"target cannot handle this type of document"

[Steve]

When I try to copy a document from within Word2002 to my
floppy drive using the "Send to" command, I get this
message: "target cannot handle this type of document."
Can anyone tell me why this occurs and, more importantly,
how to get it to stop!

Thank you.

 

[Lisa Penshorn [MSFT]]

Hi Steve,

1. What version of Word are you using?
2. Does this happen with all your Word documents or just this particular document?

The error message you are getting sometimes indicates the document is corrupt.

To strip corruption from the document you can try round tripping the document through .rtf. To do this you want to open the
Word file, do a File>Save as and save as a Rich Text Format document, I would also change the name when you do the
save as. Then close the document, reopen the document and save back as a Word document (.doc)

Try to save the file again to the floppy, do you still get the same error message?

Let me know!

Sincerely,

Lisa Penshorn, MCSE
Microsoft Technical Support for Business Applications


--------------------

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Can you use Send To in Windows Explorer? Or just drag the document to the
floppy drive in Explorer?

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://www.mvps.org/word
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

 

[Beth Melton]

Hi Steve,

Just to clarify, are you saying in Word under File/Send To you have a
"Send to 3 1/2" Floppy" command? If that is the case then the macro
utilized for this command is the underlying problem. Word does not
have a "Send to 3 1/2" Floppy" command within the Word application
interface. (It *is* however one of the items on our 'wish list' )

If you using the Send to option found on the shortcut menu in either
the File/Open or File/Save As dialog box then post back and we'll go
from there.

--
Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email can not be acknowledged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/

 

[Steve]

Hi Beth,

Thank you for responding.

I am using the Send to option found on the shortcut menu.
Interestingly, I have seen this same problem posted numerous times by
different people, but no one seems to have an answer.

Out of curiosity, I tried the same thing on my kids' computer, which
is about a year and a half old. (Also uses Word 2002 and WinXP,) I got
the same error message!!!

I wonder if this is a bug in Windows?

Steve

 

[Beth Melton]

Hi Steve,

I'd say it's a bug. I encounter the same message but even though I
encounter the message the document is still copied to the floppy and
it doesn't appear to be corrupt. Note however this observation is made
based on 'first glance' only - and I'm not 100% certain of this
statement. IOW don't rely on the document to *not* end up corrupt.

My initial speculation is the error does not pertain to the copied
document but rather a temp file and there is another similar bug in
the Print command found on the shortcut menu as well. So I'm also
wondering if the two are related. (Although the Print bug has to with
the change from MDI to SDI.)

I don't have the time to fully investigate this issue right now but it
is now on my "research" list. I'll keep you and this group updated of
my findings. If you've munged your email address feel free to send me
a private email. Note that mine is munged but what you need to remove
to obtain my email address should be obvious.
--
Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email can not be acknowledged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/

 

[Steve]

FINALLY! I'm happy to share a solution to this annoying problem, which
I received from the very excellent (and free) online newsletter
WordTips (thank you!):

<<------------------------------
Floppies Can't Handle Word Documents?
------------------------------
If you are using Word on a Windows XP system, you may have noticed a
bothersome error message that appears when you try to send a Word
document to a floppy drive. If you display the Open or Save As dialog
box in Word, right click on a file, and then choose Send To, you have
the choice of where to send your document. If you choose to send it to
the A: drive (where you have a floppy disk), you will see an error
message:

Windows Explorer
The Target can not handle this type of document.

This message is a bit misleading, as it is not singling out just your
Word document. In fact, the same message would occur regardless of the
type of file you try to send to the floppy. In addition, the problem
isn't limited just to floppies. If you tried to send the file to a
different drive (such as a Zip drive) or even to the My Documents
folder, you would see the same message.

Even though you may have noticed this problem when you were using
Word, it is not a problem with Word or with Word documents. This is a
problem with Windows XP Professional or Windows XP Home Edition.
Microsoft knows of the problem, as immortalized in Knowledge Base
article 328856:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;328856

There is no known cure for the problem, other than changing your
operating system. If you see the error message and click on OK, the
file is still copied to the target. If the message continues to bother
you, you can try to create your own Send To shortcut and the problem
should be bypassed. Follow these steps:

1. Get out of Word completely.
2. Make sure there is a floppy disk in the A: drive.
3. Choose My Computer from the Start menu. Windows shows the
resources on your computer.
4. Double-click the C: drive icon. Windows shows what is available
on the C: drive.
5. Double-click the Documents and Settings folder. Windows opens
the folder.
6. Double-click the folder that has your user name on it. Windows
opens the folder.
7. If there is no SendTo folder visible in the window, choose
Folder Options from the Tools menu. In the dialog box, display
the View tab, then select the Show Hidden Files or Folders radio
button. When you close the dialog box, the SendTo folder should
be visible.
8. Double-click the SendTo folder. Windows opens the folder.
9. Choose New from the File menu, then choose Shortcut. Windows
starts the Create Shortcut wizard, the first screen of which
asks you to type a path.
10. Type A: and click Next. Windows accesses the A: drive for a
short time and then asks you to name your shortcut.
11. Enter a name such as Floppy and click on Finish. The shortcut
appears in the window.
12. Close the folder window.

Now, when you right-click a file, you should choose the new Floppy
shortcut, not the original shortcut. You should not see the error
message.

(Thanks to Gary Pearson, Suzanne S. Barnhill, and Bonnie Batts for
contributing to this tip.)

 

[Beth Melton]

Thanks for the update Steve.

Although it would be nice to know "why" the message is encountered.
But then I shouldn't complain - at least it's documented in the KB.
<g>

--
Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email can not be acknowledged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/

FINALLY! I'm happy to share a solution to this annoying problem, which
I received from the very excellent (and free) online newsletter
WordTips (thank you!):

<<------------------------------
Floppies Can't Handle Word Documents?
------------------------------
If you are using Word on a Windows XP system, you may have noticed a
bothersome error message that appears when you try to send a Word
document to a floppy drive. If you display the Open or Save As dialog
box in Word, right click on a file, and then choose Send To, you have
the choice of where to send your document. If you choose to send it to
the A: drive (where you have a floppy disk), you will see an error
message:

Windows Explorer
The Target can not handle this type of document.

This message is a bit misleading, as it is not singling out just your
Word document. In fact, the same message would occur regardless of the
type of file you try to send to the floppy. In addition, the problem
isn't limited just to floppies. If you tried to send the file to a
different drive (such as a Zip drive) or even to the My Documents
folder, you would see the same message.

Even though you may have noticed this problem when you were using
Word, it is not a problem with Word or with Word documents. This is a
problem with Windows XP Professional or Windows XP Home Edition.
Microsoft knows of the problem, as immortalized in Knowledge Base
article 328856:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;328856