MS Word Thesaurus stopped working

My MS Word thesaurus function has stopped working. Actually, it is the only "Research" tool I use in Word. All the research tools seem to have stopped working. Spelling & grammar checking work fine, however.

I'm running XP SP3 w/ MS Office 2007.

I usually launch the thesaurus by using the shift-F7 command. However, no matter what the word, the answer I get is "No results found. Please search again."

I have tried other suggestions including:
**Go to control panel > Add or remove programs > select Microsoft Office 2007 > Change > Add or remove features, then click continue > click on Office Shared features > Proofing tools > English proofing tools > Remove all the cross marks shown in RED > Continue > wait until the configuration process completes then restart your system

**I ran diagnostics for Office, but I got a message that "The drive is not ready for use; its door may be open. Please check drive (a then a long string of gibberish) and make sure that a disk is inserted and that the drive door is closed." I check my CD drive and found it was closed and no disc was in it. I tried again several times but each time got a similar message. I then hit continue and the diagnostics ran. I did see that it found no problems with my hard drive. Again, I can't i.d. the drive this message is eluding to as all it is is gibberish, mostly questions marks.

I just finished a long process with another bleeping computer member who was trying to fix a slowing computer. After the thesaurus problem arose, we ran a program that ruled out anything he did that would have caused this. And I can't say for sure that it stopped working while we ran different programs as I don't use the thesaurus that often.

Any help is appreciated.

I would either...uninstall/reinstall Office...and then update it for pertinent SPs...or just try updating it for pertinent SPs.

IME, a problem with a particular program is most likely to be solved by uninstalling/reinstalling.

Louis

Hi

Is "Suggest From Main Dictionary Only" checked? If you check your Custom Dictionaries do you see any checked?

In Word

• Click the Microsoft Office Button (upper left of window) , and then click Word Options.
• Click Proofing.
• Is the Suggest from main dictionary only check box checked?
• If not Click Custom Dictionaries.

Are there any listed in there and if so are they valid, do the files exist?

James

James, the file in custom dictionaries is valid and checked.

Louis, I can reinstall Office, but I remember downloading all the SP's being time consuming. I was hoping to avoid that. I've tried repairing Word or maybe it was all of Office but that didn't help.

Bob

What about this?

In the RESEARCH sidebar that opens when you access the thesaurus with the shift-F7 command.
At the bottom click 'Research Options...'
Which of the Thesaurus options are checked under Reference Books?

James

James, thanks for your reply. I am traveling and will not be back at the computer with the problem until Mar. 18. Can you leave this thread open until then, and I will answer your questions? Again, thanks.

Hi James. Now back.

Under Research/Reference Books options, the Encarta Dictionaries North Americana and UK are checked, as are three thesauruses--Australia, UK and US, English Assistance US.

I tried using the MS Office Disc to reconfigure them but that did no good. I'm not sure there's an option beyond uninstalling and re-installing Office, which I'm loathed to do as I'll need to update everything.

Any suggestions before I do that?

Welcome back

Today I learned that the plural of thesaurus is thesauri.

In that Research Options window, click on one of the thesauri to select it and click the PROPERTIES button.
Next to PROVIDER NAME does it say "Thesauri(installed)"?

The next thing to check before reinstalling would be add-ins
Click the big round Office button in the upper left corner of Word and click the WORD OPTIONS button
Click ADD-INS in the left column
Do you see anything under ACTIVE APPLICATION ADD-INS or DOCUMENT RELATED ADD-INS that you think might interfere with your ability to access your thesauri?

James