Corrupt .docx file

[Syed Zaeem Hosain (Syed.Hosain@aeris.net)]

Hi, Pat.

(I am replying to the list, since my comments are not for your specific problem, but more general.)

In addition to the other good suggestions I saw, the only other thing to point out is that I hope you have a backup of the Word file(s) from before you started editing - it could save recovery time a ton depending on the size of the document.

As a matter of practice, when I _start_ work on any given FrameMaker book or Word document after any long hiatus (like overnight!), I simply copy all the files into a sub-folder called "BACKUP" ... this then becomes my way of rolling back to the start of any editing session if needed.

BTW, I do _not_ copy at the end of the session ... there isn't time enough for my "yup, all was good with that day's work" analysis to kick in till I sleep on it. :) Also, if the time between editing is long enough, then the two versions can be compared to remind me of what I had finished in that previous session.

Finally, at my age, I have been burned often enough by this kind of issue (not just Frame or Word necessarily) that I now also use a backup tool that takes hourly snapshots of everything that has changed on my disks onto another drive. This captures work in progress and lets me retrieve stuff with minimal time losses.

What I use and recommend:  "www.storagecraft.com" for their ShadowProtect tool - well worth the investment. It is super-fast (the hourly snapshots of changes usually takes 30 to 60 seconds) and easy to use once set up.

Z

-----Original Message-----
From: framers-bounces at lists.frameusers.com [mailto:framers-bounces at lists.frameusers.com] On Behalf Of Pat Christenson
Sent: Wednesday, February 06, 2013 4:17 PM
To: Framers List
Subject: OT: Corrupt .docx file

Hi -

Please excuse this OT post but the people on this list are so knowledgable. I'm hoping someone can point me in the right direction.

I have a Word .docx file that won't open. I discovered that there's an XML- and equations-related bug (thanks, Microsoft!) that works like this: You open a .doc or .docx file,  build a lot of equations, save as .docx and close. When you try to re-open it, it won't open and you get a message saying "there's a problem with the content."

I've done a lot of research online and tried every converter and rebuilder I can find but nothing opens this. The client can't afford to have me redo the work.

Can anyone recommend someone who can get into this and fix the XML? Preferably, free or cheap.

Because this is OT, you may want to reply  offlist.

Thank you SO MUCH for any help.

Pat Christenson