Corrupt document

[Debra]

I have a user that took a Word document home. This user
does not have Word at home so she used notepad to modify
the document. Workstation at home is Windows XP Home
edition. While modifying document in notepad, document
suddenly went blank and document lost. I managed to
recover the document, but when I opened it up, it was all
machine talk. So I know it is corrupt. I used Word to try
and recover it but without success. Does anyone know why
this would happen or what could cause such a thing ? And
is there a way to recover it ? Very important document.
Any help would be appreciated.

Regards,
Debra

 

[Jezebel]

You can't modify a Word document with Notepad. Notepad works with text
files, which Word documents are not. Although you can open a Word document
in Notepad you won't see anything useful, and any changes you make will
hopelessly and irretrievably wreck the document.

When the user 'took the document home' presumably it was copied from the
office HD to a floppy or CD. Go back to the version on the office HD.

 

[Debra]

Okay...
How could this user take a Word document with the .doc
extension and work on it at home for days ? At the office
we use the Office XP suite. But at home she only has
Wordperfect 12 or notepad. I know as a fact she has been
working on the document in notepad because the document I
found with the name of the file still had a .doc
extension. I actually have the document here at work with
me and it has the .doc extension.
Recovering from the copy at work was the most logical
solution, but that only contains part of the information.
I need what she added at home.

Debra

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

She almost certainly also has WordPad, which can create Word 6.0 docs.

 

[Debra]

I'll look to see if my home user has Wordpad. Any ideas
how to recover it ?

Thank you,
Debra

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Since WordPad comes with Windows, I would imagine she does.

 

[Debra]

I stand corrected. She was using Wordpad. Same
question...is any way to recover it ?

Thanks,
Debra

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

I'm guessing the document is toast any way you look at it.

 

[Debra]

I was afraid that was going to be the answer. Thank you
anyway.

Debra