > Windows Control Panel > Programs > Programs & Features > Microsoft Office (version) > Change > Repair)?

Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

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Hi Paul,

Using Programs & Features > Microsoft Office Home & Student 2007 > Change > Repair I get the message:-
“Microsoft Office Home & Student 2007 configuration did not complete successfully.”

When I use the Diagnose method, It checked through the first four diagnostic sections satisfactorily, but when it came to ‘Setup Diagnostics’ at 1 of 12 it says:-
“Microsoft Office Diagnostics has stopped working”.

However on running the Diagnostics a second time it goes through saying “No Cause Found”.
Clicking ‘Continue’ takes me to a ‘dead’ link.
http://office.microsoft.com/assistance/diagnostichelp.aspx?V=12.0.6612.1000

Checking again, my problem is still there, Excel falls over trying to save in 97-2003 (xls) format

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In that case, you might need to uninstall & reinstall Office.

Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

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Thanks Paul,

Yes, I will do that …. just wondering how many updates have come through in the last 8 years that will need to be downloaded again!!!

Cheers from Melbourne, Oz.

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Hmmmm….
Programs & Features > Microsoft Office Home & Student 2007 > Uninstall gives a similar message:-
“Microsoft Office Home & Student 2007 uninstall did not complete successfully.”

Similarly if I use the original install CD and try to repair, uninstall or add features I get a similar mesage.
Looks like I will have to use a 3rd Party Program to uninstall Office 2007 ?

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Now I am in deep do-do.
I used Advanced Installer Pro 11 to completely remove all traces of Microsoft Office Home & Student 2007.
I rebooted the computer and then proceeded to insert my Genuine Original CD, entered the Product Key and went to install again.
I get an error:-
‘Error 25004 Config.Xml not specified. A valid config.xml file must be authorised when deploying (null)’

Now I am left with no Excel or Word !!!

Any thoughts???

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Instead of going to a 3rd-party app like Advanced Installer Pro 11 (who knows exactly what it does?), you should have followed the process at: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/928218 . You might still try the processes there, but I have no idea how well they’ll work with your system in its current state.

Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

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I was not aware of that excellent guide to removing Office Suites.
As the Auto versions had not worked, I followed the manual version, including all the Registry edits and I was then able to do a clean install of Microsoft Office Home & Student 2007.

Excel now saves in both .xlsx and .xls, and opens both formats again. Same for Word with .doc and .docx files.

Thank you … whew!!!

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Dennis, it’s great when problems are solved by this. You might like to show your appreciation and use the ‘Thanks’ option – it’s a button at bottom left of each post. You can thank Macropod in this way and indeed anyone else whose post was helpful.

Eliminate spare time: start programming PowerShell

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