| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Word keeps crashing, but only with certain files Thread poster: Sarah Downing
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Hi,
I've been sent a whole bunch of Word files from one client. With some of them I have no problems whatsoever, but others keep crashing, sometimes as soon as I start to edit them and often in the same place in the text. Initially, I thought this was my computer or a glitch in Word and half toyed with the idea of reinstalling Word, but now I don't think this is the problem. I thought I had solved the problem with the files by opening them with "Open and Repair" or copying them into... See more Hi,
I've been sent a whole bunch of Word files from one client. With some of them I have no problems whatsoever, but others keep crashing, sometimes as soon as I start to edit them and often in the same place in the text. Initially, I thought this was my computer or a glitch in Word and half toyed with the idea of reinstalling Word, but now I don't think this is the problem. I thought I had solved the problem with the files by opening them with "Open and Repair" or copying them into a blank document and saving this again, but apparently my client has been having the same problems. I have previously only ever encountered such a problem with larger Word files with graphics and was wondering if anyone could shine some light on this - As I said, the problem occurs with files from the same customer, but some of them are totally fine. I have even done a virus check just in case and my machine is virus-free.
Thanks in advance for any elucidation.
All the best,
Sarah
[Edited at 2004-06-01 09:31]
[Edited at 2004-06-01 09:31] ▲ Collapse
| | | | PAS 
Local time: 23:15
Polish to English
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| Only info, not help... | Jun 1, 2004 |
Theoretically (that's the key word), Word files can be opened and edited in any version of the program - from 97 to 2003.
I work in Word 2000 and as far as I can tell, I have problems only if I receive documents created and edited in newer versions of Word.
My only proof is this:
I once had similar problems - Word 2000 always crashed when I tried to update the table of contents and when I got to a particular table in the document. When I opened it in Word XP (2002), everything ... See more Theoretically (that's the key word), Word files can be opened and edited in any version of the program - from 97 to 2003.
I work in Word 2000 and as far as I can tell, I have problems only if I receive documents created and edited in newer versions of Word.
My only proof is this:
I once had similar problems - Word 2000 always crashed when I tried to update the table of contents and when I got to a particular table in the document. When I opened it in Word XP (2002), everything worked fine. The original document was most likely created in Word XP.
I don't know if there's a workaround. I'm sorry and I sympathize...
Pawel Skalinski ▲ Collapse
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PAS wrote:
I once had similar problems - Word 2000 always crashed when I tried to update the table of contents and when I got to a particular table in the document. When I opened it in Word XP (2002), everything worked fine. The original document was most likely created in Word XP.
Pawel Skalinski
I had similar problems when I was using Word 97 and received files created in Word XP. I've installed Word XP about 8 months ago and had no problems since then.
Zdenka Ivkovcic
| | | | Sarah Downing
Local time: 17:15
German to English
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TOPIC STARTER | I've actually got Word 2003 ... | Jun 1, 2004 |
I should have mentioned my Word version - I've actually got 2003, which means that it is highly unlikely that the problem is caused by my program being an older version of Word - correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought 2003 was the latest Word version ...
As this only occurs with a few of the files from the same customer (presumably they were also created using the same version of Word), I half suspected that the files might be corrupt, but previously I only ever had files become cor... See more I should have mentioned my Word version - I've actually got 2003, which means that it is highly unlikely that the problem is caused by my program being an older version of Word - correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought 2003 was the latest Word version ...
As this only occurs with a few of the files from the same customer (presumably they were also created using the same version of Word), I half suspected that the files might be corrupt, but previously I only ever had files become corrupt (they were never corrupt on delivery) and it seems like a hell of a lot of files for them all to be corrupt ...
All the best,
Sarah
[Edited at 2004-06-01 10:29] ▲ Collapse
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Sarah Downing
Local time: 17:15
German to English
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TOPIC STARTER | Thanks Tayfun, but ... | Jun 1, 2004 |
As I said, I'm aware of the problem with the images, but these files don't even contain any. I know about Office repair, too, because I used it (even though there was no message to say that the file was even corrupt - it was just my suspicion) - unfortunately, I was none the wiser after looking at the list of problems. It's really strange ...
| | | | chance (X)
French to Chinese
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Is there any "tableaux" in the file? If yes, they may be the cause of the problem.
[Edited at 2004-06-01 10:47]
| | | | Gerard de Noord
France
Local time: 23:15
Member (2003)
English to Dutch
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| Corrupt files | Jun 1, 2004 |
Maybe you'll find a solution here:
http://www.word.mvps.org/faqs/apperrors/CorruptDoc.htm
This is great site for professional Word users.
It also might be a good idea to set your own Word compatibility lower in Tools/Options/Compatibility so your clients can handle your Word files without problems. This is no solution in this case of course, because the curr... See more Maybe you'll find a solution here:
http://www.word.mvps.org/faqs/apperrors/CorruptDoc.htm
This is great site for professional Word users.
It also might be a good idea to set your own Word compatibility lower in Tools/Options/Compatibility so your clients can handle your Word files without problems. This is no solution in this case of course, because the current compatibility settings are those of the document you received.
Regards,
Gerard ▲ Collapse
| | | | Sarah Downing
Local time: 17:15
German to English
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TOPIC STARTER
chance wrote:
Is there any "tableaux" in the file? If yes, they may be the cause of the problem.
[Edited at 2004-06-01 10:47]
Hi Chance,
What exactly do you mean by tableaux - I expect you mean the French word for tables - if this is what you mean, no there are none, but thanks for your tip.
ATB and Bonne Chance!;-)
Sarah
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Sarah Downing
Local time: 17:15
German to English
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TOPIC STARTER | Thanks Gerard ... | Jun 1, 2004 |
Interesting link and good tip re compatibility.
All the best,
Sarah
| | | | Ken Cox
Local time: 23:15
German to English
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| try opening and resaving in OpenOffice | Jun 1, 2004 |
You most likely simply have corrupt files (which means the formatting data are corrupt, and as a user there's precious little you can do to correct it).
One trick that sometimes works is to open the file(s) in OpenOffice (freeware) and then save them again in Word format. OO is generally more robust with regard to corrupt files than is Word.
Gerard's site is excellent, although it's written by experts for experts (i.e. not always easy for normal mortals to understand), ... See more You most likely simply have corrupt files (which means the formatting data are corrupt, and as a user there's precious little you can do to correct it).
One trick that sometimes works is to open the file(s) in OpenOffice (freeware) and then save them again in Word format. OO is generally more robust with regard to corrupt files than is Word.
Gerard's site is excellent, although it's written by experts for experts (i.e. not always easy for normal mortals to understand), and my impression is that it's more useful for avoiding problems than correcting them once they've happened.
good luck!
PS: Unfortunately, OO is not fully format-compatible with Word, so you may have to do a bit of cleanup in the saved documents.
[Edited at 2004-06-01 11:42]
[Edited at 2004-06-01 11:45] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Heinrich Pesch
Finland
Local time: 00:15
Member (2003)
Finnish to German
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| Or save as Word97 | Jun 1, 2004 |
Once I had this problem and could work with the files after saving them in Word 97 mode. But some features were lost, which I did not care much about as far as I got paid for the translation
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sometime I open the file in Works, save them and then reopen them in Word. It seems to cure the problem. But you might not have MS Works.
Regards,
Giovanni
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Randa Farhat
Lebanon
Local time: 00:15
English to Arabic
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| the "accents" | Jun 1, 2004 |
Hi,
My word files sometimes crash when a file is filled with words having lots of those "accents", such as: á è î
Solution partially works when I disable Macros, or when I copy the entire "text" and paste on WordPad, then recopy from there and paste on a new word file.
But with tables and diagrams I'm not sure how to solve this crash.
Hope to find a solution!
| | | | Sheila Hardie
Spain
Local time: 23:15
Member
Catalan to English
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Hi Sarah,
Just an idea.
I had a similar problem with a set of Word files recently. Each time I opened a file it would crash either immediately or after a few minutes - for no apparent reason. It turned out the files the client sent me had originally been in Quark and were then saved in Word but on a Mac, and for PC. I use a Mac, so my client had to save them all again for Mac. It worked straight away and I could then open them all without any problems.
May... See more Hi Sarah,
Just an idea.
I had a similar problem with a set of Word files recently. Each time I opened a file it would crash either immediately or after a few minutes - for no apparent reason. It turned out the files the client sent me had originally been in Quark and were then saved in Word but on a Mac, and for PC. I use a Mac, so my client had to save them all again for Mac. It worked straight away and I could then open them all without any problems.
Maybe you could ask your client whether your files were originally in another format and were not converted properly.
Good luck!
Sheila ▲ Collapse
| | | | Sarah Downing
Local time: 17:15
German to English
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TOPIC STARTER | Thanks to everyone ... | Jun 1, 2004 |
I initially thought that it couldn't be the version of Word, as the problem only occurred with a few of the files, but now I'm starting to think that it probably was the version. I phoned the customer and was told that they solved the problem by opening it on another computer, so go figure ... But then again, it's Microsoft, so let's face it: it could be anything;-)
Thanks a lot to everyone for your helpful tips!
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