Office Word 2007 or 2010 shows the following error messages:

"Word cannot open the existing file.(Normal)"
"The file Normal.dotm cannot be opened because there are problems with the contents."
The issue occurs only when starting Word as a published application and when the User Profile Manager (UPM) is enabled on the server.
The issue does not occur on a published desktop and when the UPM is disabled.

Remove the exclusion of the desktop folder.

- Or -

Contact Microsoft for a workaround on the dependency of Office Word and the Desktop folder.

Problem Cause

The issue occurs when you configure UPM to exclude the Desktop folder.

To access the Exclusion list – directories in your Active Directory (AD) policy, follow the given path:

1. Go to Active Directory group policies.

2. Select Citrix from Administrative Templates available in Computer Configuration.

3. Select Profile Management.

4. Select File System to access Exclusion list - Directories.

When the user logs on to the server, the profile is created with the information stored on the UPM share. Because the Desktop folder is excluded, the user profile is built without it. Word 2007 or 2010 requires this folder to work properly.

The issue can be reproduced using local profiles with no UPM, if you manually delete the desktop folder from the user profile and then start the published Word.