Corrupt formatting

[sjh7225]

I had created a word 2003 file and saved to a flash memory stick. I had
successfully worked on the document until yesterday, when Word asked me to
download a convertor file. I did this and now the document is illegible. It
says it is a plain text format with little square boxes in the place of the
characters. I have tried to open the file on several different machines using
Word 2003 and Word 2007 with no luck. Can anyone please help me, it is about
2 hours of transcribing lost!!!

Thanks.

 

[CyberTaz]

Well, you've posted to the group for Word on the Mac so for future reference
you might want to bookmark:

http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/FlyoutOverview.mspx

You may be able to use the "Recover text from any file" option or perhaps
they have other recommendations to repair the files on the Windows side.

One thing universally appropriate, though - NEVER use files on a USB stick
for working purposes. Always move/copy the file to your local HD then
move/copy back when finished. Those devices are great for backup copies,
transporting & storing, but when it comes to actively using the files on
them it's a recipe for disaster.

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[MC]

One thing universally appropriate, though - NEVER use files on a USB stick
for working purposes. Always move/copy the file to your local HD then
move/copy back when finished. Those devices are great for backup copies,
transporting & storing, but when it comes to actively using the files on
them it's a recipe for disaster.

Curious, not challenging the statement at all: Why is it a recipe for
disaster?

 

[CyberTaz]

Despite what the mfrs & their marketing would have us believe those devices
are not *drives*... At least not in the same sense as a Fixed Disk. When you
work with Word files the program creates a variety of working files which
need to be managed in the background. That technology doesn't provide the
necessary support for such activity.

I've never even tried on a Mac because I know shat the likely result will
be, but on Windows OS Word doesn't even recognize those devices.

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[John McGhie]

Yeah, Bob's correct: it is too risky. A USB drive is not as bad as a floppy
drive, but there is still a high risk involved.

When Word opens a document for editing, it opens up to 26 temporary files:
some on the USB key, some on the machine's local hard disk, and some in
memory.

If anything interrupts the connection while the file is open, a completely
lost document is one of a range of possible results. It's just not safe

If you open the document on the hard disk, Mac OS X's journaling file system
protects you from all but the most unlikely hardware glitches.

Cheers

Curious, not challenging the statement at all: Why is it a recipe for
disaster?

--
Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP, Word and Word:Mac
Sydney, Australia. mailto:[email protected]