Opening XP Word Doc w/ "Invalid" Name or Path

Hello all,

Please help!

I recently finished a Word document in Windows XP and saved it on my hard drive as I have done since the beginning of time. I didn't modify anything in the file name or type of file, and it's saved under "my documents" along with everything else. The problem is when I went to open it, I got the message:

The document name or path is not valid. Try one or more of the following:
Check the path to make sure it was typed correctly. On the file menu, click open. Search for the file using this dialog box.

I hit the "open" button to find the document, and it's listed with all my other Word documents, so I know it's not an issue of spelling or changing the name. Is there any way I can actually get my document to open?

Thanks for your help.

 

What version of Word are you using? (E.G 2000, 2003, 2007)
Also, which service pack do you have? In 2000 and 2003 You can see this if you open Word, go to "Help"->"About Microsoft Word"
You'll see a text sayings something like "Microsoft Word 2003 (version number) SP1".
In 2007 you go to (office button)->Word Options->Resources

 

Thanks for the reply. From what I can tell, it says 2002, SP3.

 

Thanks, lets give this a shot:
Go to start->run and type in "winword.exe /safe" (without the quotes). There a space between "exe and "/safe".
This will start word in safe mode.
Now try to open the document.
If you are able to open it, do the following.
Put the marker at the end of the last character in the document, type in a space and save the document.
Close Word, restart it normally and see if you're still able to open the document.

 

"The document name or path is not valid" what is the file extension?

 

Thanks for your reply. Not to sound like a complete amateur, but the extension is whatever the normal Word extension is. When I click "open," whether I select the file type as "all word documents" or "word documents," the file is still coming up by name, but I'm still getting the same message whene I try to open it.

 

I just tried opening the file by right-clicking on the file name and clicking the "print" option, and then got a message that said, "check the file permissions for the document or drive."

 

Did you try starting word in its safemode like I suggested above, and open the document from there?

 

Try this
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/832890

file extension would be ".doc" it's the letters after the document name like normal.doc

 

I tried safemode and the same thing happened...that is, nothing!!!!

 

Ok, the next thing I suggest is to try it with disabled smart tags:
Start Word
On the Tools menu, click Options.
Click the Save tab.
Click to clear the Embed smart tags check box.
Click OK
Restart word and try the document again.

I dont think Cat's suggestion will work as the support page says "This issue is fixed in the Office XP Post-Service Pack 2" and you got Service Pack 3, however it might still be worth a shot

 

Thanks again for all of your suggestions. Somehow now, when I click open it's opening in "Notepad" and looks like a lot of nonsense, though I can make out some words.

 

I ran through all the steps on the MS site and still nothing!

 

are all the word documents like this or just the one you typed today

 

Thanks for your response. Just the one I did today. When I go to the "open" screen, the file looks exactly like it should except that it won't open. I've tested other Word docs and everything else is fine.

 

Another idea...

http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/AppErrors/ReRegisterWord.htm

 

can you email it to yourself and see if it opens on another computer

 

So here's my latest update. I was emailing the file to my brother via Gmail to see if he could fix it, and after it sent, I decided to see if I could download the attachment I had sent him. For some reason, the file still won't open in Word and is opening in Notepad, BUT, I can view most of the file as an HTML...it was a huge file with some Powerpoint slides and other drawings mixed in, and I can't see most of those, but I can read what appears to be all of my text. I'm pretty sure I can recreate what I had from this, so THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to everyone who helped me with all of your suggestions. Be well.

 

I must extend my thanks to the noble Sharagoz for helping me fix this problem after much agony and a futile attempt to use the joke solution on the Microsoft site. The simple expedient of opening the accursed document in WORD’s safe mode, making a slight change and re-saving it worked. The new, slightly amended document can be opened.

I occasionally get this problem with documents emailed to me. They will open perfectly well a number of times, until I have done a great deal of work on them, and, then, when I am about to put the finishing touches to the text, Microsoft strikes with its misleading error message. I had been dreading this problem to such an extent that I had been copying & pasting as I went along and saving extra copies just in case. On this occasion I failed to do so and was faced with losing 60 pages of editing or opening the document in Wordpad and losing much of the formatting.

Just one thing, the machine will ask you to put in your Office installation disk (XP in my case), so keep it by the computer and not wedged between the Galactica and Family Guy DVDs in the other room.