WD: Troubleshooting Damaged Documents in Word for Windows

      Sub Main
         ScreenUpdating 0
         FileOpen .Name = "<path>\Filename.doc"   ' include the path and
                                                  ' substitute your file
                                                  ' name
         ToolsOptionsView .DraftFont = 1
         ScreenUpdating
      End Sub

   NOTE: In this macro, substitute the name of your damaged document
   for the "Filename.doc" argument text.

   Using this macro may enable you to open documents that you cannot
   otherwise open due to damage that affects printer setup, page layout, or
   screen updates in Word. For example, if a general protection (GP) fault
   occurs in Word before the document is opened, you may be able to avoid
   the GP fault by opening the document using the above macro.

   WARNING: ANY USE BY YOU OF THE CODE PROVIDED IN THIS ARTICLE IS AT YOUR
   OWN RISK. Microsoft provides this macro code "as is" without warranty of
   any kind, either express or implied, including but not limited to the
   implied warranties of merchantability and/or fitness for a particular
   purpose.

The final paragraph mark in a Word document contains information about the document. If the document is damaged, you may be able to retrieve the text of the document if you can omit this final paragraph mark.

To access a document but leave its final paragraph mark behind, use the following steps:

1. Create a new blank document.

2. On the Insert menu, click File.

3. In the Insert File dialog box, locate and select the damaged document, and click OK.

Method 3: Open the File by Linking to It

This method works for Word 2.0, 7.0, and 97 (not 6.0) For more information see the note at the bottom of this method.

If the "Insert the Document as a File in a New Document" (Method 2) doesn't work, try this method. This method allows you to access the document without bringing over the final paragraph mark. In addition, when you create a link, part of the header information is not read.

This method allows you to open the file if this part of the header or if the final paragraph mark is in the damaged area of the document.

Use the following steps to link to a "good: file (a file that has not been corrupted) and then change the link to point to the damaged file:

1. Create a new document. In the new document, type "This is a Test." Save the document.

2. Select the text and click Copy on the Edit menu.

3. Click New on the File menu. In the new document, click Paste Special on the Edit menu.

4. Select either Unformatted or Formatted text, and click Paste Link. Press OK.

5. On the Edit menu, click Links.

   The Links dialog box is displayed.

6. Select the file name of the first linked document and click Change Source (in Word 2.x, click Change Link).

   The Open dialog box appears and asks which document you want to change the link to.

7. Select the document you can no longer open and click Open.

8. Click OK in the Links dialog box (in Word 2.x, enter the path and file name).

         The data/text from the damaged Document will appear (provided there
         was any recoverable data/text).
   

9. On the Edit menu, click Links, and click Break Links (Cancel Links in Word 2.x).

NOTE: If you are using Word 6.x, try the following steps:

    1. Create a new document. In the new document, type "This is a test".
       Save the document.

    2. Select the text and click Copy on the Edit menu.

    3. Press the right arrow on the keyboard to deselect the text.

       This will put your insertion point on the next line.

    4. On the Edit menu, click Paste Special.

    5. Select either Unformatted or Formatted text, and click Paste Link.
       Click OK.

    6. To display the field codes, press Alt+F9.

      The field code will resemble the following:

       {LINK Word.Document.6 "C:\\MYDOCS\\TEST.DOC" "DDE_LINK3" \a \r \*
           MERGEFORMAT}

    7. Modify the path to the document in the field code to be the path to
       the corrupted document.

    8. Delete the "DDE_LINK#" from the field code (include the quotation
       marks).

    9. Position insertion point inside the LINK field.

   10. Press F9 to update the field.

   11. Press ALT+F9 to view the results of the field.

   12. To unlink the field and to convert the field to text, press
       CTRL+SHIFT+F9.

When you cannot open a damaged document in Word for Windows (usually because of corruption in the file header), you can strip out the file header and open the file as Text Only. When you strip the header information, all formatting is lost. This method strips out the file header information.

1. Start Microsoft WordPad or Write. (In Windows 95 click Run on the Start menu, type "WordPad" [without the quotation marks], and click OK; in Windows 3.x, from Microsoft Windows Program Manager, click Run on the File menu, type "write" [without the quotation marks], and click OK).

2. In WordPad or Write, open the corrupted document.

   A dialog box prompts you to specify how you want to convert the file.

   Click the No Conversion button.

3. The Word for Windows document is now open as a text file. You may see binary (foreign) characters at the beginning and end of the document. Delete these characters.

   NOTE: In Windows 95, the file may be opened intact without further conversion or cleanup necessary. If this is the case, save the file with a new name and open the file in Word 6.x or later.

4. On the File menu, click Save As. In the File Name box, type a new name with a .doc file name extension. Before you click the OK button, note the directory where the file is being saved so you can easily find it when you restart Word for Windows.

5. On the File menu, click Exit.

6. Restart Word for Windows and open the file you saved from WordPad or Write (the file will have the name you gave it in step 4). (On the File menu, click Open. In the File Name box, type the path and file name of the newly created file, and click OK.)

7. In the Convert File dialog box, Text Only should be selected. Choose the OK button to open the text file in Word for Windows.

8. On the File menu, click Save As, and save the file in Word format.

       NOTE: In Word for Windows version 2.0, select Word Document (*.doc) in
       the Save File As Type box. In Word for Windows version 1.x, choose the
       Options button and select Normal in the File Format box.
   

9. In the File Name box, type a new name for the file, and click OK.

Method 5: Strip Out the File Header Information:

NOTE: This method works with MS-DOS versions 3.0 to 6.2 only.

Use this method only if all other methods fail. When you cannot open a damaged document in Word for Windows (usually because of corruption in the file header), you can strip out the file header and open the file as Text Only. When you strip the header information, all formatting is lost.

1. At an MS-DOS prompt, type the following, then press ENTER

         copy con+FILE NAME.DOC NEWNAME.DOC
   

   where "FILE NAME" is the name of the Damaged file, and "NEWNAME" is the name of the new file. (This causes the word "CON" to appear and the insertion point to blink on a blank line.)

2. Press the SPACEBAR twelve times.

3. Press F6, and then press ENTER.

4. Start Word for Windows and open the new file.

5. Delete the odd characters at the beginning and end of the file. The text of the file is usually intact in the middle of the file.

6. Reformat the document and save it in Word for Windows format.

   NOTE: If the file was saved in Word for Windows with the Allow Fast Saves check box selected, the text may appear in noncontiguous blocks. The Fast Save feature keeps track of the changes that you make by appending the changes to the end of your document and remembering where these changes go. At regular intervals, Fast Save updates the document with these changes (this method is faster and takes less memory than saving the entire document). If your document becomes damaged before Fast Save has a chance to build a complete, updated copy of your document, you may need to re-order the text (move the appended text to its appropriate place in the document) and then reformat it.

   For information about how to turn off the Fast Save feature, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

         ARTICLE-ID: Q71999
         TITLE     : Disabling the Fast Save Feature in Word for Windows
   
   

REFERENCES

"Microsoft MS-DOS User's Guide and Reference," version 5.0, page 391 "Microsoft Word for Windows User's Guide," version 2.0, page 676