Error With a white Project Guide

[maharg]

2nd Question of the day.

Has anyone come accross a blank version of the project guide openin
with a particular project? (a white column to the left of the project)
The only way to get rid of this is either change the project view (i
which case it becomes a filled in version of the project guide rarthe
than white) or to switch off Display project guid
(Tools>options>Interface tab), however even setting this as default th
white project guide re-appears on the next project file load.

I think this is actually not the underlying problem. The same file als
produces an error and "needs to close" if exiting microsoft project vi
the cross in the top right of the program - loosing all unsaved data.

I thought by creating a new plan (replicating the 'corrupt' plan)
would be able to brush this problem under the carpet however the ne
project now has the same isue.

The only difference (that I can think of) between this plan and al
the others in the company is that there are a lot of links to othe
projects.

Has anyone else come accross this before?

(Project 2007 SP 1)

Thanks,
Graham

 

[Jim Aksel]

If you suspect the files is corrupt, then save it as XML format and then
re-open and save as an mpp file.

read about corrupt files at http://project.mvps.org/faqs.htm especially
FAQ#43.
Be careful since you have external links, do not use Save As...
--
If this post was helpful, please consider rating it.

Jim Aksel, MVP

Check out my blog for more information:
http://www.msprojectblog.com

 

[maharg]

The xml solution didnt work but i did follow method 4 of FAQ#43 and thi
has seemed to have done the trick.

Thanks

 

[maharg]

The xml solution didnt work but i did follow method 4 of FAQ#43 and thi
has seemed to have done the trick.

Thanks.

Actually I think this has in turn created a further fault.

Does anyone know what the status 'Create External' means in th
differences column of the links between projects tool?

There are no options apart from 'All' for these particular tasks. Also
the Path for the link does not show the full patch for the file but jus
the name of the file. I cant delete these links. If I accept by pressin
'All', MS project encounters a problem and needs to close.

How do I get rid of these 'dodgy' links?

Thanks,
Graha

 

[Rob Schneider]

Actually I think this has in turn created a further fault.

Does anyone know what the status 'Create External' means in the
differences column of the links between projects tool?

There are no options apart from 'All' for these particular tasks. Also,
the Path for the link does not show the full patch for the file but just
the name of the file. I cant delete these links. If I accept by pressing
'All', MS project encounters a problem and needs to close.

How do I get rid of these 'dodgy' links?

Thanks,
Graham

Frankly, sounds like the file is "toast" (a technical term for a crashed
file). Can you go back to a previous version?

 

[maharg]

Yes it certainly does sound that way. It's got its self into a rea
pickle.

I think i'm going to re-build the plans (via copy and paste or similar
then re-add all the external links. Unfortunately this has had the sam
effect on other plans that it links to so it will be multiple re-builds


Thanks

 

[Rob Schneider]

Yes it certainly does sound that way. It's got its self into a real
pickle.

I think i'm going to re-build the plans (via copy and paste or similar)
then re-add all the external links. Unfortunately this has had the same
effect on other plans that it links to so it will be multiple re-builds.


Thanks.

And, build in your thinking a strategy for making (daily?) backups of
all files, including the external linked files. to avoid future risk of
corruption try to make it so that the files are not renamed...keep them
in the same place (from Project's perspective).

In absence of another strategy, simply archive the files into a Zip file
and store the zip's somewhere else. Depending on how often you change
the files, daily or weekly is about right.

I keep everything in SharePoint which does versioning, but draw them
down to the local PC for all edits/changes ... so from Project's
perspective none of the file names ever change and (knock on wood) risk
of corruption reduces.

 

[maharg]

And, build in your thinking a strategy for making (daily?) backups of
all files, including the external linked files. to avoid future ris
of
corruption try to make it so that the files are not renamed...kee
them
in the same place (from Project's perspective).

In absence of another strategy, simply archive the files into a Zi
file
and store the zip's somewhere else. Depending on how often you change
the files, daily or weekly is about right.

I keep everything in SharePoint which does versioning, but draw them
down to the local PC for all edits/changes ... so from Project's
perspective none of the file names ever change and (knock on wood
risk
of corruption reduces.

Yes thanks. I do have daily backups as our network is automaticall
backed up each evening. However, as the file has been kind of working w
have continued to make updates. If the project was restored from th
backup it would lose all these changes we have made. I think my onl
option is to copy what is in the corrupt plan and re-establish th
external links.

Thanks,
Graham

 

[Rob Schneider]

Yes thanks. I do have daily backups as our network is automatically
backed up each evening. However, as the file has been kind of working we
have continued to make updates. If the project was restored from the
backup it would lose all these changes we have made. I think my only
option is to copy what is in the corrupt plan and re-establish the
external links.

Thanks,
Graham.

But with restoring from backup you only have one day of lost changes?
Why not start from there and only re-do one day? Or are you saying you
don't know which of the backups was good? That's tough.

I'm sure this not the case for you; but for some big organisations where
the server backups run by IT ... they don't make it easy to get files
back. The purpose of the backups is for IT to be able to recover from
disaster (server crash, fire, etc.) and not for customers/user to fix
their problems. Just make sure you can quickly get back to a past
version within a time period that meets the needs of your project.

The purpose of our Project's team versioning and backup is to provide us
access--immediate--to past version. Sometimes we make changes and a
couple of days later realise our mistake (wrong logic, wrong
assumptions, whatever ... at the Project level). We can immediately
(seconds) go back into SharePoint and restore the right version with no
delay to the project at all.

 

[maharg]

Thanks for your hel