WD97: "The Document May Be Corrupt" Error Editing Master Doc

• Microsoft Word 97 for Windows

SYMPTOMS

In Word 97, if you open a Word 95 master document which contains several subdocuments with bullet or numbering formatting, and you make some changes to the document, you receive the following error message:

   This document may be corrupt. To preserve the contents:

    * Choose Select All from the Edit menu, then choose Copy from the
      Edit menu.

    * Create a new document, then choose Paste from the Edit menu.

CAUSE

When the subdocuments are expanded, information about the subdocuments is copied to the master document. This eventually prevents Word from being able to keep track of the information.

RESOLUTION

To correct this problem, install Microsoft Word 97 Service Release 1 (SR-1) and then open the Word 95 master document.

WORKAROUND

To Manually Recover the master and subdocuments:

1. Open the first subdocument in Word 97.

2. Remove and then reapply the bullet or numbering formatting.

3. On the Edit menu, click Select All.

4. On the Edit menu, click Copy.

5. On the File menu, click New, and click the General tab.

6. Click the Blank Document template and click OK.

7. On the Edit menu, click Paste.

8. On the File menu, click Save.

9. In the File Name box, type the file name you want, and click Save.

10. On the File menu, click Close.

11. Repeat steps 1 through 10 for each subdocument.

12. Open the master document.

13. Click the subdocument icon on the left side of the screen and then press the DELETE key.

14. Repeat step 13 for each subdocument icon.

15. Delete any unwanted section breaks from the master document.

16. On the Edit menu, click Select All.

17. On the Edit menu, click Copy.

18. On the File menu, click New, and click the General tab.

19. Click the Blank Document template and then click OK.

20. On the Edit menu, click Paste.

21. Insert each subdocument into the new master document.

22. On the File menu, click Save.

23. In the File Name box, type the file name you want, and click Save.

24. On the File menu, click Close.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Microsoft Word 97 for Windows. This problem was corrected in Microsoft Word 97 SR-1.

For additional information about SR-1, please see the following article In the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q172475
   TITLE     : OFF97: How to Obtain and Install MS Office 97 SR-1

   ARTICLE-ID: Q119591
   TITLE     : How to Obtain Microsoft Support Files from Online
               Services