WD97: Error: "Word Cannot Open Document" with Long File Name

ID: Q139849

The information in this article applies to:

SYMPTOMS

You may receive the following series of error messages when you double- click the "New Microsoft Word Document.doc" icon on your desktop: 

   Word cannot open the document C:\Windows\Desktop\New.doc
   Word cannot open the document C:\Windows\Desktop\Microsoft.doc
   Word cannot open the document C:\Windows\Desktop\Word.doc
   Word cannot open the document C:\Windows\Desktop\Document.doc
This icon is created when you use the right mouse button to click (right- click) the Windows 95 desktop, point to New, and then click Microsoft Word Document.

NOTE: These error messages may also occur in Windows Explorer when you try to start a document with a long file name if the file name contains spaces.

CAUSE

The registry contains a string value with an incorrect value data string, as in the following examples: 

   c:\msoffice\winword\winword.exe /n

    -or-

   c:\msoffice\winword\winword.exe /n %1
In these examples, the %1 represents a file name. Because the %1 is not part of the statement (first example) or is not enclosed in quotation marks (second example), each word in the long file name is interpreted as a single document. As a result, the file name "New Microsoft Word Document.doc" may be interpreted as four documents, not one. Because Word cannot locate these four documents, it displays the error messages.

RESOLUTION

NOTE: Because there are several versions of Windows, the following steps may be different on your computer. If they are, please consult your product documentation to complete these steps.

To correct the registry, follow these steps:

1. In Windows, right-click the Start button, and click Explore. In Windows 

   Explorer, click Options on the View menu.
2. In the Options dialog box, click the File Types tab.

3. Under Registered File Types, select Microsoft Word Document, and 

   click Edit.
4. In the Edit File Type dialog box, under Actions, select Open, and then 
   click Edit.
5. In the "Editing action for type" dialog box, the "Application used to 
   perform action" line should point to <path>\Winword.exe; for example:

    "C:\PROGRAM FILES\MICROSOFT OFFICE\OFFICE\WINWORD.EXE" /n %1

   NOTE: The %1 may or may not be present on this line.

   Change the above line to the following:

    "C:\PROGRAM FILES\MICROSOFT OFFICE\OFFICE\WINWORD.EXE" /n "%1"

   NOTE: The %1 must be enclosed in quotation marks. If the %1 is
   not on the above line, add the %1 with the quotation marks.
6. Click OK to close the "Editing action for type" dialog box.

7. Click Close to close the Edit File Type dialog box.

8. Click Close to close the Options dialog box.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article.

MORE INFORMATION

Errors similar to those listed in the Symptoms section of this article will appear for any program that has an invalid registry entry, such as that described in the Cause section of this article. Other programs that appear on the shortcut menu when you click New include: 

   Text Document
   Bitmap Image
   Wave Sound
   Microsoft PowerPoint Presentation
   Microsoft Excel Worksheet
   Microsoft Office Binder
   Microsoft Publisher Document
You may also encounter these errors in Windows Explorer when you double- click any file that has an undefined file name extension. Windows 95 will prompt you with an Open With dialog box, so you can choose which program you want to use to open the file.

For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 

   ARTICLE-ID: Q133217
   TITLE     : How to Create Multiple Associations for One File Name
               Extension
Additional query words: cannot can not open document truncates file name text.txt document.txt bitmap.bmp image.bmp wave.wav sound.wav microsoft.ppt microsoft.xls microsoft.obd microsoft.pub powerpoint.ppt presentation.ppt excel.xls worksheet.xls office.obd binder.obd publisher.put document.pub new.doc microsoft.doc word.doc document.doc error message lfn space 
Keywords          : kberrmsg kbnetwork kbdta word97 kbfaq
Version           : WINDOWS:97
Platform          : WINDOWS
Issue type        : kbbug
Solution Type     : kbnofix

Last Reviewed: December 19, 1998