W. '97 totally shut down on me

[Doug]

I'm under the gun for a deadline and I can't work at all on my documents!

It says something like "your document will be closed, contact Microsoft. Do
you want to send error message?" The error is a winword.exe, and starts off
c:\docume1

I tried re-booting, etc - nothing works - it won't even save or print - and
all I get are those ~$ things

HELP

 

[Graham Mayor]

See - http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/AppErrors/ProbsOpeningWord.htm
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/AppErrors/ReRegisterWord.htm
and
http://www.gmayor.com/what_to_do_when_word_crashes.htm

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Graham Mayor - Word MVP


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[doug]

Now it turns out it's only the one file I really need. All my other Word
files are fine.

 

[Graham Mayor]

In that case see - http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/AppErrors/CorruptDoc.htm.
You'll still need the last of the original suggestions to correct the mess.

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Graham Mayor - Word MVP


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[Guest]

Seem like all you ever do is give links. I thought you
MVPS were supposed to be smart. Giving links all the time
doesn't seem so smart to me.

 

[Rob Schneider]

Anonymous,

What are your expectations?

Links to existing information is very "smart" and a very intelligent
thing to do by the MVPs (and anyone else). This newsgroup provides a
forum for people to ask questions and get answers ... for free. The
answer-providers don't get paid. If existing info at a link known to
the answerer provides that useful info the asker, it's right to provide
the link--especially when it's a Frequently Asked and Answered Question.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Especially since the article we're linking to provides much more information
than we would want to paste into a NG post (even as boilerplate), better
written and often with illustrative screen shots.

 

[Beth Melton]

I think it depends on the question and the FAQ provided.

Referencing a FAQ that doesn't directly answer the question but the
answer can be found as a blurb in small print is not very helpful. Nor
do I think it's helpful to provide a link to a FAQ simply because
contains a keyword the poster used and it has nothing to do with the
question asked.

But I agree, a FAQs that directly answer a question is more helpful
than supplying an answer in plain text.

I personally prefer to supply a poster with more than just a link. I
think most need a little more information on why a link to a FAQ is
being offered along with some reassurance that I understand the
question being asked. I know I tend to skip over posts that contain
only links and look for posts with a little 'meat' when I'm searching
for answers on Google Groups. A little enticement for why one should
view a FAQ is always helpful.

<soapbox>

Speaking of Google Group searches, what I find most annoying are the
'regurgitation' answers. Those are when someone has used Google Groups
to find the answer in a past thread. Not that I have a problem with
this, since that's what Google Groups search is for and I encourage
using it, but what I find annoying is when someone copies an answer I
previously provided.

Sheesh, if you are copying my answer verbatim then give me the credit.
At the very least rewrite it so it doesn't sounds like me.

</soapbox>

Not that my soapbox has anything to do with supplying links to FAQs
but after encountering several posts of this nature the last few days
while catching up on weeks of posts I'm a bit annoyed right now.
Although I'm not sure if 'annoyed' is necessarily the correct
description. I also find reading a reply that sounds like me a little
unnerving. <g>
~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

FWIW, I *almost* always credit you, Beth. Occasionally, my standard
attribution doesn't fit comfortably into the text, so I'll omit it, but
those occasions are rare. And by now you must be familiar with seeing your
words coming out of my mouth!

 

[doug]

Yikes. Glad to have started a healthy debate. Anyway. Thanks for the link,
Graham, but going to that advice it seems like i need to be IN the corrupt
doc, and with this particular problem, as soon as I'm in the documehnt for 5
seconds I get the error message about Word 97 and the exe. error, etc.

Since this doc was fine yesterday, is it possible to do a system restore and
print it out? If so - how> And is that only a quick fix?

THANKS YOU GUYS

 

[doug]

Yikes. Glad to have started a healthy debate. Anyway. Thanks for the link,
Graham, but going to that advice it seems like i need to be IN the corrupt
doc, and with this particular problem, as soon as I'm in the documehnt for 5
seconds I get the error message about Word 97 and the exe. error, etc.

Since this doc was fine yesterday, is it possible to do a system restore and
print it out? If so - how> And is that only a quick fix?

THANKS YOU GUYS

 

[Beth Melton]

Hi Doug,

I think it was our 'anonymous poster who started the side discussion.
Sorry your thread ended up being kidnapped. But we should still be
able to fix you up.

If you are encountering the error within seconds after opening the
file then you might try creating a new document and going to
Insert/File and inserting the contents of the problem document to see
if that resolves the problem.

Failing that, if the document contains graphics then in Word go to
Tools/Options/View and turn in "Picture Placeholders" and "Draft
Font".

If the document contains links then on the General tab make sure
"Update automatic links at Open" is turned off.

Try using a document link to retrieve the corrupt document:
- Create a new document
- Copy some text from another document
- In the new document use Edit/Paste Special and select "Paste Link"
- Go to Edit/Links and change the source of the link to the document
you can not open

If this works then return to Edit/Links and break the link to the
source document.

You also try a recovery utility such as those from
http://www.officerecovery.com/, however they aren't free downloads.


--
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/

 

[doug]

Ok just to put a really fine point on this now that prob is becoming clearer
to me
1. Luckily the problem only applies to this one doc
2 Unluckily it's the doc I need immediately
3 I CAN get in but can not affect any changes including saving it as RTF etc
4. I don't think this merits a whole system restore because this is the
only doc that's corrupt, but a) I have to get it, and b)I have to make sure
my system is not going to crash completely.
I've also done a refrag, etc. and I seem to be ok with all that. I guess
something just went wrong with this one doc. It's only 50 pgs but I've
worked on it repeatedly for weeks (and saved it several times a day) -
stupidly not to a disk

 

[Beth Melton]

No worries, Suzanne. And you honestly shouldn't worry about my little
'soap box' outburst in the future either.

I know information gets to a point where it becomes common knowledge.
It just happened to come across this thread after reading a bunch of
notes in my own handwriting that I didn't write. lol (none of which
were yours, btw). I'm back to myself now. My apologies for the
interruption...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton

 

[doug]

Hi Beth

Good suggestions. Alas, as soon as I try and affect the document at ALL, I
get the Microsoft 97 error message. I can't email, copy, cut, save as --
nuttin. There are no links or graphics. This is very odd because it was
workin fine last night, and all the other docs (thank God) are okay.

It keeps making those
~$doc1 icons - doesn't that mean that it's trying to save it somewhere? I
keep thinking the poor thing is alive somewhere...the fact that I can get IN
- if even for a second - I'm hoping that's a good thing. But obviously if I
can't make any changes, it's not.

Stupid question: why would it happen only to this one oft-used document and
not others? Is there any correlation? Not that it matters - I'm just
morbidly curious

And if I WERE to system restore, could I get the doc back by setting
everything back to yesterday

I really don't want to have to buy anything ;(

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Have you tried opening it using "Recover Text from Any File"? It's drastic,
but it may be the best you can do.

 

[Beth Melton]

Hi Doug,

Why don't you email it to me and I'll see what I can do. Remove
"NoSpam4Me" in my email address.

The files you see ~*.do? are called Owner files. They are temp files
that are created when a document is opened. It holds the log on info
for the user who opened the file. It's used in a shared environment
when more than one user tries to open the same file they'll encounter
"File is in use by <UserName>".

Normally they are deleted when the document is closed but if Word is
crashing on you it can't delete them. If you find them they can be
safely deleted.

--
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/

 

[Graham Mayor]

The ~ icons are temporary files created whenever you open a document and
these will lock a document. The link I posted earlier, which our anonymous
interloper couldn't be bothered to read explained how to deal with them if
they are abandoned through a crash - and you will have had your fair share
of crashes.

Beth has offered to try and open the document before you. However, with Word
closed, try deleting the temporary files as instructed, then open Word and
insert the errant document into a new document as suggested earlier in the
thread.

Do note that System restore does not correct personal data. Your document
files should not be affected by rolling back.

--
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Graham Mayor - Word MVP


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[Beth Melton]

Update: Doug sent me the file and I was able to use Open and Repair in
Word 2003 to repair it.

Also, during our email exchange Doug mentioned something about using a
CD for his files. I suspect this was the reason the document ended up
becoming corrupt.

--
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/

 

[wordnewbie]

Apologies for posting unrelated item, but can someone please let me kno
where to go to on this site to ask a new question? I'm sure it's righ
in front of me but I can only find the post a tip or post a repl
options. Thanks much