Word Tools Options dialog empty or greyed out
Posted on September 21, 2008 at 5:34 am
Recently, I had a friend who found that the Tools –> Options dialog box in Word 2003 was completely empty! I had never heard of such strange error before until I saw it for myself.
Instead of the normal group of tabs like Print, Save, General, Edit, Spelling & Grammar, etc, the dialog was just empty. Really weird. If you are having this problem, there’s a solution!
When something strange like this happens, you can be assured that an important system file has become corrupt (read my post on how to repair a corrupt Word file). In most cases this is caused by third-party software from Matrox. Matrox develops high end hardware for video editing and publishing.
Unfortunately, if you have this hardware, it can cause a problem with the Word Tools and Options dialog box! Yes, it is the strangest connection I’ve ever heard of and I have no idea why video editing software would mess with Word, but it does! Here are some ways to fix the issue:
Method 1:
Update your Matrox driver if you are using any type of Matrox hardware or software, such as Matrox Powerdesk SE. If you have a Matrox display device, update that driver also.
Method 2:
If your problem is not being fixed by updating Matrox drivers or if you do not have anything from them installed, then you can try to run the Office repair program. Go to Help and then choose Detect and Repair.
Method 3:
If that doesn’t fix your problem, you can try to delete the Word data key in the registry. Apparently, even uninstalling and reinstalling Word will not get rid of this problem. The registry key is located here:
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\11.0\Word\Data
11.0 will be replaced by whatever version of Office you are running. Remember to export the key first before deleting it in case you want to restore it later. I’ve written a post here on how to backup your registry.
Hopefully someone who is having this crazy problem will find a solution here! Enjoy!
» Filed Under MS Office Tips
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that may be:
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Word\Data
This can also be fixed by changing your resolution to 800X600. I have found with the dual screens using a matrox product with a high resolution, it appears that the options are blank, but in fact they are just hidden.
Hey! Thanks for posting this. I have had this problem in Word (and in certain other dialog boxes in Excel and Powerpoint) for months. I work at a bank with 22,000+ employees and still our IT support was unable to fix this, despite numerous re-installations.
In fact, I didn’t need to update my Matrox drivers. I just went into the PowerDesk-SE options and de-selected the option “Center dialog boxes and message boxes” (and all other options just to be sure) and everything was fixed. All the dialog boxes were restored/populated again.
Hopefully this alternative solution will help someone as well.
Thanks again!
jarborra
Updating the driver worked for me. Thanks a bunch. You’ve been very helpful.