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Question

My Problem with Word and Excel for Ms Office 2011
I work on a MacBook Pro (Mavericks, v.10.9.1) as an editor of a scholarly journal.
I regularly receive submissions as Ms Word, Excel and PowerPoint files, mostly created  on Windows computers.
For the past 10 years I have been using Ms Office software for Mac without any problems to open and process these documents.
I have since 2012 been using Ms Office 2011 for Mac without without any problems.
About 10 days ago, I started getting  error messages when trying to open Ms Word and Excel  files, but I have no problems with opening and editing PowerPoint files.
Failed Clean Reinstallation Attempts
I completely removed all traces of  Ms Office from every nook and cranny of my Mac, following the procedure  “How to completely remove Office for Mac 2011”  from the MS support website at  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2398768, and then made a clean reinstallation of Ms Office 2011, followed by two recommended updates.  The problem is back.
The Error Messages
When I click on an existing .DOC or .DOCX Word file I get the following error message:
(1)
"The Open XML file Normal-dotm cannot be opened because there are problems with the contents or the file might contain characters (for example, \ /)."
Details
No error detail available.
It then lists the name of the document that I was unable to open.
(2)
If I click on the image of a Blank page in the Word Document Gallery the following error message is displayed:
"Word cannot open the existing global template
(Normal.dotm)."
(3)
If I then click on OK, a blank document 1 opens up. When I type information and try to save it I again I get the error message:
This is not a valid file name. Try one or two of the following:
*Check the path to make sure it was typed correctly.
*Select a file from the list of files and folders.
Workaround Solution by Editing Ms Word Documents Via Pages
I can open the Word documents that Word cannot in My Mac’s Pages word processing program, and after editing, export them again in Ms Word format, but cannot open the in Ms Word for Mac to see if everything is alright. This is no way to work, using Ms Word.
Any suggestions how I can solve the problem, sort of buying Ms Office 2013 for Mac?
(By the way, I am writing this message in Mac’s Notes application).
<Edited by Host>

Answer 1

Rembrandt,
Did the two updates to Office 2011 get you to 14.3.9? That's the latest Mac version of Office.
I use Office 2013 and Mac Office 2011 on the same machine and have no problems opening any files shared between the two. You followed the instructions for uninstalling and updated your new installation correctly, I have to assume. It sounds as if there is a problem with your cuurent configuration but if it's not an update problem, or an installation problem, I can only direct you to the MS Office for Mac user community -> http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/mac (sometimes you get lucky and get an actual MS employee answering your question).
Good luck,
Clinton