Word Document Corruption on a USB Drive

A Microsoft Word document might get corrupt due to system errors, file system issues, network problems, unexpected shutdown and many similar causes. A corrupt Word document might fail to open, show weird characters or give errors while trying to be opened. To cope up with such problems, you need to use your recent backup that could completely restore the entire lost information. But sometimes, when backup proves inefficient to give the required output, you should use word recovery software to repair them.

For an instance, consider that you have a .doc file stored on a USB flash drive. You try to open the file but fail to do so with an error message. The system prompts you to run chkdsk for USB flash drive. After you run the tool, you observe following symptoms:

· The document has been renamed with a 'square' symbol with no file extension.

· When you double click to open the file, the 'open file' dialog box appears that asks you to choose the program, with which you desire to open the file. You click to choose MS Word, but the file doesn't open.

· You cannot rename, delete or copy the file and get errors suggesting that the file name specified is incorrect or too long.

· When you try to open the document directly from MS Word, it shows error that the file could not be found.

· You observe a dot appearing instead of file name in open dialog box.

Cause

The document has got corrupted due to file system corruption of USB flash drive.

Solution

You are suggested not to save and use documents directly on an external storage media such as USB. However, to solve such problems, few of the recommended solutions are:

· Check if a valid backup of the corrupt document is available. If it is, restore the file

· If no clean document backup exists, use commercial word repair software to efficiently repair and restore the damaged documents. Word Recovery tools are comprehensive products that incorporate high-end scanning algorithms to restore a damaged Word document, while maintaining data integrity.

Resolving Word Error: 'WINWORD.exe has generated errors and ….'

Microsoft Word documents can get corrupted due to unexpected crash, application bugs, hardware malfunction and other issues. Such errors cause Word to exhibit abrupt behavior while you open or work with such documents. To restore them, you will need your most recent file backup or a powerful word repair utility that could repair them.

For an instance, you might come across the similar error message while opening or working with a Microsoft Word document:

“WINWORD.exe has generated errors and will be closed by Windows. You will need to restart the program.An error log is being created.”

· WINWORD.exe is the main executable file used by Microsoft Word.

Cause

Microsoft Word returns the above error if any of the following conditions is true:

1. You are clicking in a table which is in a frame and then right-clicking the frame anchor. The error occurs when you right-click an incorrectly spelled word and click on anchor instead of spelling or grammar shortcut menu that appears. This causes the Word to hang and give errors like above.

2. You are trying to copy and some portions of documents. Microsoft Word typically quits in such situations if you have used a macro to perform the same function.

3. The normal.dot template is damaged

4. You are trying to access a corrupted Word document.

Solution

Try resolving the issue discussed above using these measures:

1. Install and use the latest service pack available for your particular version of Microsoft Word

2. Locate and rename the corrupted normal.dot template. Word will recreate this template when you restart the application. This is the golbal template, which if corrupted affects all the documents based on it.

3. If the document is corrupted, apply these solutions to restore:

• Open the document using 'Open and Repair' feature
• Restore from the available backup
• Use word recovery tools that employ effective scanning algorithms to repair a corrupted Word document
  

Word Repair utilities are designed to examine, repair and restore Word documents corrupted due to different logical reasons. Such tools provide you interactive interface and hence can be used with even no prior technical knowledge.

Document Map Might Corrupt the File

Microsoft Word Document Map allows you to navigate the document quickly while keeping the track of your original location in the document. It is a separate pane, on which you can view all the document headings in a list. But sometimes, the use of Document Pane proves unsafe for your documents. It might corrupt them or possibly bring them to the corruption state that would otherwise not have occurred so quickly. If you find your documents corrupted due to use of this tool, it is advised to restore from backup or repair them using Word Recovery tools.

As an instance, you might observe that the font in Document Map unexpectedly grows or shrinks. The pane doesn't display the actual font.

Cause

The above symptom is usually exhibited when the use of Document Map has started corrupting the document. This occurs because Document Map uses guesswork in order to append outline levels to the document paragraphs. Regardless of the fact that the document contains headings or not, document map applies outline levels to all document objects that it considers as headings, generally short. So, if a document doesn't contain any heading, it might result into random text appearing in table of contents. This behavior can spoil the complex numbering schemes that the document uses and hence corrupt the document.

Solution

Consider these measures to solve such problems:

· Instead of using Document Map, you can better use Outline View. It is tool that allows you to view all the document headings collapsed to desired heading level.

· If you still find Document Map useful, you should backup all your documents regularly.

· To restore the damaged document, use your backup that allows you to achieve complete data restoration. If no clean file backup exists, use a powerful Word Repair application to scan and repair it.

Word Recovery applications use commercial tools that use safe scanning algorithms to scrutinize a damaged word document and repair it. These tools are equipped with powerful document repair technology and provide self-descriptive interface to work with. You can use these utilities in any case of document corruption.

'Winword caused a General Protection Fault....' Word Error and Recovery

Normal.dot or global template is the basic template that Microsoft Word uses each time when you create a document. Even if you are using some other template, this global template always remains in use. Nomal.dot file often gets corrupted leaving Word documents is suspect state. You should restore the documents damaged due to Normal.dot corruption from backup. But in some of the cases, backup is found as not updated, damaged or unavailable. Thus, in such situations, you should use word repair software to scan and repair your damaged Word document.

You might receive the similar error message when trying to open a Microsoft Word document:

"Winword caused a General Protection Fault in module USER.EXE"

You cannot access such document.

Cause

Probable causes for the above error to occur are:

* Normal.dot (Global Template) file is corrupted * You have installed Word in Works Suite add-in program (included with MS Works Suite 2000) and the add-in program in corrupted.

. Installing MS Works Suite 2000 adds some additional functionality to Word. There are several new features added to File Menu, Mail Merge and Wizard.

Solution

To solve the above describes issues, you should follow these methods:

* Click Start->Search->All files and folders and type Normal.dot in All or part of the file name box. Select the Windows installed drive and click Search.

Rename the Normal.dot file to Oldnormal.dot. Upon restating Word, it will recreate a new global template.
* If the issue doesn't resolve, insert MS the Microsoft Works Suite Disk 1 CD-ROM into the system and press and hold down SHIFT key while inserting it. Next, remove Word in Works Suite add-in program using Add or Remove Programs wizard of Control Panel.
* The existing issue should get resolved by following above steps. But if you find Word document(s) as damaged due to Normal.dot corruption, try restoring from backup. In case of backup concerns, you need to use word recovery applications.

Word Repair tools scan a damaged document using powerful scanning algorithms and restore them. These are non-destructive applications with self-descriptive interface and complete documentation.

Word Document Corruption With Vss

VSS (Visual SourceSafe) is a client/server application that allows you to store different types of files, while acting as a storage system. To access such files, you need a VSS client tool only. The application is competent to manage any type of file (including Microsoft Word documents) in its database. At times, you observe that if the VSS database contains a Word document, it might get corrupt. This could occur if you are using a prior version of VSS or due to some external reasons. However, to access the information, you will need to use your current file backup to restore. You can use powerful word repair application while no clean backup is available.

For an instance, consider that you are using a VSS database that contains a Microsoft Word document with multiple versions. You make some changes to the document, save them and the next time when you open the document, you observe few of its versions, typically the last ones, showing unexpected behavior. When you open the document, it shows weird characters and you fail to access the data from them.

Cause

The document is corrupt. The files of VSS database might get corrupt due to following typical reasons:

Network issues. For example, if Visual SourceSafe drops its communication in the middle of a file check-in due to a unreliable remote connection, the file might get corrupt.
Running out of available disk space

Also, some earlier versions of VSS are found to be unstable when exposed to large amount of non-textual data, for example images etc.

Solution

Following are some basic recommendations that you should apply to prevent from such corruption errors:

Use the latest version of VSS
.Do not exceed the size of database beyond 5 GB
.Keep suitable disk space available for the database
.Run ANALYZE utility to check and fix such corruption errors
.If this doesn't help, restore the corrupted document from backup
.Use word fix application to repair if no valid backup is available. Word Recovery utilities are special purposed tools designed to repair corrupted Word documents while maintaining their integrity