lettered | I'm in the depths of despair.

My Word docs keep getting . . . corrupted somehow. I'll save a file, and when I go to open it again, both the top and bottom have a lot of extra text that mostly seems to be about what directory the file was saved in. All the italics (and other kids of formatting) are lost. And worst of all, it's as if the text's been chopped up into chunks--sometimes cutting sentences or words in half--and then tossed like a salad, so that I have to try to figure out how everything fits together again. And some things are lost entirely. . . especially if I had the file saved, then went back in and changed a couple words, saved it again--even if I rename the file after the little tweaks. It's been going on for a while with a random file here and there, but lately it's been getting worse, doing it with every single file.

Has anyone ever experienced anything like this? Does it sounds like a Word problem, or is it my computer, is it a virus? Any advice?

It's fucked up three fics so far, and one I'm not sure I can put back together again.

Also, every once in a while my keyboard just stops working. Everything else will work, but the keyboard is completely crapped out. When I reset the computer, everything works fine.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Have you scanned for viruses and trojans?

It does an automatic scan when I reboot...never finds anything. I'm thinking now what some other people suggested was right...the disk itself might just be bad. It's a really old comp and I wouldn't be surprised. And thank you for the suggestion--I'm going to look in getting new virus scan stuff.

Hmm, fortunately has never happened to me. But perhaps a virus? Do you do regular scans?

Glad to hear that. I have an automatic scanner thing whenever I reboot. Some other people suggested that the disk itself might be bad, which makes sense with this old hunka shit I'm using.

Hm, well you can schedule daily scans which is a good idea.

But if it's just old, that's probably it too.

You know that Word is saving my doc with that weird crap at that bottom that basically lists all the internal formatting stuff but the rest is fine.

I hate computers.

I had thought that was your computer's issue, but then when mine started adding that kinda crap to the bottom and top I thought it might be mine. argh.

Me too!

Aw, honey.

I do NOT pretend to be an expert on such stuff, but the last time I saw something like your doc problems, it was a bad spot on the disc. Depending on your version of Windows, Accessories-System Tools-ScanDisk (if you're pre WinXP), or the errorchecking tool on the Tools tab under your hard drive Properties option (XP & maybe ME), should tell you if that's the case and possibly isolate the bad section. (They'll take a while to run.) Your files may be FUBARed, though you could try saving them to a different directory.

Hopefully, the keyboard problem is a separate issue and your keyboard is just dying or the connection has jogged loose. If none of this helps, you may very well be looking at a virus problem, but I've never encountered a serious virus before so that's not something I have any suggestions for.

Good luck!

Oh, this is sense-making. My old computer crashed a couple months ago, and there was this old (REALLY old) family comp I dug up to use in the interrim before I got a new comp. I thought I was going to get a new one right away, but yeah it doesn't appear to be happening. Anyway, I seem to remember this comp getting set aside because there were bad sectors. Now I have to figure out how to do the scan disk thing.

I think the keyboard is a separate issue, too.

Thanks!

Agree with this. Usually when your files start getting corrupted, it's because of a bad disk. I would try to save them to floppy or burn them on CD right away, then go out and get a new hard drive.

Oh, thanks. I've been backing my files up online and on the network I'm on. I am supposed to get a new computer soon anyway...hopefully soon means really soon!

Good luck! :)

Um...I hate to say it, but if it's not a virus or trojan, your hard drive might be getting wonky and corrupting your files. I would save anything valuable to disk or upload it to a website or something immediately, just in case.

I really think you're right. It makes sense considering the comp I'm using; it's really old and wasn't in tip top shape. I'm backing everything up! And thank you.

Ack, so sorry you're having this problem! It's awful losing work.

I'd suggest a back-up of saving work to your LJ (you can mark it private) or to a community LJ of which you're the only member/maintainer. I have a community like that, created in part during my last job so that I could save things while I was at work. But it's great as a resource for backing up fic files as well.

Yeah! I was thinking about using my lj. I like the idea of starting a comm for it though, then it's not all mixed up with my regular posts. Thanks so much for the advice!

Yay! I love having the comm for saving and editing work. I know people who have created alternate LJs for the same purpose, but with a comm you don't have to log out all the damn time.

When Word messes up, it's never a fun thing!

How is it now?

Bad computer! No upgrade!

Still crappy! Hopefully the file I just sent you isn't all wonky.

Came across the following the other day at work. Maybe it will help:

http://word.mvps.org/faqs/apperrors/CorruptDoc.htm

I'm in the depths of despair.

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