word document with wrong encoding

[lenny]

Hi,
I have received a word document that I am unable to open. It seems to have
the wrong encoding and my word version is unable to open it (Word 2003) I
have also tried opening it with all the different encoding options that are
available but nothing seems to work. I have also tried opening the original
document on the computer that it was produced on but the same thing happens.
I just can't open it. The person who produced the document is on holiday so
that is no help.

Is there an alternative way of opening this type of document or is there
another program that might be able to open the document?

I am desperate as the document is massive and we don't want to re-type it as
it will take all afternoon. Thanks for any advice.
Lenny

 

[Guest]

Not sure if this will help you, but try opening it in WordPad and copying the
text and then pasting it into Word. Let me know if this helps you.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

FWIW, a document that can be retyped in an afternoon is not "massive" no
matter how fast you type!

--
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.

 

[lenny]

Maybe a slight exaggeration to get the point across but I would still say it
is if you are paying someone to do it and the work is piling up as in this
case, so once again, any thoughts (constructive of course) would be most
appreciated.

Interesting and funny your comment might be but absolutely no help to me!
P.S. What does FWIW mean?
Cheers
Lenny

 

[lenny]

FWIW For what it's worth. Sorry about that!

Maybe a slight exaggeration to get the point across but I would still say
it is if you are paying someone to do it and the work is piling up as in
this case, so once again, any thoughts (constructive of course) would be
most appreciated.

Interesting and funny your comment might be but absolutely no help to me!
P.S. What does FWIW mean?
Cheers
Lenny

 

[lenny]

Thanks Carol,
I have tried that but it opens in wordpad in the same garbled mess.

Below is part of a line. It opens like this in both word and WordPad. In
word I have also tried all the File Conversion formats that are available
when I open the document but nothing works.
îîÜÝÝi$@pI?4̽Öoíss^Àÿo]µÇUW_t}kZ9zþOêYO

Cheers

Lenny

 

[Cindy M -WordMVP-]

Hi Lenny,

I have received a word document that I am unable to open. It seems to have
the wrong encoding and my word version is unable to open it (Word 2003) I
have also tried opening it with all the different encoding options that are
available but nothing seems to work. I have also tried opening the original
document on the computer that it was produced on but the same thing happens.
I just can't open it. The person who produced the document is on holiday so
that is no help.

Is there an alternative way of opening this type of document or is there
another program that might be able to open the document?

From the sound of it, I'd say either the document wasn't created in Word for
Windows, or it's been (badly) damaged.

What do you get if you use the "Recover text from any document" File Type in
the File/Open dialog box?

Cindy Meister
INTER-Solutions, Switzerland
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Jun 8 2004)
http://www.word.mvps.org

This reply is posted in the Newsgroup; please post any follow question or reply
in the newsgroup and not by e-mail

 

[lenny]

Thanks Cindy,
I have tried that and it just recovers to a much shorter jumble of nothing.
I am coming to the conclusion that it must be a very badly damaged file as
you suggest.
Cheers
Lenny

 

[Bob Buckland ?:-\)]

Hi Lenny,

Is the choice for [x] Confirm conversions at open
turned on in Tools=>Options=>General?

Is the file type in File=>Open set to 'Word document'?

If Word balks at the encoding it may not be able to
recognize the file as a .doc file due to damage.


=========
Maybe a slight exaggeration to get the point across but I would still say it
is if you are paying someone to do it and the work is piling up as in this
case, so once again, any thoughts (constructive of course) would be most
appreciated.

Interesting and funny your comment might be but absolutely no help to me!
P.S. What does FWIW mean?
Cheers
Lenny >>
--
Let us know if this helped you,

Bob Buckland ?
MS Office System Products MVP

*Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends*

For Everyday MS Office tips to "use right away" -
http://microsoft.com/events/series/administrativetipsandtricks.mspx

 

[lenny]

thanks bob,
I have come to the conclusion that it is a damaged file (no idea why) so we
have retyped it and put it down to 'one of those things!'
Cheers and thanks for everybody's time. It is very appreciated.
Lenny