Word 2007 files corrupted by displayed equations

[DaveCasper]

I have seen this problem on two different installations, both Word 2007
Ultimate + Vista Ultimate (32 bit), with several different files.

At a certain point when I am editing a document containing equations, the
file becomes unsaveable. If I click Save, the Save As dialog box opens. If
click OK with the name of the existing file (on my local hard disk), I get "A
file error has occured". Ctrl+Shift+I says it is error #200871. Then it
asks me to save a recovery file.

If I enter a different (new) filename and click OK, the same thing happens.

If I click Save As and click OK to confirm the existing filename OR enter a
new filename, the Save As dialog closes and then opens again. Clicking OK
this time leads to the same sequence as above.

If I cut the last equation out of the document, it saves fine. If I paste
it back in, the problem comes back. If I add a space after the equation, so
it is "inline" instead of "displayed", the file saves fine. The problem can
come and go depending on whether NewLines or Paragraph marks are before and
after the equation. The equation in question is nothing particularly unusual.

The file is Word 2007 format (.docx).

 

[Bob Buckland ?:-\)]

Hi Dave,

Are these newly created documents or ones originally created in an earlier version of Word?

Do you have any right to left languages enabled in Word 2007?

Do you have any add-ins running in Word?

If you search for 'building block.dotx' files on the computer what are the locations and the dates of those files?

==========
I have seen this problem on two different installations, both Word 2007
Ultimate + Vista Ultimate (32 bit), with several different files.

At a certain point when I am editing a document containing equations, the
file becomes unsaveable. If I click Save, the Save As dialog box opens. If
click OK with the name of the existing file (on my local hard disk), I get "A
file error has occured". Ctrl+Shift+I says it is error #200871. Then it
asks me to save a recovery file.

If I enter a different (new) filename and click OK, the same thing happens.

If I click Save As and click OK to confirm the existing filename OR enter a
new filename, the Save As dialog closes and then opens again. Clicking OK
this time leads to the same sequence as above.

If I cut the last equation out of the document, it saves fine. If I paste
it back in, the problem comes back. If I add a space after the equation, so
it is "inline" instead of "displayed", the file saves fine. The problem can
come and go depending on whether NewLines or Paragraph marks are before and
after the equation. The equation in question is nothing particularly unusual.

The file is Word 2007 format (.docx). <<
--

Bob Buckland ?
MS Office System Products MVP

*Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends*

 

[DaveCasper]

Hi Bob,

Are these newly created documents or ones originally created in an earlier version of Word?

Newly created in Word 2007.

Do you have any right to left languages enabled in Word 2007?
No.

Do you have any add-ins running in Word?

The only one listed as Active is "Person Name (Outlook e-mail recipients)".
But the check box for "Label text with Smart Tags" is unselected, so I don't
think it's doing anything.

If you search for 'building block.dotx' files on the computer what are the locations and the dates of those files?

There are three files named "Building Blocks.dotx":

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12\Document Parts\1033
(modification date 10/27/2006 8:32 AM, 315 KB)

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12(132)\Document Parts\1033
(modification date 10/27/2006 9:32 AM, 315 KB)

C:\Users\Casper\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Document Building Blocks\1033
(same date and size as previous)

There is also a file called "~$ilding Blocks.dotx" in:
C:\Users\Casper\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Document Building Blocks\1033
(created on 2/28/2007, size 162 bytes)

On the other machine where the problem happens, there are only two copies:

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12\Document Parts\1033
C:\Users\Casper\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Document Building Blocks\1033
(both created 10/27/2006 8:32 AM)

(first reply attempt appeared to fail...apologies if double posted)

 

[DaveCasper]

One month later, still regularly getting corrupted documents with Equation
editor on two different installations...

 

[kyouwatou]

I have the exact same problem! Same error code. But I have Japanese Word 2007
on a Japanese Windows XP system. I have only one copy of that buildingblocks
file.

I can only save my document with equations in about 1 of 10 tries by moving
things around and adding/deleting parapraph markers. Unfortunately, my first
save went smoothly, now when I try to edit mistakes in the document I can't
save them. I'll have to start all over in OpenOffice I guess. Or maybe just
print as is and use a red pen!

It is damn frustrating as the Equation Editor seems smooth, but this issue
makes Word 2007 completely useless to me, wish I'd never "upgraded".

 

[DaveCasper]

What I have trained myself to do is to save (Ctrl+S) after every time I edit
an equation. That way, if (or rather, when) the file becomes corrupted, I
don't have to search the whole document, but know what equation it is.

Not a very satisfactory work-around, but it is the only way I've been able
to work with the equation editor, and it looks like we're not going to get
any real help here... :-(

 

[Terry Farrell]

Obviously there is a problem with the EE and we really are not able to say
what is being done about it.

Might I suggest that in the meantime, you create and edit your EQs in a
separate empty document and save with an EQ# as the file name so you know
which is which. Then use Insert file to enter the EQ into your real
document. That should minimise the possibility of corrupting and losing
loads of work in one crash.

Terry

 

[Bob Mathews]

I can only save my document with equations in about 1 of 10
tries by moving things around and adding/deleting parapraph
markers. Unfortunately, my first save went smoothly, now
when I try to edit mistakes in the document I can't save them.
I'll have to start all over in OpenOffice I guess. Or maybe
just
print as is and use a red pen!

Actually there are a couple other alternatives besides starting
all over in OpenOffice. You can still continue to use Office
2007, but use the old Equation Editor (i.e., the one that's been
with Office since Word version 2), or use Equation Editor's big
brother, MathType. In Word 2007, you can access Equation Editor
from the Insert tab on the Ribbon. Click on Object, then
Microsoft Equation 3.0.

If you'd like to see what extra features MathType offers over
Equation Editor, you can download a 30-day evaluation at the link
in my signature. There is a Japanese version of MathType
available, but the evaluation is not available in Japanese.

--
Bob Mathews
Director of Training
Design Science, Inc.
bobm at dessci.com
http://www.dessci.com/free.asp?free=news
FREE fully-functional 30-day evaluation of MathType 5
MathType, WebEQ, MathPlayer, MathFlow, Equation Editor, TeXaide

 

[Terry Farrell]

Thanks Bob. That's a good point. The legacy EE is still alive and well.

Terry Farrell

 

[Susan Baker]

Dave or kyouwatou,

Can you post or email a file with the problem? I'll have a look to see if
there is anything in common with them.

Susan