Urgent: Word Document Problem

  • Thread starter Thread starter Guest
  • Start date Start date
G

Guest

A client has obtained a cd containing important information. He has sent the
word documents (Word 97 we believe) to another client - via email. However
the receiver has a newer version of MS Word (Office 03) and the writing has
changed to little box symbols. How can I change the symbols so that I can
read the document?
 
G'day JohnnyBoy <[email protected]>,

Word 2003 has a Repair Text feature- try that.

Steve Hudson - Word Heretic

steve from wordheretic.com (Email replies require payment)
Without prejudice


JohnnyBoy reckoned:
 
File > open > select the file > click the down arrow by the open button >
open & repair.

--
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>
Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com

<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>
 
G'day JohnnyBoy <[email protected]>,

in word 2003, there is also Tools > Fix Broken Text in addition to
Graham's comments.

Steve Hudson - Word Heretic

steve from wordheretic.com (Email replies require payment)
Without prejudice


JohnnyBoy reckoned:
 
I believe that applies only to Asian languages.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.
 
The Repair Text feature did not work. The document remains the same. As for
the 'Fix Broken Text' I do not have that feature as I am in Australia.
Can you offer any more advice?? I would like to get this solved as soon as
possible. Thanks.
 
G'day JohnnyBoy <[email protected]>,

Have you tried opening in WordPad?


Steve Hudson - Word Heretic

steve from wordheretic.com (Email replies require payment)
Without prejudice


JohnnyBoy reckoned:
 
Yes I have tried to open it in WordPad but the square/rectangle symbols
still remain.
 
G'day JohnnyBoy <[email protected]>,

Hmm. Try copying it to disk first then opening. Probably wont help.
Try save as RTF and open the rtf in wordpad, probably wont help.

failing that, time to ask the source of the cd to burn the file again
as it is corrupt. Tell them to use Save As to make a fresh copy of the
document, and move that onto the cd after Word is closed.

Steve Hudson - Word Heretic

steve from wordheretic.com (Email replies require payment)
Without prejudice


JohnnyBoy reckoned:
 
The computer containing the files has been disposed of. Hence the reason the
documents were put onto a cd. I cannot obtain the cd either as the client is
based in another city and believes the problem can be fixed without it :S.
 
Tell the client that it can't...

The document contains characters that have been encoded with a specific code
page (character set) and font. These are obviously pre-Unicode documents.

We need to find out what the code page and font used to save those documents
is. You then need to install that specific code page and that specific font
on your computer.

When you do, you should be able to read the document correctly. You can
then save it as a Word 2003 file. Word 2003 will re-write the text in
Unicode character set, so this problem does not occur in the future.

If we could find out what the character codes are, the font used, and the
encoding method in use at the time, we might be able to help. But since you
can't read the characters, we can't find this out and we can't fix those
files.

Sorry


The computer containing the files has been disposed of. Hence the reason the
documents were put onto a cd. I cannot obtain the cd either as the client is
based in another city and believes the problem can be fixed without it :S.
Click to expand...

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 (0) 4 1209 1410
 
Thank you for your help, I will try to find out as much as I can from the
creator of the documents. Tomorrow I am to stop working on this problem as I
have been working on it too long. But I will try to complete it in my own
time.
Thanks again to everyone.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Similar Threads

transfer of word document 3
editing symbols automatically occur in all word documents 1
Word Document Shows Unreadable Text 10
paragraph symbol/character appears throughout saved Word documents 6
Word Document with strange 1/4" tick mark at bottom of page 5
Saving a document with Symbol Font 1
How do I assign a shortcut key to an often-used word or symbol? 2
symbols changed in word 2003 6

Back
Top