Start Menu Office 2007 shortcuts have stopped working

when I go to the Start menu, click on a recently used Office 2007 program or
a pinned Office 2007 program, nothing happens. They don't launch. When I
open an actual office 2007 file, the apps load fine however.

My other pinned and recent apps shortcuts work - for example, Quickbooks,
Epson Scan, MS Email, MS Internet

Can anyone help me sort this out? Would really like to have a useful Start
menu..

Try deleting the shortcuts then recreating them.


--
fuzor_silverbolt

-----------My Rig-----------
Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q6700 @ 2.66GHz (4 CPUs),
~2.7GHz
Memory: 3326MB RAM
Hard Drive: 984 GB 2x500GB RAID 0
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT
Monitor: SyncMaster 2220WM/G22PW/220WM(Digital)
Sound Card: SigmaTel High Definition Audio CODEC
Operating System: Windows Vista™ Ultimate 32bit

I deleted Excel from the Start menu, then re-added it by going into the
Programs list, right clicking then picking "Pin to the Start Menu". It still
doesn't work.

Just for fun, I also picked "Add to Quick Launch", which puts it in my
bottom toolbar to the right of the Start icon. When I click on it here it
doesn't work either.

I did the same thing with MS Word with the same results!

I don't want to have to reinstall MS Office, but wondering if I do this
next...

This issue is caused by a third-party shell extension, which seems to only affect the Windows Installer shortcuts like Office shortcuts.

See: http://windowsxp.mvps.org/slowrightclick.htm
(Proceed directly to "Method 2" in that page.)

It was a WebEx context menu which I
recently installed...And yes, I used Option 2, not Option 1...

I am having the same problem and tried this method. It did not work :
(. I disabled the three non-microsoft context menus that I had and the
Office 2007 apps STILL won't launch from the start menu. I used the
suggested program and disabled them 1 by 1, restarting after each. Now
all non-ms context menus are disable and the apps don't launch. Any
thoughts?

[Hoevelmann]

I am having a similar problem.....
When I click on start in XP.....My documents, My Pictures, My Music, My computer, control Panel etc will not open when I click on them. If I put them on my desktop they still do not work. The, Help and Support and Run...work correctly but the Search will not open

Hi Ramesh,
I've got the same issue with MS Office 2007 apps (Excel & Word & Powerpoint)
not running when pinned to the start menu - and also not running from the
recent apps list on the start menu.

I've tried "method 2" with the ShellExView as many posts have indicated --
and ended up turning off EVERY non-microsoft entry, rebooting, and still
having the same problem.

Other thoughts?

[FreakyBeaky]

Re: Office 2007 programs will not open from Vista Start menu

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I had this problem too - came up with suitable answer THAT WORKS!!!

1) Remove all Office 2007 items pinned to Start menu.

2) Open "Computer" click on "C:" drive and open "Program Files"

3) Scroll down to "Microsoft Office" and OPEN

4) Open the folder holding all the generic office items (on my system this is named "Office12" - this is the MS name version)

5) Find each Office program you need on the pinned menu - and individually right-click and click "Pin to Start menu".
EXCEL will be the first one??? N.B. Only pin those with the MS Office symbol for that program, i.e. EXCEL = green document with an 'X' on, each should be an "Application" ENSURE U DON'T OPEN THE ONE WITH THE COLOURFUL WINDOWS ICON - won't matter but you'll have to repeat the correct process!
Make sure the following names are correct: (all capitals)
- EXCEL
- POWERPNT
- WINWORD

(they're the only ones I need!)

Then go to Start menu - click on each and check works. They do for me!

Then you can right-click each and Rename, to your hearts content!!!

They should each now open!

happiness all around???

;)

How do I find the Office 2007 executables?

Even with Control Panel->Folder Options->View set to Show Hidden Files,
I can't find any *.exe files in C:\Program Files\Microsoft
Office\Office12.

You're either doing something wrong (they are in there on MY machine),
or you don't have Office installed.

I am experiencing the same problems on my Vista 64 Ultimate machine with Office 2007. Shortcuts on the Start menu don't work nor does typing Word in search and hitting enter. Starting from all programs, all the applications work fine. Double clicking on a file also launches it. The exception is Outlook which still launches fine from the start menu.

As per an earlier thread I removed Webex that was recently installed with no change and I uninstalled Irfan View that I had recently installed, again with no change. I know this was working prior and only started noticing this week.

Sure enough, I found my files in C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft
Office\Office12. I guess the installation is different on the 64-bit
system version of Vista.

Unless I use the "All Programs" option, I still can't get many of the
Start Menu icons to work: Office program's don't start and neither does
my Paint Shop Pro 7. Windows Media Player works and so does my own
installation of NT Backup brought over from my old XP box.

I've been having the same issue - none of my office shortcuts in the
start menu work... I tried pinning the apps to the start menu, but that
only worked for a little while then the shortcuts stopped working
again... I'm not sure if this is related, but recently I've also been
having issues with OneCare firewall not turning on...
I tried the "method 2" option that has been posted here, but no
change...

any other working ideas?