Word Office 2002 (Word) - "Poof" changes gone

[Mathmag]

When using Word 2002 in Microsoft Office 2002, I am unable to actually save the changes I make to a document, even though I save the document itself. Although the changes appear in the document when it is viewed through Word, upon exiting Word 2002 and then using it to open the file again, what is apparent is that all of the changes I made earlier have disappeared. I am using Windows Home Edition XP SP3 and Microsoft Office 2002 (the package that came with my desktop.)

Interestingly, when I transfer these same files over to my laptop, which is running Window 7 64-bit and Word 2007, all works fine. Any thoughts and insights into what is causing the "disappearing act" when using my desktop computer, would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[Silverhazesurfer]

Did you take the same file, after loading it on your 2007 machine, back to the 2002 machine? If so, this is most likely the reason for failure to save.

Once you go up, you can't go back down with relation to Office documents. They release versions far apart with large application changes that alter the format of the documents. Older files will open with newer software, but once opened, they usually cannot go back. Of course, this is only under save conditions. Simply opening a file and reading it will not alter the format from the older version. As long as you don't save it, no worries.

If this is not the case, my recommendation is to open the file, make the changes and save it under another file name. This will cause the system to re-create the file and possibly correct any corruption that may be occurring.

 

[Mathmag]

Hi Silverhazesurfer-

In answer to your question, no, I did not take the file from my laptop back to my XP machine. I only went from my XP machine to my laptop.

What I should mention is that my XP machine had since become unusable and recently died. According to the tech, in addition to my memory cards not working properly, the CPU and motherboard were gone. Could these failing hardware issues have had an impact on what was happening with my inability to SAVE in Office 2002, in 2007?

Also, while the inability to SAVE consistently happened for this file in Office 2002, it only happened randomly with other files I created as testers after that.

Any additional thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[Silverhazesurfer]

While it is hard to say that it definitely had an effect, I'm sure it did to some point.

I would imagine that the consistency would be visible in the other test files as well. Sounds like you may have a faulty installation of Word on that machine. Could that have been due to failing hardware, yes. Will we know for sure? Probably not.

Imagine that your computer is like a 5y/o kid. You put this kid in a room with 293847923847293847293847293847 light switches. Hand this kid a piece of paper with a list of 3924857923847293478 switches to turn off and on again real fast. Think it is going to happen right everytime?

It is kind of a weak analogy, but the idea stands. Computers are built with increasingly small components. Many of these components are relays, or tiny switches. One relay triggers another which could run a circuit or relay logic. Relays are magnetic and thus prone to sticking. If your computer has been on a long time, you can be subject to sticking relays. This can cause information to be routed improperly or not processed at all. Thus causing errors and all sorts of neat stuff.