Inability to save Word Document although disk space available

[tat.hong]

Dear all : )

I was improving on a Word document and upon completion, i tried to
save a copy of the
improved work but i was given the following error message...

""
The disk is full trying to write to "Macintosh HD". Free
some space on this drive, or save the document on another
disk.
Try one or more of the following:
*Close any unneeded documents, programs, and windows
*Save the document on another disk.
""

Puzzled, i tried both of the recommendations given in the error
message. I even cleared
everything in my thumbdrive and format it but i just could not save a
copy of the Word
document, even onto my thumbdrive.

I tried saving a new file with TextEdit and even with Microsoft Excel
and they works.

Please advice

Thank you for your kind attention

May GOD bless you!!

Cheers,
tAtHOng (",)

 

[little_creature]

Hi,
This message doesn't have to do anything with diskspace, it says something's
wrong - I cannot save the document.

First I would try to reboot. This might solve the problem.

There's a paper by Beth Rosengard on this problem. The link seems to move,
but I could find it cached:
http://209.85.135.104/search?q=cache:2DIeMLyFiFAJ:word.mvps.org/MacWordNew/D
iskFullErrorContent.htm+DiskFullErrorContent.htm&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1

It's written for older version of Word, you haven't stated which one do use
use.
First try to reebot and then post back.

Do you have checked the *always make a backup* option in preferences? If not
that might be a good idea to do.

 

[CyberTaz]

In addition to what little_creature suggests, I get the impression you are
working directly with a file on a USB "thumbdrive". If that is the case, it
is the source of your problem. If you continue to work this way (_any_
removable media) document corruption is virtually inevitable.

Word files in particular are far more complex than you might think & the way
the program operates causes additional temporary files to be created - all
of which must be in the same location as the original.

For *any* work on Mac or PC always save to your HD, close the file, then
copy/move the saved file to the removable media. For further editing,
copy/move back to the HD. IOW, Use the removable device to store & transport
*only*... Regardless of which program you're using.

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

 

[tAtHOng (,)]

thanx for your fast and prompt suggestion =)
appreciate it

I realise that there is something wrong with that particular file ...
I tried creating a new
Word Document and save it and it works. What I did next was to add in
small portions of
the changes that i made a bit at a time to the original file and
save.

It was initially ok but after i reached a particular table that i
copied (as it is similiar to
a table that i had come up with earlier in the document), i
encountered the same problem.

I tried omitting the table and carry on the same process (addiing in
small parts of the changes that I had made to the original file one at
a time and saving it) for the rest of the document but i was
unsuccessful.

still very puzzled about the reason and the only reason that i can
think of is that i have
used Microsoft equation many times to add in mathematical expression
in the table, though
that does not sound logical

i saw your message too late as i was too impatient and decided to do
something about it
without checking for any reply in the forum. i just did what i had
described to you (saving
bits by bits) and tried to salvage as much as i can of the changes and
re-type the rest (which i am only goinig to do tomorrow.. hopefully i
would not encounter the same problem
again.)

thanks once again : )

btw, my version of Word is 2004 version.
and i find your suggestion of re-booting a good one
I also find your other suggestion of selecting "always make a backup
copy" helpful
and have just done so ;p

GOD bless!! n Cheers,
tAtHOng (",)

 

[tAtHOng (,)]

thanx for your fast and prompt reply : )
appreciate it

I realised that i was not very clear in my description as i re-read my
own post
a second time ... I was not working directly with a file on a USB
"thumbdrive"
.... all i did was to try to save the document on my thumbdrive since
the error
message suggest that i save the document on a different disk ... i
even tried
to re-format my 'thumbdrive' after backing up its content in order to
obtain a
successful save

anyway.. it's a good reminder ...
thanx once again : )

GOD bless!! n Cheers,
tAtHOng (",)

 

[Bob Mathews]

still very puzzled about the reason and the only reason that i
can think of is that i have used Microsoft equation many times
to add in mathematical expression in the table, though that
does not sound logical

You're right; it doesn't sound logical, but in fact this error
message indicates the embedding information for some of the
graphics in your Microsoft Word document has been corrupted.
Since Word cannot correctly save the file, it displays its
default error message for file save failure. This problem occurs
in Microsoft Word with many types of embedded graphics and is not
specific to Microsoft Equation graphics.

We have an article on our web site that discusses this problem
and gives suggestions for recovering the document and preventing
recurrence of the problem.

http://www.dessci.com/en/support/mathtype/tsn/TSN64.htm

--
Bob Mathews bobm at dessci.com
Director of Training
http://www.dessci.com/free.asp?free=news
FREE fully-functional 30-day evaluation of MathType 5
Design Science, Inc. -- "How Science Communicates"
MathType, WebEQ, MathPlayer, MathFlow, Equation Editor, TeXaide

 

[durnit]

Hi,

I had the same problem. I defragmented my harddisk and the file saved fine
after that.

 

[John McGhie [MVP Word, Word Mac]]

Don't get led astray by that indication If defragmenting the disk had
been responsible for the fix, that would mean your disk is dangerously
over-filled and you need to remove some of the stored files immediately
because your system is about to fail.

Check your free space: if it's greater than 20 per cent, the disk is quite
safe and defragging wasn't it!

The "Unable to save" message usually means "A user has the file open and
locked so I can't overwrite it."

The "user" in questionis usually yourself: the system is attempting to open
the file twice.

When you defragged, you would have logged out: that would have cleared the
file locks and allowed the file to save.

Hope this helps

--

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

http://jgmcghie.fastmail.com.au/

John McGhie, Consultant Technical Writer
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
Sydney, Australia. GMT + 10 Hrs
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]

 

[Clive Huggan]

Not sure whether the following would have applied in this instance, but just
to let people know that, at least sometimes, a simple solution may be
available. I got the "unable to save" message yesterday with a HD that has
about 30% free space (80 GB), when Word had been open for several days and
new blank documents were about the "Document30" mark (about 5 such unsaved
documents were open, plus maybe 10 saved open documents).

[Yes I know, John, sometimes I *am* a worry.]

I solved it by OKing the message and immediately keying Command-s again. It
saved in the usual way.

This has happened on previous occasions (not that often, admittedly -- I
usually quit Word daily).

But soon afterwards I quit Word and shut down my PowerBook to shake it all
down. Have to show who's in charge ...

Cheers,

Clive Huggan
============

 

[John McGhie [MVP Word, Word Mac]]

{Sigh} Clive you worry me

People: If you want Word to be reliable, quit it twice a day! Word leaks
memory like a sieve: if you quit it, the operating system can change its
nappies and it will be good to go again. It's not as though it takes that
long to restart

Cheers

--

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

http://jgmcghie.fastmail.com.au/

John McGhie, Consultant Technical Writer
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
Sydney, Australia. GMT + 10 Hrs
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]

Not sure whether the following would have applied in this instance, but
just
to let people know that, at least sometimes, a simple solution may be
available. I got the "unable to save" message yesterday with a HD that
has
about 30% free space (80 GB), when Word had been open for several days and
new blank documents were about the "Document30" mark (about 5 such unsaved
documents were open, plus maybe 10 saved open documents).

[Yes I know, John, sometimes I *am* a worry.]

I solved it by OKing the message and immediately keying Command-s again.
It
saved in the usual way.

This has happened on previous occasions (not that often, admittedly -- I
usually quit Word daily).

But soon afterwards I quit Word and shut down my PowerBook to shake it all
down. Have to show who's in charge ...

Cheers,

Clive Huggan
============

Don't get led astray by that indication If defragmenting the disk
had
been responsible for the fix, that would mean your disk is dangerously
over-filled and you need to remove some of the stored files immediately
because your system is about to fail.

Check your free space: if it's greater than 20 per cent, the disk is
quite
safe and defragging wasn't it!

The "Unable to save" message usually means "A user has the file open and
locked so I can't overwrite it."

The "user" in questionis usually yourself: the system is attempting to
open
the file twice.

When you defragged, you would have logged out: that would have cleared
the
file locks and allowed the file to save.

Hope this helps