How to recover a Master Document
Article contributed by John McGhie
- Overview [ Versions of Word]
- Why Master Documents corrupt ...
- And how to recover them [ Software Patches / Scan for Viruses / Create a Template / Create a base document / Copy text / Formatting ]
- Obtaining patches
- Creating a template
- Creating a base document
- Copying text
Note that this procedure must be followed in strict sequence in order for it to work.
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OverviewNotice how this article starts off with the cheerful assumption that you want to “recover” a Master Document? I bet you were hoping that we would tell you how to “fix” one! We can't. If you are having a problem with a master document, the problem is the master document. Any attempt you make to repair one will inevitably make your problem worse. Do not be tempted to re-create a master document. If you re-create the master document, you will immediately re-create the problem. Master documents have been fatally buggy since Word 6, and remain so through Word 2000. If you use them you lose them. They must never be used for valuable text. There is no way to successfully and safely use master documents. They always corrupt eventually. To understand why, you need to understand the Microsoft Word document internal structure in some detail. Versions of Word
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Why Master Documents corrupt ...For information on why they corrupt, please see the article Why Master Documents corrupt . |
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And how to recover themI strongly recommend that you read through this whole article first, before you attempt any of it. The procedure is long and potentially confusing. The command and menu names come from Word 2000. You may have to apply a little interpretation, particularly if you are working in a language other than English. Please bear in mind that this procedure recommends that you do particular, specific actions in a tightly defined sequence using specific methods. That's because I have found that it works that way (and in many cases I found out the hard way that it doesn't work any other way). It is very tempting (particularly for me) to read such a procedure and say “I know all about Word, I don't need to follow all that!” Allow me to gently suggest that if you did, you wouldn't be here {grin}. Software Patches
If you use the default numbering and bulleting buttons on the Formatting toolbar, then for Word 97 and 2000, one of the more important fixes is for the build-up of unwanted list templates. See Microsoft Knowledge Base articles Q237274 and Q241581 (“Error Message: ‘This Document May Be Corrupt’ After Switching Between Bullet and Number List Format”). This fix is included in Word 2002 as standard. Unfortunately, though, the fix does not work unless the user opens a document contains so many list templates that without the fix, they would get the ‘This Document May Be Corrupt’ message (more than 1500 list templates). However, documents containing anything over 100 list templates are prone to other forms of document corruption. And in any case, the vast majority of document corruptions are not specifically list template related. Bugs that have been corrected in the service releases or patches may have caused the problems you are having. If your software is not at the latest service level, there is little point in reading any further: it is more likely than not that your problem will simply re-create itself as soon as you save the document. To obtain the patches, see Obtaining Patches , below. Scan for Viruses
Ensure that you download the latest anti-virus definitions from your anti-virus vendor and scan your whole machine. Definitions more than a month old are too old, and you need to ensure you have your virus scanner configured for a deep scan.
Create a Template
Document corruptions often begin in, or are copied to, the template the document is attached to. The template that is most likely to corrupt is the default global template, Normal.dot. We need to create a new, known good template to work with. Until we do, we are likely to get the problem back at any instant, whenever the corrupt template is accessed (which can happen dozens of times during an editing session). To create a template, see Creating a template , below. Create a base document
Because the master document file format itself is unstable, unless you re-create your file as a single document, the problem you have will simply re-occur. To create a base file see Creating a base document , below.. Copy Text
Think of your problem as a “virus” (because it will behave a bit like one). It is an infected piece of code, sitting there in your file. Every time you access that piece of code, the infection will spread a little further. You need to copy the text extremely carefully to ensure that you do not also copy the corruption into the new document. To copy the text, see Copying text , below. Formatting
When you begin working on long, complex documents, all the rules change. Normally, Word is very, very forgiving. There are 45 ways to skin any given cat, and one way is as good as any other, so Word invites you to use the way that suits you. This is not true in long document work. There are very definite rules for what you can and cannot do. If you break the rules, you break your document. See Repairing Formatting , below. |
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Obtaining patchesFirst, determine whether your software is at the latest level. If you open the Help menu in any Microsoft Office product, you will see an About item on the menu. If you are using Office 2000 with Adaptive Menus, you may have to pause on the Help menu for several seconds until the About item is revealed. Open this item. A dialog box appears. The top line of text in that dialog box provides the official product description for the software. The end of the line contains some characters that tell you what service release you have. It is not possible for anyone to solve your problem until you have the latest service release. |
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Creating a template
Now we need to fix the List Templates. Open the Format>Bullets and Numbering menu.
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Creating a base documentNext we create a new, blank document from the new template you just created. Do it this way:
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Copying textNow follow the following procedure (exactly) for each subdocument:
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Repairing formattingDo not attempt any fixing of any of the text until you have all the text assembled in New Document. If your PC is correctly configured, Word 97/2000 will easily handle a document up to about 1,000 pages, so do not worry: it will slow down a bit but it won't break. Now you begin the fixing process. Do it in this order or you will end up chasing your tail:
Now, you need to put the numbering right. Here's the procedure. This procedure fixes Heading Numbering that displays out-of-sequence numbering. It does NOT fix any other kind of bad numbering. If you omit any of these steps or fail to perform any, the procedure may not work. So unless you *really are sure* that you do not need to perform a step, do it anyway :)
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