# Word opens files as random characters, not text!



## sneak (Nov 12, 2002)

Hi everyone,

I've had a Word meltdown. When I go to open files that I normally open all the time without problems, I'm presented with a "File Conversion" dialog box, which asks me to "select the encoding which makes my document readable".

Nothing that I select works. I just get a page full of random characters, instead of the document I normally do. 

I'm panicking somewhat, as these document are part of my university work - they're essential!

Thanks to anyone for your help in advance.

Sneak


----------



## bonk (Sep 8, 2005)

Have you tried with word open click on the help menue and click *Detect and repair*


----------



## cristobal03 (Aug 5, 2005)

Check out this site for a little info, then follow the instructions listed here. Thanks to Dreamboat for both those links.

Post back if renaming your Normal template doesn't resolve the issue.

HTH

chris.


----------



## sneak (Nov 12, 2002)

Hi Chris and bonk,

Thanks for your quick replies.

Chris, I've attempted to search for "normal.dot" - as those tutorial directed - but I can't find it. I tried searching as they suggested, and opening Word, and looking under "user templates"...nothing there. I can still open the Word program however.

I haven't tried "detect & repair" yet, as I'd like to sort out this normal.dot thing. 

Thanks, 

Sneak


----------



## cristobal03 (Aug 5, 2005)

The normal.dot file is a hidden file. You'll have to enable your search to include hidden files and folders. If you need more info on how to do that, post back please.

chris.

[edit]
In case future readers would like to know.

Lifted from a post by EAFielder:



> You may need to enable *Show Hidden Files and Folders*
> For Windows XP:
> Open My Computer or Windows Explorer
> Tools > Folder Options > View tab,
> ...


[/edit]


----------



## sneak (Nov 12, 2002)

Hi Chris - I think I enabled hidden files using the "My computer> Folder options > view" tab, as the article instructed. Nothing turned up on the search. What am I not doing?


----------



## sneak (Nov 12, 2002)

Ok - found the normal.dot files and deleted them. Still the same problem.

I found this on microsoft.com:

http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=kb;en-us;323037&spid=3253&sid=global

Could a worm be the problem?


----------



## cristobal03 (Aug 5, 2005)

...If you have Microsoft Word, you have a normal.dot file. Even if you didn't, Word would create a new one when you opened the application.

On this Windows 2000 box, my normal.dot file is located at the following path (I'm not sure how universal this is; I'm on a corporate box):

*%systemdrive%\Documents and Settings\%username%\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates*

What version of Windows do you use? In case it's XP, see if this Microsoft Knowledge Base article doesn't help some.

chris.


----------



## cristobal03 (Aug 5, 2005)

Egh, sorry for the late post. Malware is always a possibility, though it's by no means my strong suit. Do you regularly employ antivirus/spyware software, and if so, do you have the latest definitions?

chris.


----------



## sneak (Nov 12, 2002)

Hi Chris,

Thanks for all your help. Yes I do - I have up to date versions and definitions of both McAfee VirusScan and Webroot SpySweeper. I can't understand it - some Word files open fine, whereas others (my critical work ones) just seem completely screwed. They open up as random characters.

I've run another virus sweep, which found nothing. It's incredibly frustrating.


----------



## cristobal03 (Aug 5, 2005)

I was not aware that this only happened with certain documents. The first thing that comes to mind is that you worked on the document on another computer--is this the case?

For example, when I was in school I'd often email myself my working document (or use a removeable medium) to go to the computer lab and do some editing. If I had used an Apple workstation rather than a PC, I probably would've hosed my file. Does this sound like something you've done?

I wonder if you can't open the file as Unicode...I've never had to recover something like that so I wouldn't quite know how to go about it, but I'll give it some thought and post back. Hopefully a Word MVP like Dreamboat will jump on this thread too; her knowledge of document recovery far exceeds mine.

Post back about working on more than one computer though, that might make all the difference.

chris.


----------



## sneak (Nov 12, 2002)

Hi Chris,

No, no multiple computers I'm afraid.

I was just happily working away on a document in Word here at home, saved and closed it, and then opened another. It opened as gobbledegook, and that was the first time it happened. It now seems that selected Word files (some, but not others) are affected.

If I could just recover the raw text, that would be something. I can't even seem to get that, even with the "open any file" option.

I have to go to bed now, but I'll check back here in the morning. Thanks hugely once again for your help Chris, you've been fantastic!

Sneak


----------



## Anne Troy (Feb 14, 1999)

One of the reasons a Word file will open as gobbledygook sometimes, and other files are fine:

If you hit File-->Open in Word, check the Files of type. If Recover Text from any File is selected, it will open them kinda like gobbledygook. But if you were to double-click a file, it bypasses the Recover text thing... make sure yours doesn't have that as the files of type.

I'm looking more at this, and we may send you over to security to do a Hijack this and all that...


----------



## Rollin_Again (Sep 4, 2003)

I'm still unable to find a dictionary definition of the word "Gobbledygook" 

Have you tried googling "Gobbledygook?" 

Sounds like the file is corrupt. Have you tried opening in Notepad?

Rollin


----------



## sneak (Nov 12, 2002)

Hi guys,

thanks for your replies. If it is the case that the files are corrupted somehow, is there any way humanly possible of recovering the text? And what's to prevent this happening again? Should Office be reinstalled?

Sneak


----------



## Rollin_Again (Sep 4, 2003)

You can try opening the file with another program such as OpenOffice. Many time other applications such as OpenOffice or Easy Office are able to open certain files that MS Office cannot. Also, after opening the corrupt file in Word and seeing all the strange characters, resave as RTF or TXT instead of the normal .DOC extension. After doing this and resaving try to reopen again. Just make sure to keep a backup of the original file.

You can also attach your sample file to your next post or email to (Rollin_Again at hotmail dot com) and I can see if it will open with one of my Office Repair utilites. In all honesty though, the file is probably lost since I've only been able to recover about 10% of the corrupted files ever attempted. It is still worth a shot though. I don't believe there is anything you can do to prevent this from happening. Simply learn through your experience and ALWAYS maintain a backup of all important files. I usually email important files to myself so that I always have a backup in my inbox that can be accessed from anywhere.

Here is a good link with some additional troubleshooting tips to try, good luck and feel free to attach your file to your next post.

http://www.addbalance.com/usersguide/document_corruption.htm

Rollin


----------



## charliekeri (Nov 17, 2005)

Has anyone found any type of solution to this "encoding" problem. It seems obvious all of the files are corrupted. I had a meltdown with word files, publisher files, even .jpg files. I'm getting to think it's a nasty worm, but none of my anti virus software is picking it up. 

any solutions to save the files that word cannot open because of this problem.


----------

