Word files saved from Word 2007 in compatability mode become corru

[Fred Loveless]

I am writing training modules using Word 2007. The people editing these
modules use Word 2003. Save the documents in compatability mode and once the
edits are done I can open the files and do additional edits. When I save the
file it appears that if i save back into the original file it gets corrupted
and now one is able to open them again. This has only recently started to
happen I have been doing documents this way since April. I have verified the
following.

1. No products have been installed that place add-ins in Word.
2. it only occurs if I save back to a file after, if I do a Save as to a new
file it does not happen.
3. I have all the current Microsoft Updates.
4. So far only Word seems to be affected by this.

About the documents.
They use a template created in Word 2003 that all of us use.
Each document has a table of contents, numbered lists, bullets and free
floating graphics.

If anyone has an idea I would really appreciate it.

 

[Fred Loveless]

For anyone that is intersted I have discovered what is happening.

1. The document in Word 2007 is created wiht a custom template.
2. The Word 2003 installation did not have that custome template. When the
document was opened a pop-up asked the user if they would like to look at
template help. This was words way of saying that the Template did not exist.
3. I suspect that when the file was saved in 2003 some meta data was changed
but not enough to stop it from being opened again in Word 2007.
4. When word 2007 opened the file for editing and then saved it I suspect,
from the knowledge base articles that I found, that the meta data was changed
enough so that it was now out of sync for both word versions.

The solution was to put the template on the word 2003 machine so that it
could be referenced when the file was opened there.

 

[Terry Farrell]

Fred

Good catch. Thanks for that valuable feedback.

 

[Beth Melton]

I'm glad that you have the issue resolved but I'm curious to know more about
the "corrupt state" you describe. What you are describing is a known issue,
a missing document template that previously resided on a server. If the
document template is missing then Word will attempt to search for it, which
causes a delay in opening the document since it is searching the network for
it.

Once it times out then it attaches to the Normal template instead. So by
"corrupt" are you saying you would encounter an error message or that you
encountered what appeared to be a hung application? Also, can you point me
to the article that indicated the metadata was out of sync?

If it appeared to be a hung application then there are a couple solutions
for this for future reference, one is as you found, making sure the document
template is available and can be found. Another is a hotfix that is
available:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/830561/

Additionally, if you no longer need the attached template after the document
is created, you can delete the reference to the template in the Templates
and Add-ins dialog box prior to distribution. Doing so will attach the
document to the Normal template instead.

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

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

Coauthor of Word 2007 Inside Out:
http://www.microsoft.com/MSPress/books/9801.aspx#AboutTheBook

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

 

[Fred Loveless]

I will have to search for it again. it was a word 2003 KB article. It talked
about all the symptoms that I was getting so I am assuming that the issue I
am encountering has something to do wiht a meta data.

We do get an error in Word 2003, well sort of. A message box pops up asking
if you want help using templates. If you answer now then it keeps going, if
you answer yes then you get a how to on assigning and using templates. Yes it
did take time to open the file before this message window popped up.

It is key to note tath as long as I do not then open and edit the file again
in Word 2007 there is no apperant problem with the document. It is only when
it is edited again in 2007 that it gets corrupted.

The indication that it is a corrupted file is that it takes a while for the
file to open and when it does we get the following message:

Word was unable to read this document. It may be corrupt.
Try one or more of the following:
* Open and Repair the file.
* Open the file wiht the Text Recovery converter

At this point none of the recovery methods works. Trial and error provided
the solution.

 

[Beth Melton]

Thanks for the additional information, Fred. That still sounds strange and I
personally don't think it should have happened. If you happen to come across
the KB I'd love to know which one it is. I've searched but was unable to
find anything.

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

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

Coauthor of Word 2007 Inside Out:
http://www.microsoft.com/MSPress/books/9801.aspx#AboutTheBook

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