Equation editor does not work in Word and PowerPoint 2013

Question

Word crashes when trying to insert an equation.

I have Microsoft Office Pro Plus 2013 (64 Bit). I am experiencing a problem with the equation editor in Word 2013 and PowerPoint 2013 (also Excel). In Word when i try to use the equation editor my Word crashes and i must reopen it. In PowerPoint the equation editor also doesn't work as it should but the PowerPoint doesn't crash, also i can see the equations (in Word i can't see the equations) but they look as if the encoding is not correct or something. I have Windows 7 Professional. Does anyone have a clue what might be causing this problem ? Has anyone experienced the same problem ? How can i solve it ?

Problem Signature:

   Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
   Application Name: WINWORD.EXE
   Application Version: 15.0.4454.1004
   Application Timestamp: 50bdaa50
   Fault Module Name: mso.dll
   Fault Module Version: 15.0.4454.1002
   Fault Module Timestamp: 50ac2609
   Exception Code: c0000005
   Exception Offset: 00000000002bc50a
   OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.48
   Locale ID: 1031

Additional information about the problem:
   LCID: 1033
   skulcid: 1033

Hear are the Photos of my Problem:

Word 2013

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PowerPoint 2013

Solution 1

I found the solution to the problem with Equation Editor in Word and PowerPoint. I think the problem might have something to do with Office 2010 wich was preinstalled on my PC when i bought it.

To solve the problem just download the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word/PowerPoint/Excel from Microsoft here: Download Office Compatibility Pack

By installing the Compatibility Pack in addition to Microsoft Office 2000, Office XP, or Office 2003, you will be able to open, edit, and save files using the file formats in newer versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint . The Compatibility Pack can also be used in conjunction with the Microsoft Office Word Viewer 2003, Excel Viewer 2003, and PowerPoint Viewer 2003 to view files saved in these new formats.

Solution 2

FYI, I've found this is caused by your printer. Change your default printer to something innocuous like the XPS printer or a PDF printer. FWIW I'm running a network printer (HL-5040) on a CUPS server.

Comments

[grunwald2.0]

I got this problem too, with MS Office 2013 Professional Plus in English. See my thread here: answers.microsoft.com/en-us/office/forum/… (The MHUP licence I use is for Plus, but I only use Word, Excel, Powerpoint...) I use an SSD and Win 7 Pro x64.

[Devid]

Thanks for the help, I repaired Microsoft Office 2013 but the problem remains. Everything works but when i try to insert equation my Word crashes.

[Leonel]

#1 rule: troubleshooters and/or repairing tools almost do never work.

[David]

@Leonel Depending on the program, I find they tend to work somewhere between 1% and 50% of the time (Office is surprisingly on the high end for this), The catch is that the times they fail are a lot more memorable because then you have to spend an hour investigating the problem.

[Leonel]

@David Man, I gave up and did the whole Repair process. Hate to admit, this time the troubleshooting (and you) was right!

[grunwald2.0]

This solution unfortunately did not work for me. Additionally, it doesn't work with the x64 version (but I have the issue - and tried to solve it - with both x86 and x64).

[grunwald2.0]

Unfortunately, neither repairing, nor uninstalling nor installing the x64 instead of the x86 version did work. Nor did the deactivation of hardware acceleration.

[Devid]

Did you restart your PC ? My Word and PowerPoint are 64 Bit and the above solution worked very well. But if you find the solution to your problem post it here.

[grunwald2.0]

Yes, of course. I even did much more. See my post here: answers.microsoft.com/en-us/office/forum/…

[Devid]

I can only think of Font Problems. Well if it is working on another account, that there is some problem with your current account.

[grunwald2.0]

Indeed. But how to tackle a potential font problem? I have no idea what is "normal" and I already tried to repair Office and whatnot, there is no "repair" button for Windows though... ;)

[Devid]

Well if it works in another Windows Account than the problem lies on your Account. Delete it and make a new one.

[binaryfunt]

Yes, it seems that if your default printer is a network printer, when you're not connected to that network, Word crashes trying to find it (although why it needs to find it for inserting an equation is beyond me). I've had this problem with Word 2016, Windows 8.1. Fixed by going into the "devices and printers" in control panel and changing the default