WD97: Invalid Page Fault Clicking Check Errors (159880)

SYMPTOMS

When you click the Check For Errors button on the Mail Merge toolbar, you may receive the following error message:

This program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down.

When you click the Details button you receive the following error message:

WINWORD caused an invalid page fault in module WINWORD.EXE at 0137:<address>.

CAUSE

The error message occurs when the following conditions are true:

The Office Assistant is active.

-and-
The "Simulate the merge and report errors in a new document" option is selected in the Checking And Reporting Errors dialog box.

RESOLUTION

To correct this problem, install Microsoft Word 97 Service Release 1 (SR- 1).

To work around this problem, use one of the other Checking And Reporting options or turn off the Office Assistant when you use the "Simulate the merge and report errors in a new document" option.

To turn off Office Assistant, use either of the following methods.

Method 1:

Click Close (the button resembling an X, located in the upper-right corner of the title bar) in the Office Assistant window.

Method 2:

Right-click the Office Assistant, and then click Hide Assistant.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Microsoft Word 97 for Windows. This problem was corrected in Microsoft Word 97 SR-1.

For additional information about SR-1, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

172475 OFF97: How to Obtain and Install MS Office 97 SR-1

MORE INFORMATION

When you click Check For Errors on the Mail Merge toolbar, you are presented with three options:

Simulate the merge and report errors in a new document.
Complete the merge, pausing to report each error as it occurs.
Complete the merge without pausing. Report errors in a new document.

The first option will generate the illegal instruction if the Office Assistant is active. The other options work correctly.