|
 Repairing
WordPerfect documents and templates -
How to find and fix common problems -
Includes -
- Why documents and templates can become damaged
and some typical symptoms
- A "troubleshooting path" you can
use to isolate the problem
- Various repair methods
- Links to information on repairing the WordPerfect
program itself, fixing print (and printer) problems, etc.
- Preventing problems with documents and templates
|
|
Before you begin ...
Please note that this page is the culmination
of many years of troubleshooting experience by this author and
many other power users.
You should take the time to read - or at least
scan - this entire page before employing a particular suggestion
or solution.
It is better to understand - and then employ
in the given order - the logical steps discussed below (which
are listed from most likely to least likely) than to automatically
assume some of them are not relevant to your situation. |
I. Troubleshooting and repairing WordPerfect documents
and templates
|
WordPerfect locking up ("freezing"),
slow to load documents, or won't start? Strange problems with
a document? Getting an "Unknown Format" message?
When something like this happens, 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. (Yes, there's a lot here, but
the time spent could save you more time and frustration in the
future.)
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 digital 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.
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; power surge/dropout;
a forced reboot while working on a document; etc.
- Assembling many files or file fragments into
one document.
- Lots of copy-and-paste or cut-and-paste operations
involving format codes.
- Corrupt "objects" that were imported
or inserted into the document such as graphic images (especially
very large ones), tables, styles, etc.
- A conflict with another program in memory,
especially if it causes a forced reboot.
- A problem with the computer disk drive --
e.g., cross-linked files or damage to the disk surface.
- And so on.
Typical symptoms of damaged documents or
templates
- Program lock-up or "freeze" --
such as when scrolling past a certain place in the document.
- "Unknown Format" (or an unexpected
format) message when opening a document.
- The document is blank when opened.
- 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.)
II. Some
logical questions to ask yourself
 Does
the program simply lock up or freeze when you try to open WordPerfect?
See the sections below on "Fixing
the default template" and "Miscellaneous
problems....".
It could also be due to a printer
problem, especially if WordPerfect is slow to load, rather
than refusing to load at all. See here
for some solutions. However, read the rest of this section
-- which lists more common problems -- before assuming it is
a printer problem.]
Assuming
you can open WordPerfect, the most common problems involve damaged
("corrupt") documents and/or templates.
Be aware that many documents can still be
opened and templates can still function if they are not extensively
damaged. This might be one reason some people immediately conclude
that the program is at fault -- which is, of course, possible.
When problems suddenly appear, try
to stop what you are doing and think about what is going on at
the moment, and also think about the time immediately preceding
the problem's appearance. Sometimes this can be a valuable clue
to the cause, especially if you can determine a pattern to the
surrounding events.
Then ask:
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 document
file. But first ask:
Is it simply a formatting problem? This is easy to overlook -- although technically
speaking this is not the "damage" we mean here. However,
strange or misplaced format codes can make a document appear
damaged because the formatting is not what you expect.
If the problem suddenly appears when you open
a document, or while you are editing it or trying to print or
fax it -- and it appears in the form of changes to formatting,
especially if the changes are restricted to one document -- then
the validity or placement of formatting codes might be the first
thing to check.
[Also, sometimes documents can seem to spontaneously
reformat themselves when opened. There are several reasons
for this, including some normal, working-as-designed reasons,
as detailed here.]
Open Reveal Codes (View, Reveal Codes) and
carefully examine the body text area for anything that seems
out of the ordinary. You can pass your cursor over these codes
in Reveal Codes and you should see information about each code
appear. Look at the same loction in the main document pane above
Reveal Codes and see if the problem coincides with a particular
code (or codes).
Also, double-click on the [Open Style]
code at the very top of the document to open the Styles Editor
and examine all format codes inside the initial document
style code. The document will "inherit" any formatting
found inside this special code, as explained here.
It can also contain formatting codes that were inserted during
document creation or editing with the intention of using them
as a document default. And if you got the document from someone
else, some formatting might not apply to your system.
If you have eliminated (or reduced the possibility
of) formatting issues causing the problem, see "Some methods..."
below to try and fix any potential document
damage. But read the rest of this "...logical questions
to ask..." section foirst.
Notes about formatting "problems"
Check to see if the printout of the
document is OK. If so, you might have a display problem, such
as a problem with the video driver (i.e., software), or a problem
with the video card, video memory, etc.
Check to see if the font is still available
for the document in question. Note that some fonts are built
into printers, so if they are not available WordPerfect will
substitute what it thinks is an appropriate font. This and other
"spontaneous" reformat issues are described here.
Similarly, a bad or outdated printer driver
can cause problems with rendering fonts on your screen as well
as on paper. See this page for some
printer driver problems and solutions. People often first notice
these font changes when opening an old document (created on an
old printer) or one sent to them by a colleague with a different
printer, but they can happen if the printer driver is damaged
or otherwise impacted.
If you have done some copying and pasting
from other documents or programs (or from an Intenet or email
source), you might get some odd formatting codes carried into
the current document. You might benefit form using Edit, Paste
Special, Unformated text when pasting the material. (See this page for more information about
using this feature.) Note that copying and pasting over and over
in the same document can lead to unexpected formatting problems,
and even lead to internal document corruption. If the damage
might have occured, the methods below
should help you fix it.
If you notice that a document's status
(at the top of the WordPerfect window) changes from "(unmodified)"
or you get a "Save changes..." message when
closing the document or when exiting WordPerfect -- and you believe
you have not made any changes to that document -- this might
not indicate document or template corruption. Rather, it might
be due to other "document reformat" causes, which are
detailed here.
Does
the problem happen with a new blank document (i.e., one opened
with File, New) into which you
have typed some new material?
If so, it could be a problem with just that
particular new document -- especially if you have done a lot
of editing, pasting, or importing during the session; see "Some
methods..." below to fix the document.
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 type some text into it to see
if the same problem appears. If so, you might need to fix the
template itself, especially if the next paragraph ("Assuming
it happens...") is true.
Tip: To easily enter some unformatted "dummy" text into
a document to fill up a paragraph or page (or more) see "What
is Lorem Ipsum?" here: http://www.lipsum.com/.
Have that site generate a dozen paragraphs or so, and then select
them and copy them (Ctrl+C) into WordPerfect as unformatted
text with Edit, Paste Special, Unformatted text.
Assuming it happens with one new blank document ...
Does the problem happen with more than one new, blank documents
(opened with File, New) 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 section, "Fixing the default template,"
below.
Does
the problem happen with more than one new document based on
a custom template that you have
created?
If so, it could be a problem with that particular
custom template. See "Some methods..." below).
See
also the "Miscellaneous problems, error messages, etc.,"
section below.
III. Some methods to
fix damaged documents or custom templates
|
IMPORTANT
The first thing to do is make a backup
of the problem document or custom template.
(If you are having problems with the default template,
see Fixing the default template below
for information on locating and backing up this critical file.)
Sometimes one method works to fix a particular
file, and another method does not. Try the following methods in sequence. Work slowly and carefully. Methods
#2 and #3 (X-Retrieve and WPLOOK) are likely to succeed for the
majority of document problems.
See also Miscellaneous problems,
error messages, etc. and Preventing document
corruption/damage (below).
See Disclaimer. |
- Restore
from a previously backed up document. This
may seem obvious, but under a deadline or panic situation it
can be easy to forget a backup of the document exists.
- Tip: if you want to automate making backups see
here.
- The
"X-Retrieve" method (a/k/a
"X-Insert") is often effective since it rebuilds the
internal prefix for the document. Here's how to do it:
- Step 1. Open a new, blank document (i.e.,
File, New)
- Step 2. Type an "x" (actually,
any character).
- Step 3. Insert the problem file with Insert,
File.
- Step 4. Delete the "x".
- Step 5. Save the file.
Tip: Even if this method seems to fix the problem,
you should seriously consider using the free (and easy to use)
Corel WPLOOK file repair program below
on the document. The x-retrieve method often fixes some problems,
but it will not always remove all internal file corruption, which
WPLOOK might remove -- and prevent from impacting the document
going forward.
Related tip: Using WPLOOK first to repair corruption, then
foregoing using x-retrieve, might not fix things. Use both, in
the recommended sequence of x-retrieve first, then WPLOOK second.
[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) file repair utility, WPLOOK.
Note:
WPLOOK.EXE does not have to be installed
since it is a stand-alone program.
Compatibility:
WPLOOK will work with WordPerfect documents
and templates created in WordPerfect for Windows 6.x and later
versions. It will work in Windows 7 and in earlier versions
of Windows.
Getting it:
- You might already have it. In WordPerfect
X5 (and presumably later versions) the single file WpLook.exe
should be in the installation's Programs folder on your computer.
You can run it from there or create a shortcut to it on your
Windows desktop.
- If you don't have it on your computer it
might be included on your installation CD #2, where you can just
copy it to any convenient folder or to your Windows desktop.
- If you don't have it at all, you can get
it from Corel by downloading it directly from the Corel FTP site
here.
[When you left-click on that file (wplook.exe) on the Corel site
to choose it, a dialog should appear that asks "Would you
like to save this file?" Obviously, answer 'Yes'. It then
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.]
Starting it:
To run it, just double-click on the WpLook
filename on your desktop or use My Computer (or just Computer)
or Windows Explorer to launch it from the folder where it is
located. [Screen shot of WPLOOK]
Before you do this, read "How to use it" below.
A small caveat:
WPLOOK attempts to fix corruption in a file's
internal prefix, which stores a lot of information
about the document, current user settings, printer, etc. However,
it might not clean up corruption in tables, or imported
styles or images.
- Tables can often be fixed with the /recover
start up switch, discussed in this
thread at WordPerfect Universe and (briefly, along with other
startup switches) on this WPToolbox page.
- Styles and images can be deleted and re-imported.
How to use it:
- Step 1. The
first thing to do is read - or at least skim over - Laura Acklen's
brief but excellent article, Using
WPLOOK. Then -
- Step 2. Close
the corrupt document if it is open.
- Back it up?
Note that in the next steps WPLOOK will offer to save the file
it is working on with a different name (i.e., back it up) if
you answer 'No' to a "Save As" message asking
you if you want to replace the existing file. If you answer 'No'
the "saved as" version will be the one WPLOOK works
on when you Repair it in the steps below. If you answer 'Yes'
then WPLOOK will simply replace (over-write) the original file
when you Repair it. If you have no other back up of the original
file it might be a good idea to answer 'No' and work on the renamed
file instead of the original. Then you can load this file in
WordPerfect and test it.
- Step 3. Run
WPLOOK by double-clicking its filename (WpLook.exe) on your desktop
or use My Computer or Windows Explorer to launch it. [The following
information is also found on this screen
shot, which includes basic instructions.]
- When WPLOOK loads 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.
- With WPLOOK on screen, click File, Open on
the WPLOOK menu to load your document in WPLOOK.
- IMPORTANT: When the file is loaded into WPLOOK,
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 Found." Ignore the messages.
Just click Repair several times as discussed above.
- Tips:
- You can also click Edit on the WPLOOK menu
and extract all text from the document, then save the content
to a .TXT file.
- See WPLOOK's Edit menu for a way to "scramble"
a file's text: all characters are turned into Z's, but the formatting
remains the same. This can be helpful when sending a confidential
file to someone who can help with formatting problems. (Be sure
to save the Output file with a different name.)
- Save
without Metadata: In
some cases where X-Insert or WPLOOK will not recover the document,
saving without metadata (a choice available in versions WPOX3
and later, on the File menu) will recover it without loss of
formatting.
- "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.
- Alternative: 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. (See also the next item, "Remove formatting.")
- Alternative: Use a macro to determine
the line in the document where corruption occurs. Here's
one posted by Kenneth Hobson at WordPerfect Universe (scroll
down in that thread for a downloadable version).
- Remove
formatting: Some
users have found that copying the entire document (Ctrl+c) to
the Windows clipboard, then pasting the copied material into
a new blank document with Edit, Paste
Special, Unformatted text does the job of repairing the document.
However, as the name implies, this will remove all formatting,
producing a "plain text" document -- but this is better
than losing the document to corruption. (As plain text, you can
also copy/paste it into Windows WordPad or Notepad and then save
it to disc as a separate text (.TXT) file, as added insurance.)
- Use
QuattroPro: For badly
damaged documents, you can try opening the document in QuattroPro.
(Open QP, click File, Open and change the file type to All Files,
then select the WordPerfect document and open it. Copy the cells
with data and paste the data into a new blank document.) 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. From a Corel support site article (#755359):
- "1. If you have WordPerfect 6,7,8,9,10,
for Windows, copy the contents from the Viewer. To do this:
- 2. Start from a blank document screen and
choose File | Open, click View | Preview | No Preview, then click
ONCE on the document in the left window.
- 3. Right click in the preview window, select
content, left click with the mouse in preview window, hold and
drag through document until highlighted,
- 4. Right click in the preview window and
copy, click close for file open window.
- 5. In a blank document, click Edit | Paste
and the document will be placed in the current screen. Save the
file with new name."
- 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.
(This is especially a good idea if you have upgraded your computer
to Windows 7 and your printer was manufactured before that operating
system became 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!
- From Corel's
Knowledgebase article #3496 (with some added formatting and
editorial comments):
- "If more then one printer is present
on the system, try setting another printer as [your computer's]
default.
- [You can do this in your Windows Control
Panel: Look for Printers and Faxes in Windows XP, or just Printers
in Windows Vista/7. Right-click the icon for the new default
printer, and choose Set as Default. Then, in WordPerfect, you
can turn on (i.e., enable) "Reformat documents for the WordPerfect
default printer on open" in Tools, Files, Environment to
force WordPerfect to use the new default when you open the problem
(or any) document. Or, you can just open the problem document
and choose the new printer in File, Print. If it cures the problem,
you have evidence that the original printer driver is bad or
damaged. To remove and reinstall a printer driver, see here.]
- If you have multiple printers installed, you may be required to remove all the printers [and
printer drivers: see here]
one at a time from your Control Panel and try launching WordPerfect
after the removal of each.
- If no physical printer is available [or
if you want to troubleshoot with a different "known good"
printer driver], 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 just skip the "print
test page" step. Then, in WordPerfect, (1) turn off
(i.e., disable) "Reformat documents for the WordPerfect
default printer on open" in Tools, Files, Environment to
ensure that WordPerfect won't automatically use the default printer
(if different); then (2) open the problem document and choose
the new printer in File, Print. If it cures the problem, you
have evidence that the original driver is bad or damaged. To
remove and reinstall a printer driver, see here.]
- As noted, some problems that appear to be
problems with documents or templates might be caused by a bad
or damaged printer driver. To remove and reinstall a printer
driver, see here.
- 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.
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IV. Fixing
the default template
|
As mentioned above, not only new or existing
documents can become corrupted, but even template files
(.WPT) can suffer damage. This includes the default template
-- the file on which all new (blank) documents and new custom
templates are based; it can become corrupted, too. Note that
this is not as common as corruption in a normal (.WPD) document,
but it happens sometimes
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 and (My) Computer. The default template will show
you how to find it.
- Note: Someone
-- perhaps you -- might have placed the active default template
in a different location than the standard Corel location, so
as to use that location as the default. Be aware that WordPerfect
always looks for, and uses, the default template that is specified
in Tools, Settings, Files, Template. Normally this is the
same name and location as described in the "Standard
location on disk" but it might not be at that location.
Thus it is wise to check the Template dialog to be sure it corresponds
to Step 2 below, so that you rename the correct file.
- Step 2. Rename the default template file to make a backup and temporarily hide the
file from WordPerfect. (This file contains many of your customizations
and settings, which can be recovered later, if required).
- For example, if you use the US version of
WordPerfect X5 (i.e., version number 15) , rename the default
template WP15US.WPT to WP15USBACKUP.WPT, etc. The idea
here is to force WordPerfect -- when it next loads (Step 3 below)
-- to create a new, virgin default template (in our example,
it also will be named WP15US.WPT) when it cannot find a legitimate
default template for your version. The renamed file is temporarily
hidden from the WordPerfect program, so a new one is automatically
created. (A default template is required for proper operation.)
- 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
3495, "How do I migrate or copy items, such as Toolbars,
Menus, and Keyboards, from an older version of WordPerfect®
to my latest version?" (versions 9-X5+). 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 you could -
- Follow the steps recommended by Corel (article
3559 on their Knowledgebase
site), especially if WordPerfect generates an error or hangs/freezes
on opening (a damaged printer driver can also cause this issue.
See here).
- Note that these steps cover local workstations
(not networked systems).
- It might be a good idea to clean out any
temporary files from the Windows Temp folders, then reboot your
computer, before trying the following steps (the free program,
CCleaner, is useful
here.)
- Then -
- If you haven't already done it, apply the
latest Service Pack for your version of WordPerfect.(See Corel's
site under "Support" and "Patches and Updates".)
Relaunch WordPerfect and test.
- Assuming you have the WordPerfect installation
CD available, you can try restoring the program to the factory
defaults to see if the installation was damaged or a modification
to the program is the problem. See Corel's article 3461 on their
Knowledgebase site,
"How do I restore WordPerfect to its factory defaults?"
Restart your computer and relaunch WordPerfect and test.
- Login to your computer using a new Windows
User Profile. Sometimes the profile becomes corrupt and
can impact WordPerfect. Relaunch WordPerfect and test.
- Here's some information about how to create
a new Windows User Profile and copy files from the old Profile
to the new one: If you use Windows 7, see this
page on the Microsoft site. For Windows Vista, see this
page on the Microsoft site. If you are using Windows XP or
earlier, search the Microsoft site for information relevant to
those Windows versions.
- To see if some other program might be interfering
with WordPerfect, you could temporarily disable the Windows Startup
items using MSCONFIG, then restart your computer. (See the Microsoft
site or a good third-party Windows book for help.) Relaunch WordPerfect
and test.
- Visit one of Corel's newsgroups or WordPerfect
Universe's Troubleshooting Forum for more help.
- Try the WPLOOK repair utility listed above.
This author has found occasional template corruption that could
be fixed with WPLOOK.
|
V. Miscellaneous
problems, error messages, etc.
|
This is not a comprehensive list
of possible specific problems and error messages.
The following is a list that might grow in
the future.
- Do you use WordPerfect's automatic backup
features? See here
for suggested time interval settings and recovery-of-work techniques.
(A setting that is too short on a busy computer can corrupt some
large files, or possibly give you a "spinning hourglass"
on screen while WordPerfect continuously tries to save your work,
stopping you from doing anything else with the program.)
- Do you use the Save Workspace option
on the Tools, Settings, Environment, Interface tab? When you try to start WordPerfect and you see the
cursor hourglass (or rotating wheel in recent Windows versions)
... 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 WordPerfect, they get the "hourglass-and-fail"
problem.
- Note:
- If you have included a program shortcut in
your Windows Startup group (so that WordPerfect automatically
loads whenever you start your computer), you might experience
a WordPerfect freeze for the same reasons: the Save Workspace
option was enabled and the last opened document was corrupted.
- Solutions:
- If you think you already have the problem
and can't open WordPerfect, and you are comfortable with editing
your Windows Registry (back it up first!), you can adjust an
entry to force WordPerfect's setting to "Never". See
this
thread at WordPerfect Universe.
- Alternative:
Try this solution from one WordPerfect Universe user ("howell"),
which does not involve the Registry: Exit from WordPerfect and
use Windows Explorer or My Computer to rename the (potentially)
corrupt document -- or even the folder containing it (you can
rename it back to the original later). Then reload WordPerfect.
It may still pop an error message, but it should open. You can
then try to repair the corrupted document, as explained above.
- Prevention:
- Set "Save workspace" to "Never"
to prevent such problems.
- If you are getting a "low memory"
error message when you start WordPerfect, see Corel's support
database Answer ID 753730 at http://corel.force.com/index.
- Does WordPerfect freeze, crash, or generate
errors while loading the program? See Corel's support database
Answer ID 754025 at http://corel.force.com/index
which discusses possible factors (some of which are addressed
above) including a corrupt Windows user profile, interference
from other startup items, etc.
- Here's some information about how to create
a new Windows User Profile and copy files from the old
Profile to the new one: If you use Windows 7, see this
page on the Microsoft site. For Windows Vista, see this
page on the Microsoft site. If you are using Windows XP or
earlier, search the Microsoft site for information relevant to
those Windows versions.
- To see if some other program might be interfering
with WordPerfect, you could temporarily disable the Windows Startup
items using MSCONFIG, then restart your computer. (See the Microsoft
site or a good third-party Windows book for help.) Relaunch WordPerfect
and test.
- Networks. 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.
- Disappearing WordPerfect icon on the taskbar.
- This is often a sign of a corrpt default
template. See here for solutions.
- Tables. 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" (or see here). There, you will find information
on using the /recover startup switch, which "Rebuilds
table information in the prefix of the document upon retrieval."
- Program damaged? 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.
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VI. Preventing
document corruptio and damage
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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.)
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 reusing the same document, over
and over, as a "template." Constantly
deleting, copying, pasting, inserting, etc., can eventually lead
to a corrupt document. It is better to create a template which
will "spawn" fresh, uncorrupted copies as needed. The
template can be nothing more fancy than a document with a logo,
or it can be an automated template that asks for information,
inserts it in various places, etc. See Custom
templates on the Default template
page for more information.
- 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.
- Windows 7:
You need Administrator rights to do the following:
- Click the Start orb on the Windows desktop,
then follow this path:
- Control Panel, System and Security, System,
Device Manager, then choose Disk Drives. Right-click on the drive,
then click Properties.
- On the dialog that opens, choose the Policies
tab, and disable (un-tick) "Enable write caching on the
device."
- Click OK.
- 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.
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Barry MacDonnell's