Document Opens Blank

Michael Gheen

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Apr 11, 2003, 1:33:40 AM4/11/03

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I have Word 2000. When I double-click a document, Word
comes up, but the document is blank. If, however, I open
Word first, and then open the document from within Word,
the document opens fine.

Why does double-clicking (or right-clicking and selecting
Open) not open the document correctly, and how do I fix
it?

Thanks in advance! :-)
Michael

Cindy Meister -WordMVP-

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Apr 11, 2003, 4:52:40 AM4/11/03

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Hi Michael,

Are you sure it's the document you chose, or is it a new,
blank document? What do document name you see in Word's
title bar.

Have you tried running Detect and Repair from Word's Help
menu?

> I have Word 2000. When I double-click a document, Word
> comes up, but the document is blank. If, however, I open
> Word first, and then open the document from within Word,
> the document opens fine.
>

Cindy Meister
INTER-Solutions, Switzerland
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update
Jan 24 2003)
http://www.mvps.org/word

This reply is posted in the Newsgroup; please post any
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:-)

Michael Gheen

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Apr 11, 2003, 10:37:37 AM4/11/03

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Hi Cindy,

Thanks for your response.

I'm sure it's not a document issue. No matter which
document I choose, if I double-click ANY document from
Windows Explorer, Word comes up with the document blank.
If I open ANY document from within Word, the document
comes up fine.

I wasn't aware of a "Detec and Repair" option. The only
sub-menus in my MS Word's Help menu are the following:

Microsoft Word Help
Hide the Office Assistant
What's This?
Office on the Web
WordPerfect Help...
About Microsoft Word

Where can I find this "Detect and Repair" option? My
Version of Word is 2000 (9.0.4402 SR-1).

Thanks,
Michael

>.
>

Suzanne S. Barnhill

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Apr 11, 2003, 11:38:43 AM4/11/03

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You haven't answered Cindy's question. When you open the document, what do
you see on the title bar? Is it the name of your document, or is it Document
1? If the latter, then you probably have a registration problem with Word.
See http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/AppErrors/ReRegisterWord.htm or type
winword.exe /r in the Start | Run box and press Enter.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://www.mvps.org/word

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Michael Gheen

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Apr 11, 2003, 5:21:26 PM4/11/03

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Sorry,

The title bar just says "Document 1". I closed MS Word,
and ran "Winword.exe /r". Once the re-registration
completed, I once again double-clicked a document, but it
still came up with a blank "Document 1".

Any other ideas?

I REALLY appreciate your help! :-)

Also, I rechecked the machine that is having this problem,
and it has MS Word 2000 (9.0.3821 SR-1) not (9.0.4402 SR-
1) should that matter?

Michael

>.
>

Suzanne S. Barnhill

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Apr 12, 2003, 12:03:09 AM4/12/03

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It would appear that the document is acting like a template. When you
right-click on the filename in Windows Explorer, which action is boldfaced
(the default): New or Open? If it's New, then you need to change it to Open
in the file associations (but reregistering Word should have done this). If
that's not the problem, then there could be a virus involved; ISTR that
there is one virus that makes Word treat all documents as templates.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://www.mvps.org/word

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Michael Gheen

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Apr 13, 2003, 9:54:17 AM4/13/03

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Thnaks for your response. I'll check the default action
on Monday. If it's set to New, and since the re-
registration didn't work, how do I manually change it to
Open? I'll also check for viruses on Monday. Are you
aware of a specific fix for that particular virus?

Thanks,
Michael

>.
>

Suzanne S. Barnhill

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Apr 13, 2003, 11:26:52 AM4/13/03

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Access to the dialog varies a bit from OS to OS. In Windows 2000 Explorer,
you would select Tools | Folder Options | File Types and scroll down to DOC
Microsoft Word Document. Click the Advanced... button. In the ensuing
dialog, you'll see Actions listed. Open should be in bold. If it is not,
select it and press the Set Default button.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://www.mvps.org/word

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Michael Gheen

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Apr 17, 2003, 1:06:47 PM4/17/03

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Thanks Suzanne, that fixed the problem! :-)

The File Type for Extension "DOC" said "DOC File". I
clicked "Restore" button and it restored the File Type
to "Microsoft Word Document". I then clicked "Advanced"
(the same button that used to say "Restore") and "Open"
was the default action.

I wonder if the "Doc File" type was set by this virus you
mentioned. Do you know where I can find more information
and/or the fix for that virus?

Thanks again,
Michael

>.
>

Suzanne S. Barnhill

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Apr 17, 2003, 3:09:41 PM4/17/03

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There are probably a number of viruses that have this effect, but I don't
know anything about them. You might try the Symantec or Computer Associates
Web pages that describe viruses.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://www.mvps.org/word

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Martha Herr

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May 1, 2022, 1:04:50 PM5/1/22

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If you open your document in microsoft word and do a "save as" and choose .docx and then open it again in google docs it will work fine. I had this same issue and i guess google docs wont open any older versions of microsoft word documents.

Jack Johnson

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Oct 4, 2022, 3:48:05 AM10/4/22

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