Appleworks often quits with spellchecker, won't learn new words

Question

My Appleworks program is acting up. It often quits when I use the spell checker for the first time on a document, but is stable after I reopen the program and choose the spell checker again. However, the spell checker no longer learns words it doesn't recognize. The <LEARN> button is grayed out. I installed version 6.2.4 on my new MacBook in February from an old eMac applications disk, then upgraded to 6.2.9 some months later. I didn't have these problems at first, but they have cropped up in recent months, perhaps after installing the upgrade, although I'm not sure. I uninstalled and reinstalled Appleworks today from the eMac Apps disk and upgraded to 6.2.9 again, but still have these issues. The <LEARN> button was also grayed out on the 6.2.4 version today before I upgraded. I'd appreciate help in solving this matter. Thanx in advance.

Answer 1

Whenever you do an update, it's a good idea to do two maintenance tasks, one for the system (Repair Permissions) and one for AppleWorks (delete preferences). (Thanks to Barry for this way to format this very common answer.)
To Repair permissions, launch Disk Utility, found in the Utilities folder in your Applications folder, click on First Aid, then on Repair Permissions.
To delete AppleWorks’ preference files, go to HD > Users > (your account) > Library > Preferences. Find and delete the file com.apple.appleworks.plist. Find and open the folder AppleWorks in this Preferences folder, then delete all of the enclosed files (with the exception of the Button Bar Preferences if you have customized the Button Bars). AppleWorks will recreate the preference files as it needs them. This is also the best first-step in troubleshooting.
As for the dictionary "problem," you probably haven't "told" AppleWorks where the dictionary is. With a word processing document open, go to Edit > Writing Tools -> Select Dictionaries... > click "Main Dictionary" (if it isn't already clicked) > Choose > & navigate to the dictionary which should be in HD > Applications > AppleWorks 6 > AppleWorks Essentials > Dictionaries. The same process is used to create a user dictionary. Click "User Dictionary" then click "New" -> Save.