Problem with Microsoft Word

[sagehen11]

Hello,

A while ago I wrote a document in Word 2003.  Now when I open the document all I see are weird symbols and characters instead of the English words I had typed before.  I've been told that the problem is that the Word 2003 documents are not opening correctly and I need to change the settings, however I'm not sure how to do this.

Any help would be much appreciated.  Thank you.

[Carbon Dudeoxide]

Do these .doc files work on another computer?

[Zylstra]

As well as what Carbon said,
Do you have the Installation disc for Office?
I would try reinstalling it completely.


Also, make sure that you arent opening the document in Microsoft Works, a similar program, since they use different formats.

[mcxeb52!]

you can try installing open office to see if it has same issue, so you know what's going on......

[sagehen11]

Thanks for the responses.  I sent the document to myself in an email and tried opening it on another computer but got the same thing.  Unfortunately I don't have the installation CD.

I talked to a Microsoft support guy and he said that the Office suits are not regestered properly in the computer regestry and that the Word 2003 documents are not opening correctly and the settings need to be changed.

I don't know what a computer regestry is and don't know how to change the settings for Word 2003, but hopefully that will help shed some light on the problem....

[patio]

Removin normal.dot in Word.

This has been known to fix this issue.
Read thru the instructions first so you understand them
Your preferences in Word will have to be reset afterwards...

[sagehen11]

hmm, that doesn't seem to solve it.  I still get the same thing.

[Carbon Dudeoxide]

hmm, that doesn't seem to solve it.  I still get the same thing.

What exactly doesn't seem to solve it?

[sagehen11]

^ Patio's proposed solution.

I tried deleting all of the normal.dot files that came up under the search... but then when I go to open the document it just pops right up in Word 2003.  The website said that Word is suppose to redownload the settings or something like that... but it doesn't.

I should note that when I opened Word 2007 it took a minute to download stuff... but still, when I tried opening the document in Word 2007 I got the same thing again.

[Carbon Dudeoxide]

I sent the document to myself in an email and tried opening it on another computer but got the same thing.

Do they not work on another computer?

If they don't, then it's a problem with the file.

[sagehen11]

^ Right, that's what I was thinking... I mean, if the same thing happens on a different computer it must be the file, right?

Anyone know how to fix it?

The Microsoft support guy said he could fix it but it would cost me $15....

[Carbon Dudeoxide]

If this file doesn't work on different computers with different MS version (Office 2003 and Office 3007), then I don't think there is a way.

Can you ask how he would fix it?

[truenorth]

sagehen 11, There recently was a microsoft service pack update for microsoft excel (which is a part of the Office 2003 suite) and that update caused me to lose the ability to use Excel until i located a fix on the web. There is a recent post by me on the subject on the CH forums. I have fully regained the use of Excel. So i guess my question would be have you recently installed an Office 2003 (if that is the version your using) update from microsoft updates?truenorth

[sagehen11]

umm... I don't think I've installed any updates for Word 2003.  I don't think the problem is with Word itself because only this one file doesn't work.  The other files and documents open up normally.  Also, the problem first occurred over a year ago... so it's not that recent.