Restore missing toolbars in Word

Helpline Q&A Directory

Word 97 has suddenly lost all of its toolbars. My computer repair shop has been unable to relocate them in spite of contacting Microsoft (who were no help), uninstalling and reinstalling Word 97 and checking for viruses. Only Word 97 is affected - everything else has its toolbars intact. The repairman who was trying to help me is also experiencing this irritating problem. Do you have any idea as to what the cause is and how to remedy it, or is it a case of buying a new PC?

Buying a new computer would be a rather drastic solution. The fact that two computers are affected makes it sound like a virus, but we don't know of a virus that has this symptom. However, the problem of missing toolbars is not unknown. The most likely cause is that the part of the Registry where information about your menu and toolbar settings is stored is corrupted.

Uninstalling and reinstalling Word won't solve the problem because the Registry data isn't deleted when the software is uninstalled. You will need to delete this data manually using the Registry Editor. Remember, a mistake when doing this could cause even worse problems, so be sure you know how to restore the Registry from a backup. See tips Back up the Registry and Restore the Registry from the backup

Here's the procedure. Close Word 97 and launch the Registry Editor (click Start, Run, type Regedit and hit Enter). Open the following Registry folders in turn: Hkey_Current_User, Software, Microsoft, Office, 8.0, Word. In the lefthand pane, select the subfolder named Data. Right-click this folder and select Delete from the Context menu. This will delete the data (which you could see in the righthand window). Word 97 will create a new Data folder the next time you start it.