How to Repair Your Microsoft 2007 Excel and Word If They Crash With a “Not Responding” Message For XP, Vista and Windows 7 Operating Systems

After a Microsoft automatic update of MS Office 2007 software in the last quarter of 2011, Excel and Word ceased to function properly. Both programs went into a “Not Responding” state at random times that locked up the cursor and prevented documents and spreadsheets from being saved. The only way you could continue was to start the Task Manager and force the two programs to stop processing. If you have MS Office versions 2003 or 2010 you should check if you have a potential problem especially with the unnecessary “Google Add-in”.

The following procedure can be used to fix the bad update from Microsoft.

Print these instructions because you will need to close all open Word documents below.

Step # / Instruction
1 / The following steps will work for both Excel and Word except where a specific file name is mentioned.
2 / Save and Close any open documents and spreadsheets.
3 / Save all application data that is currently running. This will protect you in case your PC crashes while performing these steps.
4 / Find the shortcut link that you use to open Excel or Word. Do not open an existing spreadsheet or document.
5 / Hover the cursor over the shortcut and right click the mouse.
6 / Left click “Properties”.
7 / Left click the “Shortcut” tab on the Properties page if it is not already open.
8 / Left click on the “Open File Location” button.
9 / The Explore page that opens should already have the file selected.
For Excel, the file name will be the following or close to it: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12\EXCEL.EXE
For Word, the file name will be the following or close to it: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12\WINWORD.EXE
If you have multiple Office versions installed, make sure you select the correct file version.
After you select the file with a single left click, hover over the selection and perform a right click with the mouse to display the drop down menu. Do a left click on the “Run as administrator” line.
10 / Click “Continue” on the “User Account Control” screen if asked to do so.
11 / If Excel or Word crash with a “Not Responding” message as soon as the application is started then make sure no MS Office applications appear in your startup folder and then restart the Operating System. On most systems, Word and Excel will start OK at least one time after a restart.
You can proceed with these instructions once you get Excel or Word to start OK with a blank spreadsheet or document.
12 / Left click in the upper left corner of the spreadsheet or document over the red square MS Office symbol.
13 / Left click on the “Excel Options” or “Word Options” button as appropriate (at the bottom of the screen).
14 / Left click on “Add-Ins” in the left side column.
15 / The following actions will be performed on the “View and manage Microsoft Office add-ins” screen. To view an example of this screen click on the following link:
A. Take a look at the top of the Add-ins list. Under the “Name”column, you will see “Active Application Add-ins”. The add-in causing all the operational problems is “Microsoft Office Live Add-in”. If you see this item in the Active list. You will need to force it “Inactive” per the instructions in part “B” below. You may also see an add-in for “Google Desktop Office Addin”. This Addin has no real value and slows down the response time of Excel and Word because of high processing overhead.
B. To make the above add-ins inactive you need to perform the following: i) At the bottom of the screen, in the “Manage” box, use the drop down arrow selection tool to select “COM Add-ins”. Left click the “Go” button. The word “COM” is defined in the Computer Group Glossary at
ii) On the “COM Add-ins” screen, uncheck the boxes for “Microsoft Office Live Add-in” and “Google Desktop Office Addin”. Left click OK. The Options window will close.
iii) Exit Excel or Word to lock in you changes.
C. You’re Done!
16 / Do the same thing for Excel or Word, whichever hasn’t been fixed.

Monday, January 16, 2012, 12:24 PM1 of 3