"The doc name or path is not valid" error

[Larry Miller milz]

I have a MSWord 2000 document that I worked on for about a
year that I cannot open. The file size is 2,136K. I
receive the error msg: "The document name or path is not
valid. Try these suggestions..." when I try to open it.
I have checked the permissions and also read KB article
Q224016. None of the common causes mentioned in the
article seem to be the cause. I am thinking that it may be
due to the fact that the file was originally created on a
Win2K machine that was part of a Win2K AD Domain and I am
now trying to open the file away from the original domain.
I am still using Win2K and Word2K but the machine is not
part of a domain. Is this possible? If I am correct, or
even if I'm not, does anyone have any suggestions for
getting this file to open? P.S.: In case it matters, the
file was transported by burning it onto a CD.

 

[Jonathan]

Larry, first, thanks for replying to mine. What I
believe has happened in my case (and perhaps is yours) is
that the Word document has become corrupt. If you're only
interested in getting the text from the doc you can open
it in Wordpad. Also, you can open the file in Word
2003. Either way, in our case, we could read the text
and it still had the formatting but we lost the markups.
I actually have a call into MS support, I'll let you know
what comes of it if they are able to assist me.

 

[Larry Miller]

I can open every other doc. I am, however using Norton AV
2003 Professional Edition. I wonder why it would only
effect this one doc??

 

[Larry Miller]

I tried opening it in wordpad, but it is probably too
large for it (2,136k). When I try to open it in Wordpad,
it crashes.
If I had Word2003, I would certainly try it but I dont.
P.S.: I thank you in advance for any info supplied by
support!

 

[Beth Melton]

If the problem is limited to a single document then it could be that
the document is corrupt. Here are a few things to try:

If the document contains graphics then in Word go to
Tools/Options/View and turn in "Picture Placeholders" and "Draft
Font".
If the document contains links then on the General tab make sure
"Update automatic links at Open" is turned off.

Try using a document link to retrieve the corrupt document:
- Create a new document
- Copy some text from another document
- In the new document use Edit/Paste Special and select "Paste Link"
- Go to Edit/Links and change the source of the link to the document
you can not open

If this works then return to Edit/Links and break the link to the
source document.

For additional troubleshooting steps/methods take a look at this
article:
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/AppErrors/CorruptDoc.htm

You also try a recovery utility such as those from
http://www.officerecovery.com/, however they aren't free downloads.


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

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton

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