how do I recover a damaged Word file

[pylongardenn]

Recently I had to reinstall Windows XP Pro, and I made a backup of all my
documents. Now I can not open some of the Word files from the USB stick that
I used for the back up.

I am using Word 2003, and the problem does not apply to all Word files. I
already tried the recover damaged file option, which did not work at all.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Don't try to open the files directly from the USB stick. Copy them to the HD
first.

 

[pylongardenn]

I tried that, but also then the files won't open in their original form. The
text now looks like a standard 'recovery' with all these strange symbols.