opening word documents attached to emails

(Operating System Windows XP Home, Email Program Outlook Express 6, MS Word
2000 with ALL updates)

This week for the first time I have encountered a problem opening Word
documents attached to emails from friends. I save the attachment into my
"Received Files" folder, scan it for viruses and then open it. Word opens
and then I get the following message
"the document name or path os not valid. Try these suggestions
*check the file permissions for the document or drive
*use the "File Open" dialogue box to locate the document
(C:\...\some folder name which I can't find when I "search" for it\file name)

I have tried the suggestions. When I click on properties for the file I see
nothing unusual except under the heading "security" it reads "this file came
from another computer and might be blocked to help protect this computer".
Next to this is a button labelled "Unblock" Seems simple enough only even
after clicking on this button (which, by the way, makes the entire security
message and button disappear) I still get the same message when trying to
open the file.

I have unchecked the "Do not allow attachments to be saved or opened.."
option in Outlook Express, deleted the attachment from the computer, asked
for it to be resent and still get the same result.

I have deleted the attachment from the computer, re-installed Word (leaving
the "Do not allow..." option in OE unchecked) and asked the sender to resend
the attachment and STILL get the same result...

The odd thing is that this has happened with two Word attachments this week,
yet another Word attachment that I received opened just fine (like they used
to). The only difference I can see is that the file that DID open was
smaller (22kb). whereas the other two were 1.62Mb (included photos) and
617kb...

By the way I COULD open both of the files in Wordpad and read the text from
between the gobbledygook it shows for formatting and pictures...

WELL, I think I have fully explained the issue! I would appreciate it
if anyone can help me to resolve this problem sa that I can open these files
and not encounter this problem in future...
--
Thank you and have a great day

Just curious ... what version of Word is the sender using?

By the way, MS has finally released the new version (2003) of the Word
viewer. You may want to download it and try it as well ...

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...DisplayLang=en

--
Bob McCoy
* This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights.
* Please note I cannot respond to email questions. Please use these
newsgroups.

Oh, and since this is a security related group ... if you decide to use
WordPad, please be sure to install the update mentioned in security bulletin
MS04-041:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../MS04-041.mspx
"Vulnerability in WordPad Could Allow Code Execution (885836)"

Nah, you should install it regardless.

--
Bob McCoy
* This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights.
* Please note I cannot respond to email questions. Please use these
newsgroups.

Thank you for suggesting the Word 2003 Viewer. I've downloaded it and tried
opening the file with that program... still no joy unfortunately! Now I get
a message saying:
"Word Viewer experienced an error trying to open the file.
Try these suggestions
*Check the permissions for the document or drive
*Make sure there is sufficient free memory and disk space
*Open the file with the Text Recovery Converter"

By permissions I assume the "Unblock" option is being referred to? If so
then, tried that didn't fix it
There IS sufficient memory and disk space
What/where is Text Recovery Converter?

Having installed the Word Viewer, would it still be helpful to know which
version of Word the document was created in?

I would appreciate any further suggestions!


"Bob McCoy [MSFT]" wrote:

Just curious ... what version of Word is the sender using?

By the way, MS has finally released the new version (2003) of the Word
viewer. You may want to download it and try it as well ...

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...DisplayLang=en

--
Bob McCoy
* This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights.
* Please note I cannot respond to email questions. Please use these
newsgroups.

Having installed the Word Viewer, would it still be helpful to
know which version of Word the document was created in?

Absolutely! I have a theory, but I can't reveal it until you can tell me
positively what created the file in the first place.

--
Bob McCoy
* This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights.
* Please note I cannot respond to email questions. Please use these
newsgroups.

"j_aren'tcomputersgreat!?_grey"
m wrote in message
news
Thank you for suggesting the Word 2003 Viewer. I've downloaded it and
tried
opening the file with that program... still no joy unfortunately! Now I
get
a message saying:
"Word Viewer experienced an error trying to open the file.
Try these suggestions
*Check the permissions for the document or drive
*Make sure there is sufficient free memory and disk space
*Open the file with the Text Recovery Converter"

By permissions I assume the "Unblock" option is being referred to? If so
then, tried that didn't fix it
There IS sufficient memory and disk space
What/where is Text Recovery Converter?

Having installed the Word Viewer, would it still be helpful to know which
version of Word the document was created in?

I would appreciate any further suggestions!


"Bob McCoy [MSFT]" wrote:

Just curious ... what version of Word is the sender using?

By the way, MS has finally released the new version (2003) of the Word
viewer. You may want to download it and try it as well ...

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...DisplayLang=en

--
Bob McCoy
* This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights.
* Please note I cannot respond to email questions. Please use these
newsgroups.

Sorry it has taken so long.
I have since discovered that the same two people from whom I couldn't open
Word Document attachment can't open the same type of document sent by me.

I may have found a POSSIBLE solution (!???) in the Microsoft Knowledge Base
(http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;325718)

I've followed the suggestions mentioned and am waiting to see if this has
worked. I've asked the recipients (the same people whose attachments I
couldn't open) to tell me which version of Word they used creating their
documents and which version of Windows they have...

I'll get back to you to let you know whether the problem has been solved
and, if not, pass on the additional info you requested.

Thanks for your help!

"Bob McCoy [MSFT]" wrote:

Having installed the Word Viewer, would it still be helpful to
know which version of Word the document was created in?

Absolutely! I have a theory, but I can't reveal it until you can tell me
positively what created the file in the first place.

--
Bob McCoy
* This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights.
* Please note I cannot respond to email questions. Please use these
newsgroups.

"j_aren'tcomputersgreat!?_grey"
m wrote in message
news
Thank you for suggesting the Word 2003 Viewer. I've downloaded it and
tried
opening the file with that program... still no joy unfortunately! Now I
get
a message saying:
"Word Viewer experienced an error trying to open the file.
Try these suggestions
*Check the permissions for the document or drive
*Make sure there is sufficient free memory and disk space
*Open the file with the Text Recovery Converter"

By permissions I assume the "Unblock" option is being referred to? If so
then, tried that didn't fix it
There IS sufficient memory and disk space
What/where is Text Recovery Converter?

Having installed the Word Viewer, would it still be helpful to know which
version of Word the document was created in?

I would appreciate any further suggestions!


"Bob McCoy [MSFT]" wrote:

Just curious ... what version of Word is the sender using?

By the way, MS has finally released the new version (2003) of the Word
viewer. You may want to download it and try it as well ...

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...DisplayLang=en

--
Bob McCoy
* This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights.
* Please note I cannot respond to email questions. Please use these
newsgroups.