Can't edit document

[Invisible]

Hi folks.

We are using Word 97 on Windows NT4.0 Workstation. One of our users has an
important document which needs editing. However, every time this document is
opened, Word locks up. (It does it's famous trick of using 100% of the CPU
time.) We tried making a copy of the file, we tried opening it as read-only,
we tried deleting temp files, we tried opening it from a different user
account on a different PC on the network... WE CANNOT OPEN THIS DOCUMENT!

Naturally, we need this document finished before Friday - there is several
thousand £££ riding on it.

I tried updating the user's copy of Office 97 to SR-2b - no effect. (It was
SR-1a before that - if that makes any difference.)

The document is approximately 30 pages long, and the file size is
approximately 550KB. (We've worked on MUCH larger documents before now...)

The people responsible for this puppy has getting... a little... "unhappy"
about this state of affairs. Since I am the entire IT department, it falls
to me to magic a solution out of the air. Any suggestions? Please??

Thanks.

 

[Invisible]

See http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/AppErrors/CorruptDoc.htm

Very helpful and informative - as are many of the other articles btw.

Of course, while saving as HTML or using Cut & Paste works if Word is simply
unstable, it's no good at all if Word locks up instantly on opening. Recover
Text would have worked, but as the document is heavily formatted, the user
in question decided to go back to the previous copy of this document and
redo all the editing - FOR THE THIRD TIME IN THE SAME DAY!

I just hope I can find a way to prevent this kind of mumbo in the first
place! The user recons that all documents based on this particular template
(supplied by our client) end up not working - but then, my mother recons
that traffic lights "always" turn red just as you get to them. Maybe I
should test this scientifically... (The Word template that is - not the
lights!)

If the template is corrupted, will the instructions for fixing a broken
document apply more or less equally?

Thanks.