Problems utomatically opening downloaded Word files

[joebaroque]

Hi - I've just started encountering a problem with my iMacs: If I download a Word document from an email (i.e. the file is an attachment) in SOME cases, the iMac will not automatically open the file in Word. It opens Word, and then a general, NEW document (Document 1), but not the file that was downloaded.

I originally thought these were Word documents created elsewhere (of course) in Vista, but this is not always the case. Some may be, but others I have created on other macs or on my Powerbook G4 (running with upgraded Leopard).

The same files that do not open automatically on the iMac (when downloaded from email) do so with no problems on the PowerBook.

Any ideas how to correct this problem?

 

[jayhawk11]

Try just downloading the attachment. Then find the file in Finder, right click and select "Get Info". In the "Open With" section, make sure Microsoft Word is selected, then click "Change All". See if that works

 

[joebaroque]

continued problems opening word docs

Thanks for the suggestion.

Unfortunately, I have already tried that, and it does not work.

I'm also just now noticing that if I double click on a word document (already downloaded), it is not opening either (same problem as in my original post).

 

[statler]

This is a known bug resulting from the SP1 patch to Microsoft Office 2008. The bug prevents you from opening PC-created files (not just Word by the way, also Excel and Powerpoint) except from within the relevant Office application (File>Open).

I don't know of a fix, it has been driving me crazy along with 1,000 other bugs and design flaws with Office 2008.

Seriously, what's happened to Microsoft? Have all of their good programmers quite and gone to Google? This is amateur hour. I thought it was embarrassing enough that Microsoft even released Office 2008 without sufficient beta testing. But it's simply incredible that they could introduce such a basic and annoying bug in a service pack designed to fix bugs!

 

[Wicker]

This is a known bug resulting from the SP1 patch to Microsoft Office 2008. The bug prevents you from opening PC-created files (not just Word by the way, also Excel and Powerpoint) except from within the relevant Office application (File>Open).

I don't know of a fix, it has been driving me crazy along with 1,000 other bugs and design flaws with Office 2008.

Seriously, what's happened to Microsoft? Have all of their good programmers quite and gone to Google? This is amateur hour. I thought it was embarrassing enough that Microsoft even released Office 2008 without sufficient beta testing. But it's simply incredible that they could introduce such a basic and annoying bug in a service pack designed to fix bugs!

So that's what it is, thank you for clearing it up. Hope they fix this soon because it's driving me insane!

 

[gehrbox]

So that's what it is, thank you for clearing it up. Hope they fix this soon because it's driving me insane!

I found another thread reporting the same issue here in MacRumors.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/483646/

The following was posted in that thread as a workaround:

Before installing SP1, I could double-click on .doc files created by previous
versions of Word (or Word on a PC), and they would open correctly. Now,
after installing SP1, they open as blank documents. If I just launch Word,
then File/Open..., then I can open the file fine, but I can't double-click on it
in the Finder. This problem has been reported elsewhere, so it's not just me.

Hope it helps you out.

 

[joebaroque]

Thanks for the info

thanks for all your replies and info

 

[Father Jack]

I have experienced a similar problem trying to open documents produced by Pages and exported as Word files and sent as email attachments.

 

[Wicker]

I found another thread reporting the same issue here in MacRumors.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/483646/

The following was posted in that thread as a workaround:



Hope it helps you out.

Yeah, I used that as an alternative, but still annoyed me. What I do now is when it opens the blank document I will just click my Downloads stack to display it and drag the newly downloaded file to that blank document and voila! Opened.

Here's hoping they fix that bug soon, though...

 

[MarkMS]

This is the reason I'm sticking with Office 2004 and iWork '08. Office for compatibility and iWork for stability and speed.