Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

Question

what causes word files corruption

Oct 18, 2011 5:02AM PDT

Dear all,
After working on a MS word file & closing it normally I found this error while trying to reopen it the next day"mswrd632 error" , when I close the message I get "could not open this file" , what might have cuased this & how to prevent such errors in the future?
Regards

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
Answer
Re: corrupted file
Oct 18, 2011 5:07AM PDT

Such can happen. But luckily, it's a rare fluke. I don't remember having it myself, but one has to be prepared for this by having a recent backup.
Nothing you can do about it. If it it's a repeating problem, one suspects a hardware issue.

Kees

- Collapse -
Answer
How I avoid this issue.
Oct 18, 2011 5:10AM PDT

1. I keep backup copies so I only lose the last edit. Some folk have to lose it all a few times to learn this lesson.

2. As to the cause. I find that the bigger the word doc is, the more likely the issue can happen. WORTH NOTING IS THIS -> "The software is not perfect." Some folk want to think it's something they did. They probably didn't do anything except forget to make backups.

3. Prevent such in the future. Sadly I think you'd have to use something simpler than Word. The newest Word uses XML so it is possible for GURU'S to open the XML file and fix it. But that's costly.

Bob