Windows 8 - Office 2013 stopped working error

 I installed Microsoft Office 2013 on my Windows 8 Machine.  This is a homebrew machine that I upgraded from Windows 7 with an upgrade license I got by buying a new laptop (which I left at Windows 7).   I got Office 2013 from the Microsoft Home Use Program (HUP) because I work for a company that participates. It was $10 and downloaded it.   It appeared to wipe out my old Office 2010, although I didn't thoroughly check that out.   All together a fantastic bargain getting the new windows for $15 and the new office for $10.  Except it didn't work.  Not at all.

Open any of the office applications, such as Word.  Start a new file or open an existing one and Immediately I get the message that "Microsoft Word has stopped working" or "Microsoft Excel has stopped working".   Repair or re-downloading didn't help.

If found this solution that at first seemed useless but eventually was the answer...

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/office/forum/office_2013_release-excel/microsoft-excel-has-stopped-working/2e2691c9-0882-4ea5-8d5b-ac73d31f2c90

In it she suggests running in safe mode.

Step1:

Try to repair Office 2013 installation and check if it helps:
Click on Start > Control Panel, click Programs, and then click Programs and Features.
Note: In Classic view, double-click Programs and Features.
Click Microsoft Office 2013, and then click Change.


Step2:

If the issue persists even after repairing the Office installation you may try to open Outlook, Excel and Word in safe mode to check if the issue persists:
Click Start.
Type Outlook /safe, and then click OK.

Note: There is space between Outlook and /.

Replace Outlook with Excel and WinWord to start Excel, Word in safe mode. 

Safe mode worked, but now what?  I'm supposed to always run office in safe mode?
  In the comments below the support answer was the solution for me.

Try opening word or excel in safe mode. Go to file/options/add-ins and select COM add-ins. Uncheck the add-ins. Might work.

It did work. I started the Microsoft apps one by one by opening the search box, typing their name followed by /safe. Once they started, I went to File/Options/add-ins and selected COM. 

I found I had an "Add In" on every office application for "ABBYY FineReader 9.0 Sprint Excel COM Add-In".  I then unchecked the APPYY app. Now office works normally without safe mode.
I googled to find out what ABBYY-FineReader was and why I had it.

http://askville.amazon.com/ABBYY-FineReader-Sprint-computer/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=7076816

 It apparently got installed with my Epson 845 workforce all in one printer/scanner.  OCR software is nice, but I never use it.  For now I'm going to just leave it turned off. 
It looks like I need v11 to run windows 8, and they want $200. Not. Gonna. Happen.