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Macros, tips, and templates for Corel® WordPerfect® for Windows®
© Copyright 1996-2008 by Barry MacDonnell. All Rights Reserved.

Repairing WordPerfect documents and templates

• To fix the default template, see here.
• For some problems with WordPerfect's program files, see here.
• For some printing problems, see here.
• Preventing document corruption/damage

WordPerfect locking up or won't start?
... Strange problems with a document?
...... Getting an "Unknown Format" message?

When something goes wrong, it is normal to assume something has gone wrong with the WordPerfect program. This is, of course, possible; see "Repairing 'bad' or damaged WordPerfect program files" for more. But more likely it could be a damaged ("corrupted") document or template file. So before you decide it's time to reinstall WordPerfect -- usually the last thing to try -- please read on. In particular, you should be aware that WordPerfect documents and templates are not like pieces of paper that serve to hold only words or pictures on them, like pages in a magazine. In fact, they are structures that contain hidden information in their prefixes, such as the current printer selection, style data, formatting, and many other document-specific settings. It is here, in these hidden areas, that things can sometimes go wrong, ranging from a document that might still open up but show some strange or erratic behavior, to a document that displays one or more of the major symptoms listed below. Also see "Preventing document corruption/damage". Also see Footnote 1 before reinstalling the program.

Documents and templates

Documents (.WPD, .WCM) and templates (.WPT) can become damaged for several reasons improper shut-down of WordPerfect (e.g., turning the computer off before closing WordPerfect); assembling many files or file fragments into one; lots of copy-and-paste or cut-and-paste; corrupt "objects" [imported images (especially very large ones), tables, styles, etc.]; ...and so on. Typical symptoms of damaged documents or templates program lockup or "freeze"; "Unknown Format" message when opening a document; or other "odd" behavior -- especially if it happens only in one document or in documents based on a particular template. (Note that all documents in WordPerfect are based on a template. For everyday work this is typically the default template, but it could be a custom template.) First, here are some logical questions to ask yourself Does the program simply lock up or freeze when you try to load WordPerfect? See the sections below on "Fixing the default template" and "Miscellaneous problems...." Assuming you can open WordPerfect ... Does the problem happen with a particlar existing document you opened from your disk that you are now editing or attempting to save, but not with another existing document on disk? If so, it could be a problem with that particular file. See "Some solutions..." below. Does the problem happen with a new blank document into which you have typed or inserted material? If so, it could be a problem with that particular new document -- especially if you have done a lot of editing, pasting, or importing during the session. Or, it could be a problem with the template on which the new document is based (usually, this is the default template). You could try opening another new blank document and then copy the material from the problem document into it. Or, you might need to fix the default template, especially if the next paragraph is true. Does the problem happen with more than one new, blank documents into which you have typed, pasted, or inserted material -- but not in other existing documents? If so, it is likely to be a problem with the default template, which is used to create Document1, Document2, etc., that you see on screen when you first open WordPerfect (or when you click File, New). See the next section, "Fixing the default template." Does the problem happen with more than one new document based on a custom template that you have created? It could be a problem with that particular custom template. See the next paragraphs "Some solutions..."). Do you use WordPerfect's automatic backup features? See here for suggested settings and recovery-of-work techniques. Some solutions for damaged documents or custom templates The first thing to do is make a backup of the problem document or custom template, then see the Corel support database article (Answer ID 755359) for several possible solutions. Note that sometimes one method works to fix a particular file, and another method does not. Try the following methods in sequence. Work slowly and carefully. The first two methods are likely to succeed for the majority of document problems. The "X-Retrieve" method mentioned on the Corel support site is often effective since it rebuilds the internal prefix for the document. However, the instructions are a little sketchy. Here's how to do it: Open a new, blank document; type an "x" (actually, any character); insert the problem file with Insert>File; delete the "x"; save the file. This rebuilds a critical internal component (the "prefix") of the document. [N.B.: Macros that make use of the X-Retrieve method are UPDATER in the Library and Charles Rossiter's CLEANSAVE and NEWSAVE.] Corel's free WPLOOK file repair utility mentioned in the above article is available directly from a Corel FTP site here. It can be downloaded to any convenient directory/folder or to your Windows desktop. It does not need to be installed since it is a single standalone file. Step 1. You should read Laura Acklen's excellent article about the WPLOOK file repair utility. Step 2. Close the corrupt document if it is open. Step 3. Run WPLOOK.EXE by double-clicking its filename in Windows Explorer or My Computer. You will see three checkboxes on the main WPLOOK screen, under "Repair": Repair Corruption; Remove UNDO information; and Remove Unused Styles. At the very least, be sure to enable the checkbox to Repair Corruption. Unless you have a specific reason why you need to retain Undo information or Unused styles, enable these two Repair options, too. The former might be a cause of the corruption, and the latter will be removed only from the current document anyway (thus making the file slightly smaller, too). Many if not most users will enable all three checkboxes on the WPLOOK dialog's Repair Document tab, even if they are only trying to fix a damaged file. Step 4. IMPORTANT: With WPLOOK on screen, click File, Open on the WPLOOK menu to load your document in WPLOOK. Then, when the file is loaded, click the Repair button on the WPLOOK dialog at least 3 or 4 times -- even if no corruption is found or even if several "Repairing corruption" messages are displayed. (Just answer "Yes" each time to the "Replace...?" question appears.) It is thought that using Repair multiple times is more effective than using it just once -- perhaps to clean out any dependencies between corrupted items. Note: After the first press of the Repair button, WPLOOK doesn't tell you there isn't any more corruption -- in fact, it probably will report "no corruption." Ignore the messages. Just click Repair several times. Tip: You can also click Edit on the WPLOOK menu and extract all text from the document, then save the content to a .TXT file. Tip: See WPLOOK's Edit menu for a way to "scramble" a file's text (all characters are turned into Z's, leaving just the formatting). This can be helpful when sending a confidential file to someone who can help with formatting problems. Divide and Conquer: Working on your backup copy, remove one-half of it (e.g., delete the second half of the document). If the problem disappears, it was likely in that section. You can then open a fresh copy of the backup, and remove the last quarter of it. Repeat, removing successively smaller sections until you isolate the problematic section. (An alternative to this is to paste successive sections of the "bad" document into a new, blank document, saving the new document after each paste, until you see the problem reappear.) QuattroPro: For badly damaged documents, you can try opening the document in QuattroPro. Graphics and formatting will be lost, but the text may survive, so it's worth a try. File viewers: If you have a file viewer such as QuickView, you might be able to copy text from the viewed file and paste it into a new document. Drivers: Some problems with documents can be traced to the computer's video card drivers or printer drivers. You could try visiting the web sites for your video card and/or printer manufacturer to see if updated drivers are available. Printers: Since WordPerfect is a true WYSIWYG ("What you see is what you get") program, it makes heavy use of your system's graphics capabilities and especially the printer driver installed. In fact, if you do not have at least one printer driver installed you might find that WordPerfect hangs when you try to load it! Charles Rossiter, Corel C_Tech, suggests this: "Delete your printer. If you are using WinXP, still in the Printers and Faxes dialog, do File, Server Properties, Drivers tab, and delete the drivers as well." Then reinstall the printer drivers. From Corel's Answer ID 207671: "If more then one printer is present on the system, try setting another printer as default. If you have multiple printers installed, you may be required to remove all the printers one at a time from your Control Panel and try launching WordPerfect after the removal of each. If no physical printer is available, add a generic printer to the Control Panel. A good printer to select from the list is any model of Apple LaserWriter." [Note: Set the port to File to test it, since no physical printer is installed; or skip the "print test page" step.] For some possible printing problems, see here. Proofreading tools: If WordPerfect freezes or slows, sometimes this works: Click Tools, Proofread, Off. Also un-check (disable) Prompt-As-You-Go. Reload/reboot: Try exiting WordPerfect and reloading it -- or even rebooting Windows. This sometimes cures the problem. See "Miscellaneous problems, error messages" below. Finally, if you conclude that it might be a WordPerfect program problem, see here.

Fixing the default template

As mentioned, not only new or existing documents can become corrupted, but even template files (.WPT) can suffer damage. This includes the default template on which all new (blank) documents are based; it can become corrupted, too. If newly created documents -- those based on the default template -- are giving you problems, try this: Step 1. Locate the WordPerfect default template on your hard drive. The name of the default template varies with the version of WordPerfect. For example, if you have WordPerfect 12 it will be named WP12XX.WPT; if you have WordPerfect X3 it will be named WP13XX.WPT; and so on. Note that "XX" is your language version, such as "US" -- so in this case your template would be named WP12US.WPT, or WP13US.WPT, or similar pattern. See "The default template" for more information about this important file -- especially if you can't seem to find it. For example, the default Windows setup hides certain files from view in Windows Explorer. Or, someone might have placed the default template in a different location -- or even renamed it. The default template will show you how to find it. Step 2. Rename the default template file to make a backup since it contains many of your customizations and settings. For example, rename it to WP12US-Back.WPT, or WP13US-Back.WPT, etc. Step 3. Re-launch WordPerfect and a new, "factory shipped" default template file will be created automatically. Does that help? If so, your customizations (toolbars, etc.) can be copied from the backup template to the new default template. See Corel's support database Article ID 207516, "Migrating the default template into WordPerfect" (versions 9-X3+). Even though the article focuses on migrating the default template from an earlier version, you can use the same procedure to "migrate" from your backed up default template file (Step 2 above). Alternatively, see this post on WordPerfect Universe. It also discusses recovering custom styles from the backed up template. If it didn't help - You can rename the backup back to its original name. Then visit one of Corel's newsgroups or WordPerfect Universe's Troubleshooting Forum for more help. Also: Try the WPLOOK repair utility listed above for use on ordinary documents. This author has found occasional template corruption that could be fixed with WPLOOK.

Miscellaneous problems, error messages, etc.

This is not a comprehensive list of possible error messages. Corel has two sites with "Answer ID" articles, and there is some overlap in terms of the WordPerfect versions they cover. The "old" site: http://kb.corel.com. The "new" site: http://support.corel.com The following is a list that might grow in the future. When you try to start WordPerfect and you see the cursor hourglass ... and then nothing happens ... here's one possible cause: Users have reported that when they enable the "Save workspace" radio button in Tools, Settings, Environment, Interface, and they were working on a possibly corrupted document when they last used WP, they get the "hourglass-and-fail" problem. Solutions: 1. Set "Save workspace" to "Never" to prevent such problems. 2. If you think you already have the problem and can't open WP, and you are comfortable with editing your registry (back it up first!), you can adjust an entry to force WP's setting to "Never". See this thread at WordPerfect Universe. If you are getting a "low memory" error message when you start WordPerfect, see Corel's support database Answer ID 753730 at http://tinyurl.com/y4qujw. Does WordPerfect freeze, crash, or generate errors while loading the program? See Corel's support database Answer ID 754025 at http://tinyurl.com/ylx8b7, which discusses possible factors (some OD which are addressed above) including a corrupt Windows user profile, interference from other startup items, etc. If you cannot open a file or save it, and you are using a laptop that is not currently connected to a network, check to make sure your default document folder is available in Tools, Settings, Files. It might be set to a network folder which is not available. "Error while reading from prefix: you may not have sufficient memory" From Corel's support database (http://support.corel.com): Answer ID 758802 - When creating table of contents, indexes or using any other component within Corel's reference tools the following message is produced: "Error while reading from prefix: you may not have sufficient memory". This issue is typically caused by a specific type of document corruption and can be repaired by taking the damaged file and saving it under the WordPefect® v5.1/5.2 file format. Once this is done the file can be re-saved using the current WordPerfect file format. To do this, follow the steps below: Open the damaged file in WordPerfect Go up to File and select Save As. In the Save As dialog box select 'WordPerfect 5.1/5.2' and click Save. Close any open documents. Go up to File and select Open. Ensure the file type is set to 'All Files (*.*)'. Click on the document and click Open Go up to File and select Save As. Set the file type back to WordPerfect 6/7/8/9.. etc. Save the document. Once this procedure has been completed it should be possible to run the reference tool. If problems persist try scanning the document using WPLOOK. "''The Macro is Being Canceled Due to an Out of Range Token Completion Code. ..." Possible cause: The macro has been given commands that it cannot complete or which confuse it, such as trying to find a QuickMark that doesn't exist. If you suspect that you are having problems with WordPerfect tables, you can force WordPerfect to fix them when you start WordPerfect with a "Startup switch". Use the online Help <F1> and search the Index for "startup switch". There, you will find information on using the /recover startup switch, which "Rebuilds table information in the prefix of the document upon retrieval." For problems that you suspect have something to do with WordPerfect's program files, see here. You can always post a question on a Corel newsgroup or on WordPerfect Universe. See here for some help tips.

Preventing document corruption/damage

This is not a comprehensive list of possible techniques or remedies, and none are guaranteed to prevent document corruption/damage 100 percent of the time. They represent "conventional wisdom" about how to prevent, or at least minimize, such problems. (See Disclaimer below.) The following is a list that might grow in the future. Always close WordPerfect normally before turning off your computer. Don't simply shut off your computer while WordPerfect is still loaded. Doing so appears to be a common cause of file corruption in WordPerfect (and perhaps other software programs). Moreover, you cannot depend on WordPerfect saving all your word or recent edits. See "Automatically make back ups of your document to help you recover your work" here. Avoid using write-caching on your hard drive(s). A tip from Roy ("lemoto") Lewis, Corel C_Tech: "Ensure write-caching (also known as "write-behind" or "write-back" caching) is disabled. Read-caching is a good scheme, with no downside. Write-caching runs the risk that some glitch will prevent the actual write to disk. With slower drives and systems, there was something to be said for it. Nowadays the chances of Windows failing are smaller, but the systems are so fast that there is no significant upside to the feature, so the small chance of error is still worth avoiding." To disable write-caching: Windows 98SE: Click Control Panel, System, Performance, File System, Troubleshooting. Enable the checkbox, "Disable write-behind caching." Windows XP/2000: You may need Administrator rights to do the following: Open Explorer or My Computer, then right-click the partition (or drive icon, if the drive is not partitioned) where WordPerfect files are located, then choose Properties, Hardware Tab. Choose a drive name from the list, then - In Windows XP, click Properties, then click the Policies tab; In Windows 2000, click the Disk Properties tab; then uncheck the box, "Enable write caching on the disk" (or similar wording). Repeat for other hard drives, if desired. Windows Vista: You need Administrator rights to do the following: Open Explorer or Computer, then right-click the partition or drive where WordPerfect files are located, then choose the Hardware Tab. Choose a drive name from the list, then click the Properties button, then the General tab. Click the Change Settings button, then click the Policies tab on the next dialog. On that tab you will see two radio buttons. Notice that under the second one, "Optimize for performance," are two check boxes: "Enable write caching on the disk," and "Enable advanced performance." To disable write caching, uncheck the first box, "Enable write caching on the disk." The second box should also be unchecked. Click OK. Repeat for other hard drives, if desired. NOTE: If you have a laptop with a working (and charged) battery in it, or a desktop system with a battery back up device (sometimes called a "UPS"), you might prefer to check (i.e., enable) both boxes instead of disabling write caching. The battery backup should allow time for the system to write cached data to disk. For the technical side of this issue, see "Notes on write-caching" in a post on WordPerfect Universe. Make frequent sequential backups of important work -- preferably to another drive. Have several intermediate copies of a document might allow you to recover material from an uncorrupted earlier version of the file. It has the added benefit of preserving earlier material which might be useful later on. This might be especially useful if you need to do a lot of copy-and-paste within or between documents, or you are importing material or graphic images from another source. See "MULTISAV - Macros to help automate saving documents" here. Never save your work to a floppy disk first before saving it to your hard drive. Never save your work only on a floppy disk: they are more fragile than a hard drive. Moreover, floppies (and ZIP drives) are relatively small and can quickly fill up. Even if there appears to be room on the floppy, there can be a problem with this method: The way Windows saves a file to another drive is a multi-step process, if the file already exists on the target drive. It first makes a temporary file on the target drive, and once that process is successful, it then copies the temporary file to the original on the target drive, overwriting it. Then it deletes the temporary file. Thus, there is some safety built into the process. However, this means that the target must have enough free space for roughly double the original file size. If not, you may not be able to save a current file to the floppy or Zip drive. Always save your file to your hard drive first, and then copy the file to the floppy. A macro can help automated this. See "SaveCopy - A macro that saves the current file and then immediately makes a copy on another hard drive, floppy disk, or other removable disk," here. What about using Corel's shipping macro, SAVETOA.WCM? If you open an existing file on Drive A, SAVETOA will save to it first (or try to save it there), before making the copy to your hard drive's default Document folder (see your Tools, Settings, Files, Document tab for the location of this folder). However, if you start a new file with File, New -- or open a file on your hard drive -- then the macro will save it to your hard drive first, and then make a copy to your Drive A. The latter is a better and safer method. In the existing-file-on-the-floppy (drive A) case, SaveToA will first make (or attempt to make) a copy on the floppy, which most experts agree is fraught with potential problems -- not the least of which is that there might not be enough space on the floppy for the copying operation to be carried to completion. Therefore, it is much safer to work from, and save to, a hard drive (or at least a drive with plenty of space available -- at least twice the size of the file you are trying to save) than to try and save to a floppy, which can quickly and unnoticeably fill up -- not to mention that the floppy media itself if much more prone to damage than a hard drive. Don't set WordPerfect's automatic timed backup feature to less than 4 or 5 minutes, especially if you work on long documents, which can take some time to save a document. See here for more on the timed backup feature.

It is my observation that many users think that the first and best thing to do when they have a problem with WordPerfect is to reinstall it. I believe this idea comes from two general sources:

(1) People unfamiliar with how software programs actually work, or how modern hardware devices actually work, have hit upon the technique of "if it doesn't work, reboot (or reinstall) the thing." They then pass this recommendation on to others, who assume the information is valid because it appears logical and it was (and often, still is) a commonplace thing to do when dealing with some Microsoft Windows issues.

In an earlier age we used to think that smacking a wonky TV would help get better reception. That actually seemed to help once in a while -- possibly because vacuum tubes (something like incandescent light bulbs) powered the thing and they were susceptible to vibration. And because rebooting a modern device once in a while actually works (and for some devices -- e.g., iPods, smart phones -- rebooting can be a preferred solution for some things), folks seem to be inclined to perpetuate the same (somewhat superstitious) behavior for all computerized products: "Whack it! Reboot it! Reinstall it!"

(2) A call to a "Help Desk" -- if you can reach one these days -- will often result in instructions to perform a few basic troubleshooting steps followed by the recommendation to completely remove and reinstall the program. Since the recommendation comes from a presumed expert, it becomes the Remedy of Choice instead of the Remedy of Last Resort.

It seems to me that the real reason this recommendation is so quickly given is that it works sometimes and it immediately gets the caller off the line while they go about the task of reinstalling the program. A call back will no doubt be answered by some other Help Desk "guru." In other words, it's sometimes a pass-the-buck option for the Help Desk people. If the problem persists, and the user has the time and energy to call back, the Help Desk can then drill down through a series of alternatives. (If you listen carefully, you will hear them clicking through their on-screen list of things for you to try. They are following a script.) This method works -- for them -- and possibly for you, too.

You might conclude from your call that one of the first things to do is a "program reinstall" whenever you have a problem. Why waste time on any other remedy? you think. It worked before. Why not now?

But with WordPerfect, immediate reinstallation often is a waste of time because (for one thing) it does not overwrite user-customized program files -- including those files that might have been damaged internally and which are a possible source of your problem. Moreover, many WordPerfect problems can be traced to printer drivers, which are separate Windows files and which not affected by reinstalling WordPerfect. These things are usually fairly easy to fix, as explained above.

To me, reinstalling is just about the last thing to do, especially with WordPerfect. But, hey, that's my opinion -- as well as the opinion on most WordPerfect experts who have actually used the program for many years.

If you really want to reinstall the program, see here.

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