Serious Problems Last Time Folder Was Opened

[Kristin]

In Microsoft xp task launcher, in certain folders there are error messages, stating that the following addresses caused a serious problem the last time the folder was opened: jouwduz.wiz, normal.dot. growdus.wiz. A message came up asking if I still wanted to open it and I didn't because I was/am afraid to. I uninstalled Microsoft Works and reinstalled, but that didn't help. When the problem first occured I think I was trying to make changes to a read only document. A message came up stating changes were made to the global template. I have a Gateway 300SE and yes, this is my first computer. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks...

[andy35137]

I am not a genius, but, I think you made a boo-boo. I had Office, which is more 'serious' than Works, but I installed it and uninstal-

led it. It turns out it is a bad thing to do: try not to uninstall large programs that reach down into the innards of the computer. Every programs leaves tentacles in the Registry and all the down deep parts. When you uninstall, those tentacles remain. You said you reinstalled Works, I hope you put it back in the same drive.

Next, always check Microsoft's Knowledge Base, it may be a bug they know about.

If you or none of your computer tech friends can fix it, I would recommend to post on PC Magazine's forum, where the readers are some pretty heavy dudes.

Again, I am not an expert. But, if worse comes to worse, you might have to save all your info to disk, wipe everything out, and reload. That should solve the problem, but it is a major job.

[andy35137]

I just reread your post. Task Launcher is only in Works, if I remember. If it only happens in Works, that is not that bad.

If it happens all over the computer, that is a real nightmare.

Even if it warns you like that, you can still try to open up the folder to see what happens.

Or, don't you have System Restore? Go back to the Restore Point before you had the problem, and that should fix it.

[XPerties]

refering to andy post by using the restore feature this only restores XP and not any other applications you may have messed up. Keep in mind that uninstalling a application doesnt actually uninstall it completly. There are several dozen added in the registry. and unless your a expert with the registry I wouldnt suggest messin with it. I assume being a gateway theres a restore cd that would put the computer back to like when you first opened it out of the box. All you would have to do is insert the CD and follow the directions. Keep in mind that you will lose any documents or work you may have so save what you can to diskette or CD's. Im sorry I could not be more assisntance but im unfamiliar with Works.

Good luck.......XPerties

[piaqt]

Sounds like corrupt normal.dot and wizard files. The following works in Office. It MAY work in Works.

First, do a search for each file that's causing problems. Write down all the locations for each file. Copy each file to diskette or other removable media. This is for backup. If the following is unsuccessful, you can restore your files.

Make sure Works is closed. then, find and delete all cpoies of the corrupt files. Restart Works. When you do this in Office, Word re-creates normal.dot. If this doesn't work, restore the files from the backups. Also, check out http://www.btinternet.com/~kevin.james1/ and http://mvps.org/word. And try the Microsoft newsgroups.