MS Word docx Corrupted: files reduced to 4KB --- any hope?

[PC49]

I am getting a good number of MS Word docx files suddenly coming up
"corrupted". In each case they are down to 4KB, which I believe means
empty?

I run my Norton Internet Security scan every day, and also have
McAfee, so I hoped I would be protected. I use usb's fairly often on
other computers, however.

I have tried the usual simple "opne/repair" tactics but no luck. Must
I kiss these files goodbye? Fortunately I have hard copies of almost
all of them.

Lastly, is this group an appropriate one to post my query too? Thanks
for any and all replies!

signed: Frustrated in Canada.

 

[R. C. White]

Hi, PC49.

Lastly, is this group an appropriate one to post my query too?

As the name says, this newsgroup is for Outlook. A search of MY ISP's news
server, which uses Giganews, turns up about 50 newsgroups with names
starting with microsoft.public.word... Perhaps you would find the help you
need on one of those.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP (2002-2010)
Windows Live Mail 2011 (Build 15.4.3538.0513) in Win7 Ultimate x64 SP1

"PC49" wrote in message

I am getting a good number of MS Word docx files suddenly coming up
"corrupted". In each case they are down to 4KB, which I believe means
empty?

I run my Norton Internet Security scan every day, and also have
McAfee, so I hoped I would be protected. I use usb's fairly often on
other computers, however.

I have tried the usual simple "opne/repair" tactics but no luck. Must
I kiss these files goodbye? Fortunately I have hard copies of almost
all of them.

Lastly, is this group an appropriate one to post my query too? Thanks
for any and all replies!

signed: Frustrated in Canada.

 

[Steve Hayes]

I am getting a good number of MS Word docx files suddenly coming up
"corrupted". In each case they are down to 4KB, which I believe means
empty?

I run my Norton Internet Security scan every day, and also have
McAfee, so I hoped I would be protected. I use usb's fairly often on
other computers, however.

I have tried the usual simple "opne/repair" tactics but no luck. Must
I kiss these files goodbye? Fortunately I have hard copies of almost
all of them.

Lastly, is this group an appropriate one to post my query too? Thanks
for any and all replies!

I suggest you try:

microsoft.public.word.newusers

 

[Peter Foldes]

Easy. Find normal.dot and rename it to normal.old. Open Word after and magic

--
Peter
Please Reply to Newsgroup for the benefit of others
Requests for assistance by email can not and will not be acknowledged.
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

 

[Stefan Blom]

Are the affected files e-mail attachments? If so, it's possible that the
antivirus software is causing the issue. See if there is an "Office
plug-in" (or something similar). If you find it, disable it in the
Norton settings.

You can try repairing a damaged file by opening it using the Open and
Repair option in Word's Open dialog box (Ctrl+O).

Note that Word-specific questions should be asked in
microsoft.public.word.docmanagement, and .newusers.

Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP

 

[Stefan Blom]

Also note that there are new Office forums at the Microsoft site; these
get most of the traffic these days. For Word, see
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/office/forum/word?page=1&tab=all.

Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP

 

[PC49]

On Jan 4, 11:59 am, Stefan Blom <[email protected]>
wrote:

My thanks to those who replied so promptly to my "newbie" question
about MS Word, especially since it didn't really belong to this ng.

I've since been advised that the probable cause is really dumb and
basic. I use two or three different PC's on a regular basis, carrying
a USB, and routinely can't be bothered to follow eject-hardware
procedures. Lax friends have so often said "Ah, you don't need to do
all that, it'll be okay ----"

An engineer in a different field once told me that the worst disasters
occur shortly after somebody said "Naah, it'll be alright ----."

 

[R. C. White]

Hi, PC49.

a USB, and routinely can't be bothered to follow eject-hardware
procedures.

A POSSIBLE solution to this is to change the setting for Safe Removal. To
do this run Disk Management (diskmgmt.msc); you'll need to furnish
Administrator credentials. In Disk Management, find the USB disk in the
Graphical View (bottom of the screen, by default) and right-clock on the
Disk # in the far left column. Choose "Properties" - and note that this
Properties screen is different from the one you get if you right-click in
the Partition (Drive) segment for that removable disk. Click the Policies
tab and choose between the Removal policy for "Quick removal (default)" or
for "Better performance".

The better performance option caches write operations to that device for a
very short time before actually writing the data to the device. If the
device is ejected - or otherwise interrupted - during that short time, the
data can be lost. The quick removal option does not use the cache, but
writes the data immediately. without needing the Safely Remove Hardware
precautions.

Since quick removal is the default, I'm surprised that the "Safely Remove
Hardware" icon is ever seen at all, but many users mention it so there must
be something that changes the default in those cases. Personally, I never
see that icon even though I use USB drives and SD cards regularly.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP (2002-2010)
Windows Live Mail 2011 (Build 15.4.3538.0513) in Win7 Ultimate x64 SP1


"PC49" wrote in message

On Jan 4, 11:59 am, Stefan Blom <[email protected]>
wrote:

My thanks to those who replied so promptly to my "newbie" question
about MS Word, especially since it didn't really belong to this ng.

I've since been advised that the probable cause is really dumb and
basic. I use two or three different PC's on a regular basis, carrying
a USB, and routinely can't be bothered to follow eject-hardware
procedures. Lax friends have so often said "Ah, you don't need to do
all that, it'll be okay ----"

An engineer in a different field once told me that the worst disasters
occur shortly after somebody said "Naah, it'll be alright ----."

 

[Steve Hayes]

Since quick removal is the default, I'm surprised that the "Safely Remove
Hardware" icon is ever seen at all, but many users mention it so there must
be something that changes the default in those cases. Personally, I never
see that icon even though I use USB drives and SD cards regularly.

My wife is an accountant and took a large and complicated spreadsheet on a USB
flash drive to show one of the auditors. My wife was quite shocked when the
auditor removed the USB drive from her computer after looking it without
closing the file or the application. The auditor airily dismissed her
concerns, saying it wasn't a problem. My wife later discovered that that she
had lost a lot of the other data on the USB drive, and not just the
spreadsheet.

 

[Stefan Blom]

With Word there is also the specific issue that *saving* directly to any
removable media poses a risk. You should never do that. Instead, work with
the document on your hard disk and then copy to the removable media when you
are done.

-- 
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP




---------------------------------------------
"Steve Hayes" wrote in message

Since quick removal is the default, I'm surprised that the "Safely Remove
Hardware" icon is ever seen at all, but many users mention it so there must
be something that changes the default in those cases. Personally, I never
see that icon even though I use USB drives and SD cards regularly.

My wife is an accountant and took a large and complicated spreadsheet on a
USB
flash drive to show one of the auditors. My wife was quite shocked when the
auditor removed the USB drive from her computer after looking it without
closing the file or the application. The auditor airily dismissed her
concerns, saying it wasn't a problem. My wife later discovered that that she
had lost a lot of the other data on the USB drive, and not just the
spreadsheet.

 

[PC49]

With Word there is also the specific issue that *saving* directly to any
removable media poses a risk. You should never do that. Instead, work with
the document on your hard disk and then copy to the removable media when you
are done.

Thanks again to the kind responders. A basic "newbie" enquiry does
not always get such polite and helpful responses on Google groups! I
have taken due note of your advice, and I think a post-it sticky note
on my CPU is called for as well.

 

[Stefan Blom]

Indeed, these are fairly friendly groups.

-- 
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP




---------------------------------------------
"PC49" wrote in message

With Word there is also the specific issue that *saving* directly to any
removable media poses a risk. You should never do that. Instead, work with
the document on your hard disk and then copy to the removable media when
you
are done.

Thanks again to the kind responders. A basic "newbie" enquiry does
not always get such polite and helpful responses on Google groups! I
have taken due note of your advice, and I think a post-it sticky note
on my CPU is called for as well.