strange result of File | Open

[Rita King]

Hi. One of our users (using Win98SE and Word2002) in the past few days has
started getting a strange result when she goes to the File | Open dialog.
The list of files displayed in the directory is not complete. I have checked
and "Files of type" is set to "Word documents (*.doc") but not all .doc
files are displayed. Closing down Word and restarting had no effect. To get
the list to refresh I changed the view to "All files (*.*) and from "list"
to "details" (or vice versa). Does anyone know what could be causing this?

 

[Herb Tyson [MVP]]

Do the excluded .doc files share any common attribute(s)? Set Windows
Explorer to show file extensions. I'm wondering if it's possible that these
aren't .doc files at all, but something else masquerading as .doc files.
This might be the result of a virus. (E.g., some viruses create files named,
for example, "Important.doc.scr". If you have Windows Explorer set to hide
extensions, this shows up only as "Important.doc", making you think it's a
normal Word file. But, when you double-click on it, it does something
unpleasant/unwanted.

Anytime a computer suddenly starts exhibiting unusual behavior, the first
thing to suspect is a virus. Update the a/v software, make sure it hasn't
been disabled (some viruses do that, in which case booting from a CD might
be the only way to purge the virus) and do a full scan.