Cannot open Word file

[DavidSvec]

I cannot open my word file(Office 2003) from my thumb drive. When I open the document it says -Word was unable to read this document. It may be corrupt. Try one or more of the following : *Open and Repair the file - *Open the file with the Text Recovery converter.........

Tried installing Office2003sp3, tried to open in word 2007 but still the same problem. Is there any solution to solve this problem? Thanks.

 

[DelJo63]

First try NOTEPAD

launch notepad and then drag-n-drop the problem file into the open window.
If it fails, you have a permission problem.
if it opens and shows junk, that's ok, it's a corrupted file.

 

[SydneyWade]

I would try to open the file on another computer if that is possible, which you may have already done from reading your question.

I have a feeling the file is corrupted or damaged in some way.

 

[mike1959]

There are a few free ideas you could try,
1) 'Copy' and 'paste' a version from the thumb drive to your 'C' drive, try to open that one. (Thinking it might be the thumb drive has issues.)
or 2) Try to open the file in another WP such as Ableword or Libre Office. ( Both free to D/L and use.)
or 3) On a copy of the file, right-click on it's icon and rename it, see if that will then open in a WP.

 

[DelJo63]

Perhaps it's a secret but . . . NOTEPAD will open anything, even graphic file AND it ignores the fact that it may be opened concurrently by some other program. DO NOT attempt to alter or save the file as that will corrupt it unless it is a TXT file.

 

[bluejolls]

You should be able to change Word's behaviour by going to Office Button|Options|Trust Center>Trust Center Settings and making sure Word is set to allow Word 6 and Word 2 files to be opened in protected view.