Microsoft 365 Glitch

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BobArch2
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Microsoft 365 Glitch

Post by BobArch2 »

On April 19, 2020 my subscription version of Office 365 was updated to v16.0.12624.20466. When loading any of the apps such as Word, Excel etc., for the next 2 days the display logo when starting the app, showed the app name with Office 365 below the name.

On the 21st when the switch was made to Microsoft 365, everything appeared the same except now the phrase Microsoft 365 appeared below the app name. I am guessing that the conversion happened on the 19th and laid dormant until the 21st ... which was MS's announcement date.

Then the fun began on the 22nd.

When my system was powered up on the morning of the 22nd, Word would automatically load as part of the Start Up process. Only Word would automatically load on Start Up (twice) and no other MS app ... with the screen showing the app as noted below.
Microsoft365WordA.jpg
When attempting to close Word, the following error was displayed...
Microsoft365WordB.jpg
Checking MSConfig for any Word auto start up brought no relief. Performing a cold boot or just restarting the O/S would replicate the problem.

In today's Lounge Digest I saw the reference to AutoRuns and WhatInStartup in another post (thanks Hans). I downloaded both and ran them... Again no relief.

Then I remembered an older post (by JoeP) about running Office Repair. I ran the "Quick Repair" option and voila, problem resolved! (Thanks QR and JoeP) :chocciebar:

Anyway, just posting for anyone who might have the same issue.
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Regards,
Bob

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HansV
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Re: Microsoft 365 Glitch

Post by HansV »

Thanks!
Best wishes,
Hans

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John Gray
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Re: Microsoft 365 Glitch

Post by John Gray »

Bob - your post's graphic is so reminiscent of the days when multiple toolbars got loaded into Internet Explorer, leaving almost no space to display website text!
John Gray

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BobArch2
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Re: Microsoft 365 Glitch

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John Gray wrote:Bob - your post's graphic is so reminiscent of the days when multiple toolbars got loaded into Internet Explorer, leaving almost no space to display website text!
Good memory John, but that was not the case this time.

The screen displayed a single occurrence of Word and when I attempted to close it the small error message popped up. I took a snapshot of the error message and tried to close Word once again. Again the error message appeared which I cancelled and then tried moving the Word screen. I was able to move it and that is when I noticed the second copy of Word. I was eventually able to close both copies.

Through cold boots and restarts I was able to confirm that two copies of Word were loading through the Start Up process.

And now you know! :laugh:
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Bob

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BobArch2
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Re: Microsoft 365 Glitch

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Oh, Oh ... the glitch came back with a slight variation.

Yesterday I reported that there were 2 copies of Word loaded on Start Up. And before running Office Quick Repair I could replicate the duplication after running a restart or cold boot. After running Office Quick Repair the problem disappeared. And proven by performing a restart and cold boot after the repair.

This morning I started up the system and Word was again Auto Started ... but only a single copy. Yesterday's repair removed one of the auto-loads. Before taking a stab at another repair, I again ran MSConfig and the two programs for checking what was loaded at start up. Nothing for Word. Again I tried a restart of the O/S and again a single copy of Word was loaded at start up.

This time I ran a Full Office Repair. This repair updated the version number from 16.0.12624.20466 to 16.0.12624.20520 (and added back OneDrive which I had removed a few months back). The date of the install was also updated from 2020.04.19 to 2020.04.26.

With my non-dominate left hand (remember I had reported that my dominate right arm was broken in 2 places mid February - and is still in recovery mode :smile: ) I invoked a restart of the system. Wheee, no auto load of Word. Then tried a cold boot ... same positive result.

The next test will come tomorrow when the system is booted up and it calls home to check if my system is legit and with current versions of MS software.

Stay tuned...

( P.S. the version numbers of Office as shown above were obtained from the Control Panel. In looking in any given Office app the "16" has been replaced with "2003". I am sure that before the 2020.04.19 update the app also showed the "16". If I am correct, Microsoft has moved to showing the version number reflecting the release date like with Win10 feature updates.
Regards,
Bob

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HansV
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Re: Microsoft 365 Glitch

Post by HansV »

If Word is still open (whether visibly or invisibly) when you shut down or restart Windows, Windows 10 will automatically start it again next time.

This applies to other applications too. If I've been fiddling with VBA code in Excel, it sometimes leaves an invisible instance of Excel in memory. The next time I start Windows, I'll be greeted with an unexpected Excel window...
Best wishes,
Hans

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HansV
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Re: Microsoft 365 Glitch

Post by HansV »

Office versions have been labeled yymm for quite a while now. It's currently 2003 - the standard release is usually named after the previous month. If you click About Word (or About Excel etc.), you'll still see the 16.0.nnn version number.
S3268.png
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Best wishes,
Hans

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BobArch2
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Re: Microsoft 365 Glitch

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HansV wrote:If Word is still open (whether visibly or invisibly) when you shut down or restart Windows, Windows 10 will automatically start it again next time...
I have seen a like condition in the past where the app is loaded on boot up. In this case, the issue only started on the 22nd of April, 3 days after a Click-to-run update. Prior to that, the last time I opened a Word document was February 12, 2020 ... 2 days before I went into the hospital for 33 days! :hairout:
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Bob

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HansV
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Re: Microsoft 365 Glitch

Post by HansV »

I guess you'll never know what really caused it...

I hope you're recovering well!
Best wishes,
Hans

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BobArch2
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Re: Microsoft 365 Glitch

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HansV wrote:Office versions have been labeled yymm for quite a while now. It's currently 2003 - the standard release is usually named after the previous month. If you click About Word (or About Excel etc.), you'll still see the 16.0.nnn version number.
S3268.png
"Memory is the second thing to go..." [Re YYMM :laugh: ]
Regards,
Bob

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BobArch2
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Re: Microsoft 365 Glitch

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HansV wrote:I guess you'll never know what really caused it...

I hope you're recovering well!
The issue is back ... after proven through restarts and cold boots, to have disappeared. I have checked the Task Manager and found that WinWord.exe was running without the app actually running. Very confusing. I also found a reference in Task Manager to Word's Document1. I am starting to wonder if the Document1 is somehow being called up in the start up process.

Normally, as you know, when loading Word, available blank templates appear at the top of the opening screen while available worked on documents will appear below the blank templates. In my screenshot above you will notice that the blank template (document1) is ready for use. Therein why I suspect that the document1 is somehow associated with system start up. <shrug>

As for my upper right arm it is slowly improving but will take several more weeks. (Thanks for your comment :thumbup: )
Regards,
Bob

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BobArch2
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Re: Microsoft 365 Glitch

Post by BobArch2 »

Would you believe the start up process is working fine today ... no auto loading of Word. Will see what happens over the next several days.
Regards,
Bob

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Re: Microsoft 365 Glitch

Post by JoeP »

When you shut down an Office app often the UI piece is often the first to go and there is still background work being done by the core components of the app. With various Office apps through the years if you restarted the app too quickly the "old" instance was still active and would inhibit the UI from loading. Then if you re-booted the system the "old" instance would be restarted to recover what it was doing. This may be the cause of the restart.

You might want to do a quick check with Task Manager before you shut down or re-boot to see if there are any Office apps still running as a background process.
Joe

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BobArch2
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Re: Microsoft 365 Glitch

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JoeP wrote:... You might want to do a quick check with Task Manager before you shut down or re-boot to see if there are any Office apps still running as a background process.
Over the last week since the "glitch" occurred I have researched, checked my Office apps, checked Task Manager and run those 2 start up apps so many times I have lost track of some of my findings. I usually write daily notes reflecting my activities for archival purposes. I have not done so for the last 2.5 months due to the problematic issue with my right arm.

I do know that I have checked Task Manager shortly after the boot up at the start of day and for the last 2 days (including today) ... no issues.

I will take your suggestion to run Task Manager before restarting or closing down. :thankyou:
Regards,
Bob

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BobArch2
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Re: Microsoft 365 Glitch

Post by BobArch2 »

JoeP wrote:
28 Apr 2020, 14:29
...You might want to do a quick check with Task Manager before you shut down or re-boot to see if there are any Office apps still running as a background process.
Hi Joe,

Just thought I would provide an update. I have checked Task Manager before shutting down over the last two weeks. No evidence of Word in the Details Panel. All is well.

Thanks again for that suggestion.
Regards,
Bob

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Re: Microsoft 365 Glitch

Post by JoeP »

Great!!! Let's hope it stays that way.
Joe

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Re: Microsoft 365 Glitch

Post by BobArch2 »

JoeP wrote:
13 May 2020, 16:14
Great!!! Let's hope it stays that way.
Problem has resurfaced over the last couple of weeks. The problem only occurs when I use Word during a logged on session. After closing Word and if I shut down or restart the PC, Word auto loads on the next login.

I performed some Internet searches and found like events going back to 2017. Then I found a more current one dated April 2020. It provided a work around. It appears from various articles that it is a known issue ... awaiting some form of fix from Microsoft. In the meantime, I applied the work around and tested it a few times. All is well. Albeit I am not 100% sure what effect the work around might have on other components.

For now, I am happy the Word issue is resolved.

P.S. I was getting tired of checking "Details" in the Task Manager and closing down any found WinWord app(s) before restarting or shutting down the PC. :laugh: The WinWord app is still in the Details of Task Manager (after using Word in a session) but applying the work around mentioned above does not require checking Task Manager anymore.
Regards,
Bob

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Re: Microsoft 365 Glitch

Post by HansV »

Glad you found a solution!
Best wishes,
Hans