Unreadable File

[Karen]

I created a Word document on a friend’s computer (Word 2007) and saved it on
a flash drive. Not sure if this matters, but my friend’s computer was brand
new at the time and was one week old. I then attempted to open the file from
the flash drive on my computer (Using Word 2007). I’m getting a message:
Select the encoding that makes your document readable. Windows (Default),
MS-DOS or Other Encoding. When I open the file with any logical option, the
file is not readable and there are a bunch of symbols. This is a very
important document. Is there any way I can make this readable? Is it possible
that it’s corrupt? HELP!
ANY help would be greatly appreciated, Karen

 

[Jay Freedman]

The critical thing is that you must not save from Word directly to flash (or
other removable) drives or try to open Word documents directly from
removable drives. Save the document to the hard drive, and then _copy_ it to
the flash drive. At the other end, copy it from the flash to the hard drive
before opening it there.

At this point the document is probably trashed, but try copying it to the
hard drive anyway -- you might be lucky.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

 

[Karen]

Thank you so much! I'll give it a try!
Karen

The critical thing is that you must not save from Word directly to flash (or
other removable) drives or try to open Word documents directly from
removable drives. Save the document to the hard drive, and then _copy_ it to
the flash drive. At the other end, copy it from the flash to the hard drive
before opening it there.

At this point the document is probably trashed, but try copying it to the
hard drive anyway -- you might be lucky.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.