C
col
Im opening previously saved word docs and the text now appears as small
squares. Whats happening?
squares. Whats happening?
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T
Terry Farrell
You should NEVER save a document directly to any type of removable media. It
is the number 1 way to corrupt documents. Always save to your local HDD and
then COPY the document to the removable media.
is the number 1 way to corrupt documents. Always save to your local HDD and
then COPY the document to the removable media.
T
Terry Farrell
I agree with you. This problem has been around for generations of Word. At
one time, it was the dreaded FastSaves option that was top of the list for
document corruption, but that has been surpassed by removable media
(starting with floppy disks and now with flash drives). Windows is perfectly
capable of establishing what type of drive you are selecting, so why it
doesn't inhibit or at least warn against the action is beyond me.
Recovery: well I'd say it is pretty slim unless the document was saved on
the original PC before it was saved to the flash drive.
What you can do is if you have Word 2003 or later, use the Open and Repair
option. If that fails, use the Recover Text from Any File option. If that
fails, then try opening it in WordPad and finally Notepad. Success depends
on what part of the file was damaged and (obviously) the further down the
line you try to recover the document, the less happy you will be with the
results.
Terry
one time, it was the dreaded FastSaves option that was top of the list for
document corruption, but that has been surpassed by removable media
(starting with floppy disks and now with flash drives). Windows is perfectly
capable of establishing what type of drive you are selecting, so why it
doesn't inhibit or at least warn against the action is beyond me.
Recovery: well I'd say it is pretty slim unless the document was saved on
the original PC before it was saved to the flash drive.
What you can do is if you have Word 2003 or later, use the Open and Repair
option. If that fails, use the Recover Text from Any File option. If that
fails, then try opening it in WordPad and finally Notepad. Success depends
on what part of the file was damaged and (obviously) the further down the
line you try to recover the document, the less happy you will be with the
results.
Terry
C
col
many thanks for taking the time to reply holy hardcore. Ive done everything
suggested (wordpad etc..) but to no avail. I copied other types of files, eg.
media, jpgs etc, not just word files, from my HDD to DVD disc. Nothing will
open for me and as stated, word opens as squares. Maybe Im flogging a dead
horse.
Many thanks again
col
suggested (wordpad etc..) but to no avail. I copied other types of files, eg.
media, jpgs etc, not just word files, from my HDD to DVD disc. Nothing will
open for me and as stated, word opens as squares. Maybe Im flogging a dead
horse.
Many thanks again
col
C
col
Terry, thanks for taking the time to reply. Alas, ive tried everything and
nothing seems to work.
Col
nothing seems to work.
Col
S
Suzanne S. Barnhill
To add to what Terry said, opening it from the USB drive may have
contributed to the corruption in the first place. It's actually more
dangerous to open from removable media (especially floppies) than to save to
them. Instead, copy from the USB drive to the HD and open from there; that
will then be the default Save location. When you're done, use Copy or Send
to send the file back to the USB drive.
contributed to the corruption in the first place. It's actually more
dangerous to open from removable media (especially floppies) than to save to
them. Instead, copy from the USB drive to the HD and open from there; that
will then be the default Save location. When you're done, use Copy or Send
to send the file back to the USB drive.
S
Suzanne S. Barnhill
If you have a recent version, you can try Open and Repair, but once a
document is corrupted in this way, there's often little that can be done.
document is corrupted in this way, there's often little that can be done.
F
Flyover
I had a similar problem and this thread really depresses me. My document was
not originally on a flash or some other temporary media, but I suppose it
does count as removable. I just got a new computer and put the hard drive
from my old one in an external harddrive box. I thought it would be a neat
solution to transfering the files I wanted to the new computer while giving
me back-up storage. I opened the file from the external, worked on it a
little, then unconsciously hit <ctrl>-S. This is a habit from those old Word
2.0 days. Then I got a series of error boxes that only had "OK" buttons,
like 5 of them in a row. When I clicked through them all, my file had
DISAPPEARED from the external hard drive and there were 2 files on the new
computer's drive called "Rescued Document" and "Rescued Document 1." Like
holy hardcore, I've tried all the recovery methods mentioned in this thread
and I just have a bunch of question marks, except for the new edits, which
are readable.
This upsets me a lot, because I've been working on this thing for a year and
it's irreplacable. Anyone know of any possible way to recover this document??
not originally on a flash or some other temporary media, but I suppose it
does count as removable. I just got a new computer and put the hard drive
from my old one in an external harddrive box. I thought it would be a neat
solution to transfering the files I wanted to the new computer while giving
me back-up storage. I opened the file from the external, worked on it a
little, then unconsciously hit <ctrl>-S. This is a habit from those old Word
2.0 days. Then I got a series of error boxes that only had "OK" buttons,
like 5 of them in a row. When I clicked through them all, my file had
DISAPPEARED from the external hard drive and there were 2 files on the new
computer's drive called "Rescued Document" and "Rescued Document 1." Like
holy hardcore, I've tried all the recovery methods mentioned in this thread
and I just have a bunch of question marks, except for the new edits, which
are readable.
This upsets me a lot, because I've been working on this thing for a year and
it's irreplacable. Anyone know of any possible way to recover this document??
T
Terry Farrell
If you haven't actually overwritten the file on the ext HDD, then you may be
able to use one of the file recovery utilities such as Undelete that may
find the file intact. But there's no guarantee that it hasn't been
destroyed.
able to use one of the file recovery utilities such as Undelete that may
find the file intact. But there's no guarantee that it hasn't been
destroyed.
D
diane in seattle
Suzanne S. Barnhill said:If you have a recent version, you can try Open and Repair, but once a
document is corrupted in this way, there's often little that can be done.
this is an extremely disturbing
answer to a very serious problem.
i have been using ms-word 2000
since... well, 2000. once in awhile
a file becomes corrupted & won't
open, or when it does open, it shows
those little rectangles. i deduced
that when those rectangles appear,
ms-word is trying to open the file
in chinese or some other language,
even though that is not what i want
to do.
recently (yesterday), i was working
on a file in word 2000. i authored this
file in w2000 & have been indexing
it for months in w2000. every day i
save a backup on my external hard
drive--i've been burned too many
times by microsoft not to take that
precaution.
so, after doing several hours of very
precise indexing on this 1.2mg file,
suddenly it won't open. it won't scroll
down to the end & it won't allow me to
make additional changes. the little
hourglass just sits there.
after several tries, i finally just went
to bed, leaving it to continue trying
to load the file. when i woke up, same
deal.
curiously enough, i could open in in
wordperfect v.12, a piece of software
that came loaded on my computer but
which i have no desire to use.
however, wp12 managed to open it &
even shows all my indexing fields. the
trouble is that when i export it as a
w2000 file or copy & paste it into a new
word document, the fields come in liter-
ally--not as index fields.
this means i have to go over each one
by hand in this 220-page document &
remark each one with an index field.
why? why does microsoft treat me so bad?
i was a loyal supporter of microsoft & a big
fan of bill gates (i live in seattle) for 20
years. then i got a computer with windowsME.
that crappy os almost ruined my life.
no one ever contacted me to tell me there
were fixes for ME so i kept using it &
crashing for years. i live just above the
poverty line & am trying to finish this
project so i can improve my living by
making a profit with my work. but i have
to say, microsoft & ms-word have really
made that hard for me.
if i had any other choice, i would never
use microsoft products again. this post
is the fourth or fifth problem i've sent to
these groups, trying to get help on an
issue. the amount of time i've spent in
these pursuits is obscene.
so, suzanne, am i to understand that my
file, now corrupted, cannot be recovered
in any way? why? i did nothing wrong.
microsoft should fix this or retype the
entire document for me & pay me for the
time i've lost.
if i sound a little bit angry, believe me,
you are not feeling the depth of anger
i have because of this issue & all the
other issues i've had for years with
microsoft products.
i'm not here to beg someone to help help
help me!!! why should i have to ask for
help after i paid so much money & trusted
microsoft so completely?
just tell me this: am i screwed? have i
lost months' worth of work because word
decided to go sideways?
diane in seattle
S
Suzanne S. Barnhill
I hope that someone else here is more knowledgeable and can give you a more
helpful answer.
helpful answer.
T
Terry Farrell
I am not understanding what you are doing here. If you regularly make
backups to an external drive and the copy you are working on has become
corrupt, why can you not use the backup to recover your work?
backups to an external drive and the copy you are working on has become
corrupt, why can you not use the backup to recover your work?
S
Suzanne S. Barnhill
I think the issue is that the most recent backup is missing a whole day's
work. But of course how those backups are being used could be significant,
too. Perhaps a good place for a caution about opening files from removable
drives?
work. But of course how those backups are being used could be significant,
too. Perhaps a good place for a caution about opening files from removable
drives?
T
Terry Farrell
Or worse: saving files to a removable drive <g>
Terry
Terry
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