How to use the Application Recovery tool in Office 2002 and in Office 2003 (294933)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Office Access 2003
  • Microsoft Access 2002
  • Microsoft Office Excel 2003
  • Microsoft Excel 2002
  • Microsoft Office Outlook 2003
  • Microsoft Outlook 2002
  • Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003
  • Microsoft PowerPoint 2002
  • Microsoft Office Word 2003
  • Microsoft Word 2002
This article was previously published under Q294933

IN THIS TASK

SUMMARY

This step-by-step article describes how to use the Microsoft Office Application Recovery tool. This tool provides you with a way to potentially recover data from an Office program that stops responding (hangs). If an Office program stops responding during your work session, you are no longer forced to terminate the program in Windows Task Manager and therefore lose any unsaved data.

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MORE INFORMATION

How to Use the Microsoft Office Application Recovery Tool

When an Office program stops responding, you can start the Application Recovery tool.

To do this, click Start, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Office Tools, and then click Microsoft Office Application Recovery.

When the Office Application Recovery tool starts, the Microsoft Office Application Recovery dialog box displays a list of the Office programs that are currently running. Along with the name of the program is its current status, as reported by Task Manager.

Note Only one instance of a program is listed, even if multiple instances of it are running.

The Microsoft Office Application Recovery dialog box also contains the following three buttons. These buttons are explained in this article:
  • Recover Application
  • End Application
  • Cancel
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The Recover Application Button

When you click Recover Application, this action essentially forces the selected Office program to fail and then restart. By failing, the program's recovery features can begin to recover any unsaved data. After these recovery procedures are complete, the Application Error Reporting tool gives you the opportunity to report the problem. When the Application Error Reporting tool starts, you receive the following error message, where program is an Office program:
Microsoft Program has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience.

The information you were working on might be lost. Microsoft Program can try to recover it for you.
Please tell Microsoft about this problem.
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The End Application Button

When you click End Application, this action forces the selected program to fail without performing any recovery procedures. Control is given to the Application Error Reporting tool, which gives you the opportunity to report the problem.

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The Cancel Button

When you click Cancel, this action closes the Microsoft Office Application Recovery dialog box, and no action is taken with the program that is not responding. The Application Error Reporting dialog box is not displayed.

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REFERENCES

For additional information about how to read Office Application Error Reporting signatures, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

289508 How to view error signatures if an Office program experiences a serious error and quits

For additional information about Office Application Recovery, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

292502 OFFXP: Earlier versions of Office programs are listed in Microsoft Office Application Recovery utility

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Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:7/27/2006
Keywords:kbToolTip kbHOWTOmaster KB294933 kbAudEndUser
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