Doc Gone

D

DAK

This has now happened to me 3 times. I have a document that I have worked on
various days and saved, etc. I go in to make some minor changes and I get a
application error and then am asked to send Microsoft a report, of which I
do and then I get thrown out. When I go back into Word, my document does not
come back as a recovered document, in fact, the document itself is
completely gone! The first time yesterday, I was able to bring back a .tmp
file that had my up-to-date changes and resave it with the correct name.
Saved it a few times. Next time I went in to do some changes, the same thing
happened and I used the backup file to rename it to the original document
again, as the original was again gone. I have had 2 other instances of this
happening months ago. I am using Office 97 and have previously done a repair
and also a reinstall of Word 97. I work with the same type of document on a
daily basis. Does anyone have any ideas of why this is sporadically
happening?
 
G

garfield-n-odie

If you are saving to a floppy disk, then that could causing both the
application errors and the disappearing files.
 
D

DAK

Thanks so much for responding, but these files are being saved from a
network drive, Word from my computer. All files that I work with, just like
these three have been on the network. I've been working with Word 97 files
for years like this and these just happened within the last couple months. I
have an XP operating system that others have same, same, but have not had
this situation happen to them. Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated.
 
B

Beth Melton

It sounds like you may have a temp file problem. If Word encounters a
temp file named the same as one it is trying to create then errors
such as you describe can occur.

Delete all temp (*.tmp) files:
- Exit Word and Outlook if you are using it as your email editor and
reboot your computer if you recently experienced a crash
- Go to Start/Find/Files or Folders (or Start/Search then select Files
or Folders)
- Change "Look in" to reflect the drive/folder to the root of your
Local drive.
- In the Named text box, type *.tmp
- Click the "Find Now" command
- Delete the temp files you find.

*Note that these can be deleted directly from the Find Results.

To group the files for a single deletion:
- Click any file in the list
- Press <Ctrl A> to select all

Should you encounter a "File in use" error, press <Ctrl> and click the
file to deselect it.

As an additional note, the Owner file is another temporary files Word
creates. If you have been experiencing multiple crashes or if Word has
been hanging on you then it is best to search for Owner files
(~$*.do?) and delete those as well. These can cause "file in use" and
"read only" errors.

For more information on this and a full cleanup/maintenance procedure
that should be run periodically, see this article:
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/AppErrors/LockedFiles.htm


--
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/
 
D

DAK

Thanks for you input. Try to keep machine pretty cleaned up and only found
around 10 .tmp files and no .wbk files. Since this has just happened 3 times
thus far, I will have to wait until another instance happens. As noted
earlier, there are several other associates with same computer and software
loaded, doing relatively same thing and I am the only on that this has
happened to. Will keep you posted.
 
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