The word file does not open after saving to the USB

[karol_zurek]

I have a damaged Word Document that was saved to a USB. It went from a size of 177kb to 4kb. The error: "Unexpected end of input. Location: Part: word/document.xml, Line: 2, column: 12679" Is there anything that can be done? Help.

 

[Yami]

It sounds like only a portion of the file was written to the USB storage device. This would explain why the file is smaller than expected, and why Word is complaining that it ends sooner than expected.

If this is the case, then it's unlikely that any more of the file actually exists on the USB storage device.

Perhaps the USB storage device was removed before the file had been completely written? This is why in Windows you should use the Safely Remove menu.

 

[SydneyWade]

When a Word document file is corrupted, then you can try several methods to recover it:
1. First of all, you can try the recovery function integrated with Microsoft Word, as follows:
1) On the File menu, click Open.
2) In the Look in list, click the drive, folder, or Internet location that contains the file that you want to open.
3) In the folder list, locate and open the folder that contains the file.
4) Select the file that you want to recover.
5) Click the arrow next to the Open button, and then click Open and Repair.
You may find more information about this at:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/w...text-from-a-damaged-document-HP005189610.aspx (for Word 2003)
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/893672/en-us (for Word 2007/2010/2013)
2. If you have multiple corrupt Word documents, then you can use the VBA macro provided in articlehttp://support.microsoft.com/kb/893672/en-us so that all the files will be opened in "Open and Repair" option automatically.

 

[SydneyWade]

Here's something to look at:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;87856
https://community.office365.com/en-us/f/172/t/269739

 

[Frosty is a Snowman]

Run some recovery software on the memory stick, such as easeus or r-studio.
This may help fin a pervious or temp version of the file.

You could also try a word recovery application. These usually recover the basic text, without formatting.

If you know what you are doing with XML you could try yo repair or manually recover the text.
Thus can be done by renaming the word file from a .docx file to a .zip file.
You can then view all the internal files of the word document, mainly the document.XML file

But I have to agree with most people that this file appears corrupt and cannot be repaired, just due to the size.

In future I would advise that you save word files to your desktop. Then once you have completed the work, copy it to a memory stick, and use that only for transporting files, and not as an active drive.

 

[karol_zurek]

Thank you all for your advice! The issue has been resolved.

 

[1etherer]

Thank you all for your advice! The issue has been resolved.

Please could you let us know how you solved this as it may help others here in the future

 

[BoseWolf]

i'm gonna take a bet and say they saved a rich text document as a normal one or something similar.