Potential MAJOR bug in KB969604?

Excellent - now all I have to do is find the KB969604 patch to reinstall
before I can fix it

--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org



Chris wrote:
we are beta testing a fix for this from MS, it is looking good and
applying this with KB969604 installed resolves the issue (no
uninstall required). We are under the impression this will be more
generally available towards the end of the Month, so its not far away.

"ThirtySix Software" wrote:

Graham -

The only direct contact we've had with MS is Steven Du over at the MS
partner forum
(http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/e...eword/threads).

The internal info posted above came via someone else who has more
"ins" w/ MS than we do.

FYI, for those who can't access the partner forum, Steven has posted
an update:

=====

Dear Partner,

I got an update from our Product Team that a solution of this issue
has been found and our Product Team is testing a hotfix. The
possible hotfix ID is KB970942 and I think it will be published soon.

Thank you for your patience.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Best regards,

Steven Du
Partner Online Technical Community


"Graham Mayor" wrote:

Next time you communicate with your pet contact, perhaps you could
ask if the fix will require the errant KB969604 to be re-installed
before it can be fixed and whether it will fix the identical
problem in Hotfix KB 969961? It seems that 969604 rolled in the
part of the Hotfix that caused the problem Currently the only
'fix' is to ensure that neither of these KB updates are installed

--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org



ThirtySix Software wrote:
FYI, another update from an internal MS contact. This issue is
being fixed.

====

I received some details from our Security team. This is a known
issue and they are working on a hotfix at this time. Additional
details (KB article, hotfix, etc.) should be forthcoming soon. I
will keep you posted.



"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:

This sounds promising.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

"ThirtySix Software"
wrote in message
...
Another brief update in the partner forum from Steven Du at MS
that I thought
I'd share ... sounds like MS is looking at this.

=====

Our Product Team told me that they are in the process of
investigating this
issue and will try them best to work out a solution soon. If
there is any update from our Product Team, I will post it in the
community.

Thank you for your patience.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Best regards,

Steven Du
Partner Online Technical Community



"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:

Well, let's hope the PG will be more responsive to Steven Du's
email than they have been to the reports on Connect.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

"ThirtySix Software"
wrote in
message
...
FYI, I got this reply from MS on the Partner forum:


Dear Partner,

Thank you for posting in our Partner Online Technical
Community.

From your description, I understand that any document variables
in the document become corrupt after installing the update
KB969604 for Word 2007.
The document variables become normal after uninstalling the
update KB969604.
If there has been any misunderstanding, please let me know.

I am sorry for any inconvenience you have encountered.
According to the steps you listed, I am able to reproduce the
issue after installing the update KB969604 on my test machine.
To address your concern, I have sent
an
email to our Product Team to report this issue.

In the meantime, you are also welcomed to provide your feedback
directly
to
the product groups via the link below:

https://support.microsoft.com/common...2fcontac t%2f

If there is any update, I will post it in the community.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Best regards,

Steven Du
Partner Online Technical Community



"Chris" wrote:

This is not a "Potential Major bug" it is very real and very
Major. It
will
be affecting 1000's of applications world wide. This update
needs to be
withdrawn by Microsoft immediately.


"DavidP" wrote:

Affecting us, too. Extremely serious. Anyone know how to
beat on Microsoft's
door.

"Jay Freedman" wrote:

Yes, it is known -- at least out here in the world outside
the Microsoft campus.

We reported this bug last month when the suspect part of the
update
was
available only as a hotfix
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/969961).
That report
is still open and unacknowledged. Despite that report, the
hotfix evidently was
rolled into the security update's general release.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to
the newsgroup so all
may benefit.

On Sat, 13 Jun 2009 19:26:01 -0700, ThirtySix Software
ThirtySix wrote:

KB969604 for Word 2007 was released on 6/8 and was
installed on my
machine a
couple days ago. Since then, any time I save a document in
Word 2007, any
document variables in the document become corrupt. If I
uninstall KB969604
then the problem goes away. When I reinstall KB969604 the
problem comes back.

With KB969604 uninstalled, doc variables are properly
saved in the
settings.xml file as below:

w:docVarsw:docVar w:name="MyVar" w:val="This is a test
value for
a
variable"//w:docVars

However, with KB969604 installed, doc variables become
corrupted when saved.
For example:

w:docVarsw:docVar w:name="MyVar"
w:val="d???_?????????Ä?????????????"//w:docVars

We've been able to reproduce this on multiple machines.

You can use the steps below to reproduce this:

* See if this KB is installed (it was released on 6/8) ...
if not,
it can be
installed from he

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en

* Open a Word 2007 doc and create a doc variable ... you
can do this
by
creating a simple macro from the Developer tab, then
execute the macro ...
the macro just needs to be this:

Sub Macro1()
ActiveDocument.Variables.Add Name:="MyVar", Value:="This
is a test value
for a variable"
End Sub

* Save and close your doc ... change the file extension to
"zip" and
unzip
it ... open the "~/word/settings.xml" file and see if your
variable
is valid
or not.

* If it's corrupted, then uninstall the KB from Add/Remove
programs
(make
sure the "Show updates" checkbox is selected at the top of
the dialog).

* Repeat the above steps with a new doc and see if your
variable is
corrupted.

If this is a defect, then it's a major one as all doc
variables become
corrupted on save. Note that the variables only become
corrupted on
save ...
in memory, the variables are fine ... it's only when the
docx is written out
that they become corrupted.

Can others reproduce this?

You can go to Control Panel | Automatic Updates and tell Windows to reoffer
you the updates you declined. Not sure whether that applies to ones you've
already downloaded and installed, but if you uninstalled it, would it be
available for reinstall?

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

"Graham Mayor" wrote in message
...
Excellent - now all I have to do is find the KB969604 patch to reinstall
before I can fix it

--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org



Chris wrote:
we are beta testing a fix for this from MS, it is looking good and
applying this with KB969604 installed resolves the issue (no
uninstall required). We are under the impression this will be more
generally available towards the end of the Month, so its not far away.

"ThirtySix Software" wrote:

Graham -

The only direct contact we've had with MS is Steven Du over at the MS
partner forum
(http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/e...eword/threads).

The internal info posted above came via someone else who has more
"ins" w/ MS than we do.

FYI, for those who can't access the partner forum, Steven has posted
an update:

=====

Dear Partner,

I got an update from our Product Team that a solution of this issue
has been found and our Product Team is testing a hotfix. The
possible hotfix ID is KB970942 and I think it will be published soon.

Thank you for your patience.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Best regards,

Steven Du
Partner Online Technical Community


"Graham Mayor" wrote:

Next time you communicate with your pet contact, perhaps you could
ask if the fix will require the errant KB969604 to be re-installed
before it can be fixed and whether it will fix the identical
problem in Hotfix KB 969961? It seems that 969604 rolled in the
part of the Hotfix that caused the problem Currently the only
'fix' is to ensure that neither of these KB updates are installed

--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org



ThirtySix Software wrote:
FYI, another update from an internal MS contact. This issue is
being fixed.

====

I received some details from our Security team. This is a known
issue and they are working on a hotfix at this time. Additional
details (KB article, hotfix, etc.) should be forthcoming soon. I
will keep you posted.



"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:

This sounds promising.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

"ThirtySix Software"
wrote in message
...
Another brief update in the partner forum from Steven Du at MS
that I thought
I'd share ... sounds like MS is looking at this.

=====

Our Product Team told me that they are in the process of
investigating this
issue and will try them best to work out a solution soon. If
there is any update from our Product Team, I will post it in the
community.

Thank you for your patience.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Best regards,

Steven Du
Partner Online Technical Community



"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:

Well, let's hope the PG will be more responsive to Steven Du's
email than they have been to the reports on Connect.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

"ThirtySix Software"
wrote in
message
...
FYI, I got this reply from MS on the Partner forum:


Dear Partner,

Thank you for posting in our Partner Online Technical
Community.

From your description, I understand that any document variables
in the document become corrupt after installing the update
KB969604 for Word 2007.
The document variables become normal after uninstalling the
update KB969604.
If there has been any misunderstanding, please let me know.

I am sorry for any inconvenience you have encountered.
According to the steps you listed, I am able to reproduce the
issue after installing the update KB969604 on my test machine.
To address your concern, I have sent
an
email to our Product Team to report this issue.

In the meantime, you are also welcomed to provide your feedback
directly
to
the product groups via the link below:

https://support.microsoft.com/common...2fcontac t%2f

If there is any update, I will post it in the community.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Best regards,

Steven Du
Partner Online Technical Community



"Chris" wrote:

This is not a "Potential Major bug" it is very real and very
Major. It
will
be affecting 1000's of applications world wide. This update
needs to be
withdrawn by Microsoft immediately.


"DavidP" wrote:

Affecting us, too. Extremely serious. Anyone know how to
beat on Microsoft's
door.

"Jay Freedman" wrote:

Yes, it is known -- at least out here in the world outside
the Microsoft campus.

We reported this bug last month when the suspect part of the
update
was
available only as a hotfix
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/969961).
That report
is still open and unacknowledged. Despite that report, the
hotfix evidently was
rolled into the security update's general release.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to
the newsgroup so all
may benefit.

On Sat, 13 Jun 2009 19:26:01 -0700, ThirtySix Software
ThirtySix wrote:

KB969604 for Word 2007 was released on 6/8 and was
installed on my
machine a
couple days ago. Since then, any time I save a document in
Word 2007, any
document variables in the document become corrupt. If I
uninstall KB969604
then the problem goes away. When I reinstall KB969604 the
problem comes back.

With KB969604 uninstalled, doc variables are properly
saved in the
settings.xml file as below:

w:docVarsw:docVar w:name="MyVar" w:val="This is a test
value for
a
variable"//w:docVars

However, with KB969604 installed, doc variables become
corrupted when saved.
For example:

w:docVarsw:docVar w:name="MyVar"
w:val="d???_?????????Ä?????????????"//w:docVars

We've been able to reproduce this on multiple machines.

You can use the steps below to reproduce this:

* See if this KB is installed (it was released on 6/8) ...
if not,
it can be
installed from he

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en

* Open a Word 2007 doc and create a doc variable ... you
can do this
by
creating a simple macro from the Developer tab, then
execute the macro ...
the macro just needs to be this:

Sub Macro1()
ActiveDocument.Variables.Add Name:="MyVar", Value:="This
is a test value
for a variable"
End Sub

* Save and close your doc ... change the file extension to
"zip" and
unzip
it ... open the "~/word/settings.xml" file and see if your
variable
is valid
or not.

* If it's corrupted, then uninstall the KB from Add/Remove
programs
(make
sure the "Show updates" checkbox is selected at the top of
the dialog).

* Repeat the above steps with a new doc and see if your
variable is
corrupted.

If this is a defect, then it's a major one as all doc
variables become
corrupted on save. Note that the variables only become
corrupted on
save ...
in memory, the variables are fine ... it's only when the
docx is written out
that they become corrupted.

Can others reproduce this?

Yes - if you uninstall an update, Automatic Updates will try to restore it
... unless of course you have told updates to forget about this one. I will
worry about resetting the updates when the fix is available. At the moment
the issue with doc variables is far more important than whatever it was that
particular update messed around with.

There was also a hotfix - Hotfix KB 969961 - which fixed a problem with
passwords, but also screwed up the variables. I have not even ventured to
investigate what has happened with the password problem as I only use
passwords in documents for third parties who ask for them.

--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org



Suzanne S. Barnhill wrote:
You can go to Control Panel | Automatic Updates and tell Windows to
reoffer you the updates you declined. Not sure whether that applies
to ones you've already downloaded and installed, but if you
uninstalled it, would it be available for reinstall?


"Graham Mayor" wrote in message
...
Excellent - now all I have to do is find the KB969604 patch to
reinstall before I can fix it

--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org



Chris wrote:
we are beta testing a fix for this from MS, it is looking good and
applying this with KB969604 installed resolves the issue (no
uninstall required). We are under the impression this will be more
generally available towards the end of the Month, so its not far
away. "ThirtySix Software" wrote:

Graham -

The only direct contact we've had with MS is Steven Du over at the
MS partner forum
(http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/e...eword/threads).

The internal info posted above came via someone else who has more
"ins" w/ MS than we do.

FYI, for those who can't access the partner forum, Steven has
posted an update:

=====

Dear Partner,

I got an update from our Product Team that a solution of this issue
has been found and our Product Team is testing a hotfix. The
possible hotfix ID is KB970942 and I think it will be published
soon. Thank you for your patience.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Best regards,

Steven Du
Partner Online Technical Community


"Graham Mayor" wrote:

Next time you communicate with your pet contact, perhaps you could
ask if the fix will require the errant KB969604 to be re-installed
before it can be fixed and whether it will fix the identical
problem in Hotfix KB 969961? It seems that 969604 rolled in the
part of the Hotfix that caused the problem Currently the only
'fix' is to ensure that neither of these KB updates are installed

--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org



ThirtySix Software wrote:
FYI, another update from an internal MS contact. This issue is
being fixed.

====

I received some details from our Security team. This is a known
issue and they are working on a hotfix at this time. Additional
details (KB article, hotfix, etc.) should be forthcoming soon. I
will keep you posted.



"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:

This sounds promising.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

"ThirtySix Software"
wrote in message
...
Another brief update in the partner forum from Steven Du at MS
that I thought
I'd share ... sounds like MS is looking at this.

=====

Our Product Team told me that they are in the process of
investigating this
issue and will try them best to work out a solution soon. If
there is any update from our Product Team, I will post it in
the community.

Thank you for your patience.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Best regards,

Steven Du
Partner Online Technical Community



"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:

Well, let's hope the PG will be more responsive to Steven Du's
email than they have been to the reports on Connect.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

"ThirtySix Software"
wrote in
message
...
FYI, I got this reply from MS on the Partner forum:


Dear Partner,

Thank you for posting in our Partner Online Technical
Community.

From your description, I understand that any document
variables in the document become corrupt after installing
the update KB969604 for Word 2007.
The document variables become normal after uninstalling the
update KB969604.
If there has been any misunderstanding, please let me know.

I am sorry for any inconvenience you have encountered.
According to the steps you listed, I am able to reproduce the
issue after installing the update KB969604 on my test
machine. To address your concern, I have sent
an
email to our Product Team to report this issue.

In the meantime, you are also welcomed to provide your
feedback directly
to
the product groups via the link below:

https://support.microsoft.com/common...2fcontac t%2f

If there is any update, I will post it in the community.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Best regards,

Steven Du
Partner Online Technical Community



"Chris" wrote:

This is not a "Potential Major bug" it is very real and
very Major. It
will
be affecting 1000's of applications world wide. This update
needs to be
withdrawn by Microsoft immediately.


"DavidP" wrote:

Affecting us, too. Extremely serious. Anyone know how to
beat on Microsoft's
door.

"Jay Freedman" wrote:

Yes, it is known -- at least out here in the world outside
the Microsoft campus.

We reported this bug last month when the suspect part of
the update
was
available only as a hotfix
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/969961).
That report
is still open and unacknowledged. Despite that report, the
hotfix evidently was
rolled into the security update's general release.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups
to the newsgroup so all
may benefit.

On Sat, 13 Jun 2009 19:26:01 -0700, ThirtySix Software
ThirtySix wrote:

KB969604 for Word 2007 was released on 6/8 and was
installed on my
machine a
couple days ago. Since then, any time I save a document
in Word 2007, any
document variables in the document become corrupt. If I
uninstall KB969604
then the problem goes away. When I reinstall KB969604 the
problem comes back.

With KB969604 uninstalled, doc variables are properly
saved in the
settings.xml file as below:

w:docVarsw:docVar w:name="MyVar" w:val="This is a test
value for
a
variable"//w:docVars

However, with KB969604 installed, doc variables become
corrupted when saved.
For example:

w:docVarsw:docVar w:name="MyVar"
w:val="d???_?????????Ä?????????????"//w:docVars

We've been able to reproduce this on multiple machines.

You can use the steps below to reproduce this:

* See if this KB is installed (it was released on 6/8)
... if not,
it can be
installed from he

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en

* Open a Word 2007 doc and create a doc variable ... you
can do this
by
creating a simple macro from the Developer tab, then
execute the macro ...
the macro just needs to be this:

Sub Macro1()
ActiveDocument.Variables.Add Name:="MyVar",
Value:="This is a test value
for a variable"
End Sub

* Save and close your doc ... change the file extension
to "zip" and
unzip
it ... open the "~/word/settings.xml" file and see if
your variable
is valid
or not.

* If it's corrupted, then uninstall the KB from
Add/Remove programs
(make
sure the "Show updates" checkbox is selected at the top
of the dialog).

* Repeat the above steps with a new doc and see if your
variable is
corrupted.

If this is a defect, then it's a major one as all doc
variables become
corrupted on save. Note that the variables only become
corrupted on
save ...
in memory, the variables are fine ... it's only when the
docx is written out
that they become corrupted.

Can others reproduce this?

This issue has affected us as well.
Our company created an add-in for Word 2007 for one of our clients;
and this add-in uses document variables to store essential information.

Because of KB969604, the add-in no longer works!
Now, we had to revamp major sections in our code to get around this problem.


"ThirtySix Software" wrote:

KB969604 for Word 2007 was released on 6/8 and was installed on my machine a
couple days ago. Since then, any time I save a document in Word 2007, any
document variables in the document become corrupt. If I uninstall KB969604
then the problem goes away. When I reinstall KB969604 the problem comes back.

With KB969604 uninstalled, doc variables are properly saved in the
settings.xml file as below:

w:docVarsw:docVar w:name="MyVar" w:val="This is a test value for a
variable"//w:docVars

However, with KB969604 installed, doc variables become corrupted when saved.
For example:

w:docVarsw:docVar w:name="MyVar"
w:val="d???_?????????Ä?????????????"//w:docVars

We've been able to reproduce this on multiple machines.

You can use the steps below to reproduce this:

* See if this KB is installed (it was released on 6/8) ... if not, it can be
installed from he

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en

* Open a Word 2007 doc and create a doc variable ... you can do this by
creating a simple macro from the Developer tab, then execute the macro ...
the macro just needs to be this:

Sub Macro1()
ActiveDocument.Variables.Add Name:="MyVar", Value:="This is a test value
for a variable"
End Sub

* Save and close your doc ... change the file extension to "zip" and unzip
it ... open the "~/word/settings.xml" file and see if your variable is valid
or not.

* If it's corrupted, then uninstall the KB from Add/Remove programs (make
sure the "Show updates" checkbox is selected at the top of the dialog).

* Repeat the above steps with a new doc and see if your variable is corrupted.

If this is a defect, then it's a major one as all doc variables become
corrupted on save. Note that the variables only become corrupted on save ...
in memory, the variables are fine ... it's only when the docx is written out
that they become corrupted.

Can others reproduce this?

Hello u all,

we have installed SP2 from office in this Servicepack is KB969604 already
intergrated. i already tried to download kb969604 and then i unistalled it
but nothing works. does anyone know where i could download the patch kb970942
where Steven Du is talking about? Cause we are having a major problem with
some applications from the company i need to get the update quick.

Kindly regards

Alex van Duist




"Graham Mayor" wrote:

Yes - if you uninstall an update, Automatic Updates will try to restore it
... unless of course you have told updates to forget about this one. I will
worry about resetting the updates when the fix is available. At the moment
the issue with doc variables is far more important than whatever it was that
particular update messed around with.

There was also a hotfix - Hotfix KB 969961 - which fixed a problem with
passwords, but also screwed up the variables. I have not even ventured to
investigate what has happened with the password problem as I only use
passwords in documents for third parties who ask for them.

--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org



Suzanne S. Barnhill wrote:
You can go to Control Panel | Automatic Updates and tell Windows to
reoffer you the updates you declined. Not sure whether that applies
to ones you've already downloaded and installed, but if you
uninstalled it, would it be available for reinstall?


"Graham Mayor" wrote in message
...
Excellent - now all I have to do is find the KB969604 patch to
reinstall before I can fix it

--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org



Chris wrote:
we are beta testing a fix for this from MS, it is looking good and
applying this with KB969604 installed resolves the issue (no
uninstall required). We are under the impression this will be more
generally available towards the end of the Month, so its not far
away. "ThirtySix Software" wrote:

Graham -

The only direct contact we've had with MS is Steven Du over at the
MS partner forum
(http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/e...eword/threads).

The internal info posted above came via someone else who has more
"ins" w/ MS than we do.

FYI, for those who can't access the partner forum, Steven has
posted an update:

=====

Dear Partner,

I got an update from our Product Team that a solution of this issue
has been found and our Product Team is testing a hotfix. The
possible hotfix ID is KB970942 and I think it will be published
soon. Thank you for your patience.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Best regards,

Steven Du
Partner Online Technical Community


"Graham Mayor" wrote:

Next time you communicate with your pet contact, perhaps you could
ask if the fix will require the errant KB969604 to be re-installed
before it can be fixed and whether it will fix the identical
problem in Hotfix KB 969961? It seems that 969604 rolled in the
part of the Hotfix that caused the problem Currently the only
'fix' is to ensure that neither of these KB updates are installed

--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org



ThirtySix Software wrote:
FYI, another update from an internal MS contact. This issue is
being fixed.

====

I received some details from our Security team. This is a known
issue and they are working on a hotfix at this time. Additional
details (KB article, hotfix, etc.) should be forthcoming soon. I
will keep you posted.



"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:

This sounds promising.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

"ThirtySix Software"
wrote in message
...
Another brief update in the partner forum from Steven Du at MS
that I thought
I'd share ... sounds like MS is looking at this.

=====

Our Product Team told me that they are in the process of
investigating this
issue and will try them best to work out a solution soon. If
there is any update from our Product Team, I will post it in
the community.

Thank you for your patience.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Best regards,

Steven Du
Partner Online Technical Community



"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:

Well, let's hope the PG will be more responsive to Steven Du's
email than they have been to the reports on Connect.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

"ThirtySix Software"
wrote in
message
...
FYI, I got this reply from MS on the Partner forum:


Dear Partner,

Thank you for posting in our Partner Online Technical
Community.

From your description, I understand that any document
variables in the document become corrupt after installing
the update KB969604 for Word 2007.
The document variables become normal after uninstalling the
update KB969604.
If there has been any misunderstanding, please let me know.

I am sorry for any inconvenience you have encountered.
According to the steps you listed, I am able to reproduce the
issue after installing the update KB969604 on my test
machine. To address your concern, I have sent
an
email to our Product Team to report this issue.

In the meantime, you are also welcomed to provide your
feedback directly
to
the product groups via the link below:

https://support.microsoft.com/common...2fcontac t%2f

If there is any update, I will post it in the community.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Best regards,

Steven Du
Partner Online Technical Community



"Chris" wrote:

This is not a "Potential Major bug" it is very real and
very Major. It
will
be affecting 1000's of applications world wide. This update
needs to be
withdrawn by Microsoft immediately.


"DavidP" wrote:

Affecting us, too. Extremely serious. Anyone know how to
beat on Microsoft's
door.

"Jay Freedman" wrote:

Yes, it is known -- at least out here in the world outside
the Microsoft campus.

We reported this bug last month when the suspect part of
the update
was
available only as a hotfix
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/969961).
That report
is still open and unacknowledged. Despite that report, the
hotfix evidently was
rolled into the security update's general release.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups
to the newsgroup so all
may benefit.

On Sat, 13 Jun 2009 19:26:01 -0700, ThirtySix Software
ThirtySix wrote:

KB969604 for Word 2007 was released on 6/8 and was
installed on my
machine a
couple days ago. Since then, any time I save a document
in Word 2007, any
document variables in the document become corrupt. If I
uninstall KB969604
then the problem goes away. When I reinstall KB969604 the
problem comes back.

With KB969604 uninstalled, doc variables are properly
saved in the
settings.xml file as below:

w:docVarsw:docVar w:name="MyVar" w:val="This is a test
value for
a
variable"//w:docVars

However, with KB969604 installed, doc variables become
corrupted when saved.
For example:

w:docVarsw:docVar w:name="MyVar"
w:val="d???_?????????Ä?????????????"//w:docVars

We've been able to reproduce this on multiple machines.

You can use the steps below to reproduce this:

* See if this KB is installed (it was released on 6/8)
... if not,
it can be
installed from he

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en

* Open a Word 2007 doc and create a doc variable ... you
can do this
by
creating a simple macro from the Developer tab, then
execute the macro ...
the macro just needs to be this:

Sub Macro1()
ActiveDocument.Variables.Add Name:="MyVar",
Value:="This is a test value
for a variable"
End Sub

* Save and close your doc ... change the file extension
to "zip" and
unzip
it ... open the "~/word/settings.xml" file and see if
your variable
is valid
or not.

* If it's corrupted, then uninstall the KB from
Add/Remove programs

For the moment, you will have to uninstall SP2. To do that, in the Control
PanelAdd Remove Programs facility, click on the Installed Updates link.

--
Hope this helps.

Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
services on a paid consulting basis.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP, originally posted via msnews.microsoft.com
"Alex" wrote in message
...
Hello u all,

we have installed SP2 from office in this Servicepack is KB969604 already
intergrated. i already tried to download kb969604 and then i unistalled it
but nothing works. does anyone know where i could download the patch
kb970942
where Steven Du is talking about? Cause we are having a major problem with
some applications from the company i need to get the update quick.

Kindly regards

Alex van Duist




"Graham Mayor" wrote:

Yes - if you uninstall an update, Automatic Updates will try to restore
it
... unless of course you have told updates to forget about this one. I
will
worry about resetting the updates when the fix is available. At the
moment
the issue with doc variables is far more important than whatever it was
that
particular update messed around with.

There was also a hotfix - Hotfix KB 969961 - which fixed a problem with
passwords, but also screwed up the variables. I have not even ventured to
investigate what has happened with the password problem as I only use
passwords in documents for third parties who ask for them.

--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org



Suzanne S. Barnhill wrote:
You can go to Control Panel | Automatic Updates and tell Windows to
reoffer you the updates you declined. Not sure whether that applies
to ones you've already downloaded and installed, but if you
uninstalled it, would it be available for reinstall?


"Graham Mayor" wrote in message
...
Excellent - now all I have to do is find the KB969604 patch to
reinstall before I can fix it

--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org



Chris wrote:
we are beta testing a fix for this from MS, it is looking good and
applying this with KB969604 installed resolves the issue (no
uninstall required). We are under the impression this will be more
generally available towards the end of the Month, so its not far
away. "ThirtySix Software" wrote:

Graham -

The only direct contact we've had with MS is Steven Du over at the
MS partner forum
(http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/e...eword/threads).

The internal info posted above came via someone else who has more
"ins" w/ MS than we do.

FYI, for those who can't access the partner forum, Steven has
posted an update:

=====

Dear Partner,

I got an update from our Product Team that a solution of this issue
has been found and our Product Team is testing a hotfix. The
possible hotfix ID is KB970942 and I think it will be published
soon. Thank you for your patience.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Best regards,

Steven Du
Partner Online Technical Community


"Graham Mayor" wrote:

Next time you communicate with your pet contact, perhaps you could
ask if the fix will require the errant KB969604 to be re-installed
before it can be fixed and whether it will fix the identical
problem in Hotfix KB 969961? It seems that 969604 rolled in the
part of the Hotfix that caused the problem Currently the only
'fix' is to ensure that neither of these KB updates are installed

--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org



ThirtySix Software wrote:
FYI, another update from an internal MS contact. This issue is
being fixed.

====

I received some details from our Security team. This is a known
issue and they are working on a hotfix at this time. Additional
details (KB article, hotfix, etc.) should be forthcoming soon. I
will keep you posted.



"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:

This sounds promising.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

"ThirtySix Software"
wrote in message
...
Another brief update in the partner forum from Steven Du at MS
that I thought
I'd share ... sounds like MS is looking at this.

=====

Our Product Team told me that they are in the process of
investigating this
issue and will try them best to work out a solution soon. If
there is any update from our Product Team, I will post it in
the community.

Thank you for your patience.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Best regards,

Steven Du
Partner Online Technical Community



"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:

Well, let's hope the PG will be more responsive to Steven Du's
email than they have been to the reports on Connect.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

"ThirtySix Software"
wrote in
message
...
FYI, I got this reply from MS on the Partner forum:


Dear Partner,

Thank you for posting in our Partner Online Technical
Community.

From your description, I understand that any document
variables in the document become corrupt after installing
the update KB969604 for Word 2007.
The document variables become normal after uninstalling the
update KB969604.
If there has been any misunderstanding, please let me know.

I am sorry for any inconvenience you have encountered.
According to the steps you listed, I am able to reproduce the
issue after installing the update KB969604 on my test
machine. To address your concern, I have sent
an
email to our Product Team to report this issue.

In the meantime, you are also welcomed to provide your
feedback directly
to
the product groups via the link below:

https://support.microsoft.com/common...2fcontac t%2f

If there is any update, I will post it in the community.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Best regards,

Steven Du
Partner Online Technical Community



"Chris" wrote:

This is not a "Potential Major bug" it is very real and
very Major. It
will
be affecting 1000's of applications world wide. This update
needs to be
withdrawn by Microsoft immediately.


"DavidP" wrote:

Affecting us, too. Extremely serious. Anyone know how to
beat on Microsoft's
door.

"Jay Freedman" wrote:

Yes, it is known -- at least out here in the world outside
the Microsoft campus.

We reported this bug last month when the suspect part of
the update
was
available only as a hotfix
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/969961).
That report
is still open and unacknowledged. Despite that report, the
hotfix evidently was
rolled into the security update's general release.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups
to the newsgroup so all
may benefit.

On Sat, 13 Jun 2009 19:26:01 -0700, ThirtySix Software
ThirtySix wrote:

KB969604 for Word 2007 was released on 6/8 and was
installed on my
machine a
couple days ago. Since then, any time I save a document
in Word 2007, any
document variables in the document become corrupt. If I
uninstall KB969604
then the problem goes away. When I reinstall KB969604 the
problem comes back.

With KB969604 uninstalled, doc variables are properly
saved in the
settings.xml file as below:

w:docVarsw:docVar w:name="MyVar" w:val="This is a test
value for
a
variable"//w:docVars

However, with KB969604 installed, doc variables become
corrupted when saved.
For example:

w:docVarsw:docVar w:name="MyVar"
w:val="d???_?????????Ä?????????????"//w:docVars

We've been able to reproduce this on multiple machines.

You can use the steps below to reproduce this:

* See if this KB is installed (it was released on 6/8)
... if not,
it can be
installed from he

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en

* Open a Word 2007 doc and create a doc variable ... you
can do this
by
creating a simple macro from the Developer tab, then
execute the macro ...
the macro just needs to be this:

Sub Macro1()
ActiveDocument.Variables.Add Name:="MyVar",
Value:="This is a test value
for a variable"
End Sub

* Save and close your doc ... change the file extension
to "zip" and
unzip
it ... open the "~/word/settings.xml" file and see if
your variable
is valid
or not.

* If it's corrupted, then uninstall the KB from
Add/Remove programs

It seems that a fix may now be available. I have not yet tested it, but see
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/970942/

--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org



Doug Robbins - Word MVP wrote:
For the moment, you will have to uninstall SP2. To do that, in the
Control PanelAdd Remove Programs facility, click on the Installed
Updates link.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP, originally posted via msnews.microsoft.com
"Alex" wrote in message
...
Hello u all,

we have installed SP2 from office in this Servicepack is KB969604
already intergrated. i already tried to download kb969604 and then i
unistalled it but nothing works. does anyone know where i could
download the patch kb970942
where Steven Du is talking about? Cause we are having a major
problem with some applications from the company i need to get the
update quick. Kindly regards

Alex van Duist




"Graham Mayor" wrote:

Yes - if you uninstall an update, Automatic Updates will try to
restore it
... unless of course you have told updates to forget about this
one. I will
worry about resetting the updates when the fix is available. At the
moment
the issue with doc variables is far more important than whatever it
was that
particular update messed around with.

There was also a hotfix - Hotfix KB 969961 - which fixed a problem
with passwords, but also screwed up the variables. I have not even
ventured to investigate what has happened with the password problem
as I only use passwords in documents for third parties who ask for
them. --

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org



Suzanne S. Barnhill wrote:
You can go to Control Panel | Automatic Updates and tell Windows to
reoffer you the updates you declined. Not sure whether that applies
to ones you've already downloaded and installed, but if you
uninstalled it, would it be available for reinstall?


"Graham Mayor" wrote in message
...
Excellent - now all I have to do is find the KB969604 patch to
reinstall before I can fix it

--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org



Chris wrote:
we are beta testing a fix for this from MS, it is looking good
and applying this with KB969604 installed resolves the issue (no
uninstall required). We are under the impression this will be
more generally available towards the end of the Month, so its
not far away. "ThirtySix Software" wrote:

Graham -

The only direct contact we've had with MS is Steven Du over at
the MS partner forum
(http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/e...eword/threads).

The internal info posted above came via someone else who has
more "ins" w/ MS than we do.

FYI, for those who can't access the partner forum, Steven has
posted an update:

=====

Dear Partner,

I got an update from our Product Team that a solution of this
issue has been found and our Product Team is testing a hotfix.
The possible hotfix ID is KB970942 and I think it will be
published soon. Thank you for your patience.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Best regards,

Steven Du
Partner Online Technical Community


"Graham Mayor" wrote:

Next time you communicate with your pet contact, perhaps you
could ask if the fix will require the errant KB969604 to be
re-installed before it can be fixed and whether it will fix
the identical problem in Hotfix KB 969961? It seems that
969604 rolled in the part of the Hotfix that caused the
problem Currently the only 'fix' is to ensure that neither
of these KB updates are installed --

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org



ThirtySix Software wrote:
FYI, another update from an internal MS contact. This issue is
being fixed.

====

I received some details from our Security team. This is a
known issue and they are working on a hotfix at this time.
Additional details (KB article, hotfix, etc.) should be
forthcoming soon. I will keep you posted.



"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:

This sounds promising.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

"ThirtySix Software"
wrote in
message
...
Another brief update in the partner forum from Steven Du at
MS that I thought
I'd share ... sounds like MS is looking at this.

=====

Our Product Team told me that they are in the process of
investigating this
issue and will try them best to work out a solution soon. If
there is any update from our Product Team, I will post it in
the community.

Thank you for your patience.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Best regards,

Steven Du
Partner Online Technical Community



"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:

Well, let's hope the PG will be more responsive to Steven
Du's email than they have been to the reports on Connect.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

"ThirtySix Software"
wrote in
message
...
FYI, I got this reply from MS on the Partner forum:


Dear Partner,

Thank you for posting in our Partner Online Technical
Community.

From your description, I understand that any document
variables in the document become corrupt after installing
the update KB969604 for Word 2007.
The document variables become normal after uninstalling
the update KB969604.
If there has been any misunderstanding, please let me
know. I am sorry for any inconvenience you have encountered.
According to the steps you listed, I am able to reproduce
the issue after installing the update KB969604 on my test
machine. To address your concern, I have sent
an
email to our Product Team to report this issue.

In the meantime, you are also welcomed to provide your
feedback directly
to
the product groups via the link below:

https://support.microsoft.com/common...2fcontac t%2f

If there is any update, I will post it in the community.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Best regards,

Steven Du
Partner Online Technical Community



"Chris" wrote:

This is not a "Potential Major bug" it is very real and
very Major. It
will
be affecting 1000's of applications world wide. This
update needs to be
withdrawn by Microsoft immediately.


"DavidP" wrote:

Affecting us, too. Extremely serious. Anyone know how to
beat on Microsoft's
door.

"Jay Freedman" wrote:

Yes, it is known -- at least out here in the world
outside the Microsoft campus.

We reported this bug last month when the suspect part
of the update
was
available only as a hotfix
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/969961).
That report
is still open and unacknowledged. Despite that report,
the hotfix evidently was
rolled into the security update's general release.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all
follow-ups to the newsgroup so all
may benefit.

On Sat, 13 Jun 2009 19:26:01 -0700, ThirtySix Software
ThirtySix wrote:

KB969604 for Word 2007 was released on 6/8 and was
installed on my
machine a
couple days ago. Since then, any time I save a
document in Word 2007, any
document variables in the document become corrupt. If
I uninstall KB969604
then the problem goes away. When I reinstall KB969604
the problem comes back.

With KB969604 uninstalled, doc variables are properly
saved in the
settings.xml file as below:

w:docVarsw:docVar w:name="MyVar" w:val="This is a
test value for
a
variable"//w:docVars

However, with KB969604 installed, doc variables become
corrupted when saved.
For example:

w:docVarsw:docVar w:name="MyVar"
w:val="d???_?????????Ä?????????????"//w:docVars

We've been able to reproduce this on multiple
machines. You can use the steps below to reproduce this:

* See if this KB is installed (it was released on 6/8)
... if not,
it can be
installed from he

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en

* Open a Word 2007 doc and create a doc variable ...
you can do this
by
creating a simple macro from the Developer tab, then
execute the macro ...
the macro just needs to be this:

Sub Macro1()
ActiveDocument.Variables.Add Name:="MyVar",
Value:="This is a test value
for a variable"
End Sub

* Save and close your doc ... change the file
extension to "zip" and
unzip
it ... open the "~/word/settings.xml" file and see if
your variable
is valid
or not.

* If it's corrupted, then uninstall the KB from
Add/Remove programs

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/970942/
Now tested - and it does appear to fix the problem with the variables.

--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org



Graham Mayor wrote:
It seems that a fix may now be available. I have not yet tested it,
but see

Doug Robbins - Word MVP wrote:
For the moment, you will have to uninstall SP2. To do that, in the
Control PanelAdd Remove Programs facility, click on the Installed
Updates link.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP, originally posted via msnews.microsoft.com
"Alex" wrote in message
...
Hello u all,

we have installed SP2 from office in this Servicepack is KB969604
already intergrated. i already tried to download kb969604 and then i
unistalled it but nothing works. does anyone know where i could
download the patch kb970942
where Steven Du is talking about? Cause we are having a major
problem with some applications from the company i need to get the
update quick. Kindly regards

Alex van Duist




"Graham Mayor" wrote:

Yes - if you uninstall an update, Automatic Updates will try to
restore it
... unless of course you have told updates to forget about this
one. I will
worry about resetting the updates when the fix is available. At the
moment
the issue with doc variables is far more important than whatever it
was that
particular update messed around with.

There was also a hotfix - Hotfix KB 969961 - which fixed a problem
with passwords, but also screwed up the variables. I have not even
ventured to investigate what has happened with the password problem
as I only use passwords in documents for third parties who ask for
them. --

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org



Suzanne S. Barnhill wrote:
You can go to Control Panel | Automatic Updates and tell Windows
to reoffer you the updates you declined. Not sure whether that
applies to ones you've already downloaded and installed, but if
you uninstalled it, would it be available for reinstall?


"Graham Mayor" wrote in message
...
Excellent - now all I have to do is find the KB969604 patch to
reinstall before I can fix it

--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org



Chris wrote:
we are beta testing a fix for this from MS, it is looking good
and applying this with KB969604 installed resolves the issue (no
uninstall required). We are under the impression this will be
more generally available towards the end of the Month, so its
not far away. "ThirtySix Software" wrote:

Graham -

The only direct contact we've had with MS is Steven Du over at
the MS partner forum
(http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/e...eword/threads).

The internal info posted above came via someone else who has
more "ins" w/ MS than we do.

FYI, for those who can't access the partner forum, Steven has
posted an update:

=====

Dear Partner,

I got an update from our Product Team that a solution of this
issue has been found and our Product Team is testing a hotfix.
The possible hotfix ID is KB970942 and I think it will be
published soon. Thank you for your patience.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Best regards,

Steven Du
Partner Online Technical Community


"Graham Mayor" wrote:

Next time you communicate with your pet contact, perhaps you
could ask if the fix will require the errant KB969604 to be
re-installed before it can be fixed and whether it will fix
the identical problem in Hotfix KB 969961? It seems that
969604 rolled in the part of the Hotfix that caused the
problem Currently the only 'fix' is to ensure that neither
of these KB updates are installed --

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org



ThirtySix Software wrote:
FYI, another update from an internal MS contact. This issue
is being fixed.

====

I received some details from our Security team. This is a
known issue and they are working on a hotfix at this time.
Additional details (KB article, hotfix, etc.) should be
forthcoming soon. I will keep you posted.



"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:

This sounds promising.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

"ThirtySix Software"
wrote in
message
...
Another brief update in the partner forum from Steven Du at
MS that I thought
I'd share ... sounds like MS is looking at this.

=====

Our Product Team told me that they are in the process of
investigating this
issue and will try them best to work out a solution soon.
If there is any update from our Product Team, I will post
it in the community.

Thank you for your patience.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Best regards,

Steven Du
Partner Online Technical Community



"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:

Well, let's hope the PG will be more responsive to Steven
Du's email than they have been to the reports on Connect.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

"ThirtySix Software"
wrote in
message
...
FYI, I got this reply from MS on the Partner forum:


Dear Partner,

Thank you for posting in our Partner Online Technical
Community.

From your description, I understand that any document
variables in the document become corrupt after installing
the update KB969604 for Word 2007.
The document variables become normal after uninstalling
the update KB969604.
If there has been any misunderstanding, please let me
know. I am sorry for any inconvenience you have
encountered. According to the steps you listed, I am
able to reproduce the issue after installing the update
KB969604 on my test machine. To address your concern, I
have sent an
email to our Product Team to report this issue.

In the meantime, you are also welcomed to provide your
feedback directly
to
the product groups via the link below:

https://support.microsoft.com/common...2fcontac t%2f

If there is any update, I will post it in the community.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Best regards,

Steven Du
Partner Online Technical Community



"Chris" wrote:

This is not a "Potential Major bug" it is very real and
very Major. It
will
be affecting 1000's of applications world wide. This
update needs to be
withdrawn by Microsoft immediately.


"DavidP" wrote:

Affecting us, too. Extremely serious. Anyone know how
to beat on Microsoft's
door.

"Jay Freedman" wrote:

Yes, it is known -- at least out here in the world
outside the Microsoft campus.

We reported this bug last month when the suspect part
of the update
was
available only as a hotfix
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/969961).
That report
is still open and unacknowledged. Despite that report,
the hotfix evidently was
rolled into the security update's general release.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all
follow-ups to the newsgroup so all
may benefit.

On Sat, 13 Jun 2009 19:26:01 -0700, ThirtySix Software
ThirtySix wrote:

KB969604 for Word 2007 was released on 6/8 and was
installed on my
machine a
couple days ago. Since then, any time I save a
document in Word 2007, any
document variables in the document become corrupt. If
I uninstall KB969604
then the problem goes away. When I reinstall KB969604
the problem comes back.

With KB969604 uninstalled, doc variables are properly
saved in the
settings.xml file as below:

w:docVarsw:docVar w:name="MyVar" w:val="This is a
test value for
a
variable"//w:docVars

However, with KB969604 installed, doc variables
become corrupted when saved.
For example:

w:docVarsw:docVar w:name="MyVar"
w:val="d???_?????????Ä?????????????"//w:docVars

We've been able to reproduce this on multiple
machines. You can use the steps below to reproduce
this: * See if this KB is installed (it was released on
6/8) ... if not,
it can be
installed from he

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en

* Open a Word 2007 doc and create a doc variable ...
you can do this
by
creating a simple macro from the Developer tab, then
execute the macro ...
the macro just needs to be this:

Sub Macro1()
ActiveDocument.Variables.Add Name:="MyVar",
Value:="This is a test value
for a variable"
End Sub

* Save and close your doc ... change the file
extension to "zip" and
unzip
it ... open the "~/word/settings.xml" file and see if
your variable
is valid
or not.

* If it's corrupted, then uninstall the KB from
Add/Remove programs

So should we install SP2 and then install the fix, or should we wait
till a fixed SP2 becomes available?

What are the benefits of installing SP2?

On Jul 2, 7:40*am, "Graham Mayor" wrote:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/970942/
Now tested - and it does appear to fix the problem with the variables.

--

Graham Mayor - *Word MVP

My web sitewww.gmayor.com
Word MVP web sitehttp://word.mvps.org




Graham Mayor wrote:
It seems that a fix may now be available. I have not yet tested it,
but see

Doug Robbins - Word MVP wrote:
For the moment, you will have to uninstall SP2. *To do that, in the
Control PanelAdd Remove Programs facility, click on the Installed
Updates link.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP, originally posted via msnews.microsoft.com
"Alex" wrote in message
...
Hello u all,

we have installed SP2 from office in this Servicepack is KB969604
already intergrated. i already tried to download kb969604 and then i
unistalled it but nothing works. does anyone know where i could
download the patch kb970942
where Steven Du is talking about? Cause we are having a major
problem with some applications from the company i need to get the
update quick. Kindly regards

Alex van Duist

"Graham Mayor" wrote:

Yes - if you uninstall an update, Automatic Updates will try to
restore it
... unless of course you have told updates to forget about this
one. I will
worry about resetting the updates when the fix is available. At the
moment
the issue with doc variables is far more important than whatever it
was that
particular update messed around with.

There was also a hotfix - Hotfix KB 969961 - which fixed a problem
with passwords, but also screwed up the variables. I have not even
ventured to investigate what has happened with the password problem
as I only use passwords in documents for third parties who ask for
them. --

Graham Mayor - *Word MVP

My web sitewww.gmayor.com
Word MVP web sitehttp://word.mvps.org


Suzanne S. Barnhill wrote:
You can go to Control Panel | Automatic Updates and tell Windows
to reoffer you the updates you declined. Not sure whether that
applies to ones you've already downloaded and installed, but if
you uninstalled it, would it be available for reinstall?

"Graham Mayor" wrote in message
. ..
Excellent - now all I have to do is find the KB969604 patch to
reinstall before I can fix it

--

Graham Mayor - *Word MVP

My web sitewww.gmayor.com
Word MVP web sitehttp://word.mvps.org


Chris wrote:
we are beta testing a fix for this from MS, it is looking good
and applying this with KB969604 installed resolves the issue (no
uninstall required). We are under the impression this will be
more generally available towards the end of the Month, so its
not far away. "ThirtySix Software" wrote:

Graham -

The only direct contact we've had with MS is Steven Du over at
the MS partner forum
(http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/e...eword/threads).

The internal info posted above came via someone else who has
more "ins" w/ MS than we do.

FYI, for those who can't access the partner forum, Steven has
posted an update:

=====

Dear Partner,

I got an update from our Product Team that a solution of this
issue has been found and our Product Team is testing a hotfix.
The possible hotfix ID is KB970942 and I think it will be
published soon. Thank you for your patience.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------*-----
Best regards,

Steven Du
Partner Online Technical Community

"Graham Mayor" wrote:

Next time you communicate with your pet contact, perhaps you
could ask if the fix will require the errant KB969604 to be
re-installed before it can be fixed and whether it will fix
the identical problem in Hotfix KB 969961? It seems that
969604 rolled in the part of the Hotfix that caused the
problem Currently the only 'fix' is to ensure that neither
of these KB updates are installed --

Graham Mayor - *Word MVP

My web sitewww.gmayor.com
Word MVP web sitehttp://word.mvps.org


ThirtySix Software wrote:
FYI, another update from an internal MS contact. This issue
is being fixed.

====

I received some details from our Security team. *This is a
known issue and they are working on a hotfix at this time.
Additional details (KB article, hotfix, etc.) should be
forthcoming soon. *I will keep you posted.

"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:

This sounds promising.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

"ThirtySix Software"
wrote in
message
...
Another brief update in the partner forum from Steven Du at
MS that I thought
I'd share ... sounds like MS is looking at this.

=====

Our Product Team told me that they are in the process of
investigating this
issue and will try them best to work out a solution soon.
If there is any update from our Product Team, I will post
it in the community.

Thank you for your patience.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------*-----
Best regards,

Steven Du
Partner Online Technical Community

"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:

Well, let's hope the PG will be more responsive to Steven
Du's email than they have been to the reports on Connect.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

"ThirtySix Software"
wrote in
message
...
FYI, I got this reply from MS on the Partner forum:

Dear Partner,

Thank you for posting in our Partner Online Technical
Community.

From your description, I understand that any document
variables in the document become corrupt after installing
the update KB969604 for Word 2007.
The document variables become normal after uninstalling
the update KB969604.
If there has been any misunderstanding, please let me
know. I am sorry for any inconvenience you have
encountered. According to the steps you listed, I am
able to reproduce the issue after installing the update
KB969604 on my test machine. To address your concern, I
have sent an
email to our Product Team to report this issue.

In the meantime, you are also welcomed to provide your
feedback directly
to
the product groups via the link below:

https://support.microsoft.com/common...w;en;1214&show...

If there is any update, I will post it in the community.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------*-----
Best regards,

Steven Du
Partner Online Technical Community

"Chris" wrote:

This is not a "Potential Major bug" *it is very real and
very Major. It
will
be affecting 1000's of applications world wide. This
update needs to be
withdrawn by Microsoft immediately.

"DavidP" wrote:

Affecting us, too. Extremely serious. Anyone know how
to beat on Microsoft's
door.

"Jay Freedman" wrote:

Yes, it is known -- at least out here in the world
outside the Microsoft campus.

We reported this bug last month when the suspect part
of the update
was

Whether you add it or not rather depends on your approach to updates
generally. Do you work on the permise that Microsoft is constantly improving
its product and therefore should be updated as the improvements become
available - or do you work on the premise of 'if it ain't broke, don't fix
it'?

I tend to the former, so at least I am working with the same product as most
of the users out there which makes support easier.

I would expect the fix to be rolled into a future SP2 revision, or you could
install now. The hotlink indicates which files are updated.

--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org



Peter T. Daniels wrote:
So should we install SP2 and then install the fix, or should we wait
till a fixed SP2 becomes available?

What are the benefits of installing SP2?

On Jul 2, 7:40 am, "Graham Mayor" wrote:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/970942/
Now tested - and it does appear to fix the problem with the
variables.

--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web sitewww.gmayor.com
Word MVP web sitehttp://word.mvps.org




Graham Mayor wrote:
It seems that a fix may now be available. I have not yet tested it,
but see

Doug Robbins - Word MVP wrote:
For the moment, you will have to uninstall SP2. To do that, in the
Control PanelAdd Remove Programs facility, click on the Installed
Updates link.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP, originally posted via msnews.microsoft.com
"Alex" wrote in message
...
Hello u all,

we have installed SP2 from office in this Servicepack is KB969604
already intergrated. i already tried to download kb969604 and
then i unistalled it but nothing works. does anyone know where i
could download the patch kb970942
where Steven Du is talking about? Cause we are having a major
problem with some applications from the company i need to get the
update quick. Kindly regards

Alex van Duist

"Graham Mayor" wrote:

Yes - if you uninstall an update, Automatic Updates will try to
restore it
... unless of course you have told updates to forget about this
one. I will
worry about resetting the updates when the fix is available. At
the moment
the issue with doc variables is far more important than whatever
it was that
particular update messed around with.

There was also a hotfix - Hotfix KB 969961 - which fixed a
problem with passwords, but also screwed up the variables. I
have not even ventured to investigate what has happened with the
password problem as I only use passwords in documents for third
parties who ask for them. --

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web sitewww.gmayor.com
Word MVP web sitehttp://word.mvps.org


Suzanne S. Barnhill wrote:
You can go to Control Panel | Automatic Updates and tell Windows
to reoffer you the updates you declined. Not sure whether that
applies to ones you've already downloaded and installed, but if
you uninstalled it, would it be available for reinstall?

"Graham Mayor" wrote in message
...
Excellent - now all I have to do is find the KB969604 patch to
reinstall before I can fix it

--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web sitewww.gmayor.com
Word MVP web sitehttp://word.mvps.org


Chris wrote:
we are beta testing a fix for this from MS, it is looking good
and applying this with KB969604 installed resolves the issue
(no uninstall required). We are under the impression this
will be more generally available towards the end of the
Month, so its not far away. "ThirtySix Software" wrote:

Graham -

The only direct contact we've had with MS is Steven Du over
at the MS partner forum
(http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/e...eword/threads).

The internal info posted above came via someone else who has
more "ins" w/ MS than we do.

FYI, for those who can't access the partner forum, Steven has
posted an update:

=====

Dear Partner,

I got an update from our Product Team that a solution of this
issue has been found and our Product Team is testing a
hotfix. The possible hotfix ID is KB970942 and I think it
will be published soon. Thank you for your patience.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------*-----
Best regards,

Steven Du
Partner Online Technical Community

"Graham Mayor" wrote:

Next time you communicate with your pet contact, perhaps you
could ask if the fix will require the errant KB969604 to be
re-installed before it can be fixed and whether it will fix
the identical problem in Hotfix KB 969961? It seems that
969604 rolled in the part of the Hotfix that caused the
problem Currently the only 'fix' is to ensure that
neither of these KB updates are installed --

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web sitewww.gmayor.com
Word MVP web sitehttp://word.mvps.org


ThirtySix Software wrote:
FYI, another update from an internal MS contact. This issue
is being fixed.

====

I received some details from our Security team. This is a
known issue and they are working on a hotfix at this time.
Additional details (KB article, hotfix, etc.) should be
forthcoming soon. I will keep you posted.

"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:

This sounds promising.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

"ThirtySix Software"
wrote in
message
...
Another brief update in the partner forum from Steven Du
at MS that I thought
I'd share ... sounds like MS is looking at this.

=====

Our Product Team told me that they are in the process of
investigating this
issue and will try them best to work out a solution soon.
If there is any update from our Product Team, I will post
it in the community.

Thank you for your patience.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------*-----
Best regards,

Steven Du
Partner Online Technical Community

"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:

Well, let's hope the PG will be more responsive to
Steven Du's email than they have been to the reports on
Connect.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

"ThirtySix Software"
wrote in
message
...
FYI, I got this reply from MS on the Partner forum:

Dear Partner,

Thank you for posting in our Partner Online Technical
Community.

From your description, I understand that any document
variables in the document become corrupt after
installing the update KB969604 for Word 2007.
The document variables become normal after uninstalling
the update KB969604.
If there has been any misunderstanding, please let me
know. I am sorry for any inconvenience you have
encountered. According to the steps you listed, I am
able to reproduce the issue after installing the update
KB969604 on my test machine. To address your concern, I
have sent an
email to our Product Team to report this issue.

In the meantime, you are also welcomed to provide your
feedback directly
to
the product groups via the link below:

https://support.microsoft.com/common...w;en;1214&show...

If there is any update, I will post it in the
community.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------*-----
Best regards,

Steven Du
Partner Online Technical Community

"Chris" wrote:

This is not a "Potential Major bug" it is very real
and very Major. It
will
be affecting 1000's of applications world wide. This
update needs to be
withdrawn by Microsoft immediately.

"DavidP" wrote:

Affecting us, too. Extremely serious. Anyone know how
to beat on Microsoft's
door.

"Jay Freedman" wrote:

Yes, it is known -- at least out here in the world
outside the Microsoft campus.

We reported this bug last month when the suspect
part of the update
was