You receive a "The document name or path is not valid" error message when you open a document in Word 2002 (328100)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Word 2002
This article was previously published under Q328100

SYMPTOMS

When you use Word 2002 to try to open a document, you may receive the following error message:
The document name or path is not valid. Try these suggestions.
  • Check the file permissions for the document or drive.
  • Use the File Open dialog box to locate the document.
C:\...\file path\file name

RESOLUTION

Service Pack Information

This problem is corrected in Office XP Service Pack 3. To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Microsoft Office XP. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

307841 OFFXP: How to Obtain the Latest Office XP Service Pack

Hotfix Information

After you install the hot fix, you will have to do an Open and Repair from the File|Open menu. This hotfix allows you to successfully open the files by using Open and Repair without using safe mode (/safe) for Word.

Note If you use a document management system to manage your document workflow, you will not be able to use this hotfix because Microsoft Word's Open and Repair feature will not be accessible. Most document management systems do not provide access to this feature.

A supported fix is now available from Microsoft, but it is only intended to correct the problem described in this article. Only apply it to systems that are experiencing this specific problem. This fix may receive additional testing to further ensure product quality. Therefore, if you are not severely affected by this problem, Microsoft recommends that you wait for the next Office XP Service Pack that contains this hotfix.

To resolve this problem immediately, contact Microsoft Product Support Services to obtain the fix. For a complete list of Microsoft Product Support Services phone numbers and information about support costs, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;EN-US;CNTACTMS

Note In special cases, charges that are ordinarily incurred for support calls may be canceled if a Microsoft Support Professional determines that a specific update will resolve your problem. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for the specific update in question.

The English version of this fix has the file attributes (or later) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in coordinated universal time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time tool in Control Panel. 
   Date         Time   Size       File name
   --------------------------------------------
   13-Dec-2002  16:52  5,501,152  Winword.msp
   13-Dec-2002  17:42  6,633,192  Winwordff.msp
After the hotfix is installed, the following files will have the listed attributes or later:
   Date         Time   Version      Size        File name
   --------------------------------------------------------
   13-Dec-2002  08:58  10.0.4810.0  10,598,984  Winword.exe

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, use either of the following methods.

Method 1: Use the Word 2002 Safe Mode

  1. Start Word 2002 in Safe mode. For more information about how to do so, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

    827706 Description of Office Safe Mode for Word 2003 and Word 2002

  2. Open your problem document.
  3. Put the insertion point at the end of a paragraph.
  4. Type a blank space.
  5. Save your document, and then close your document.
  6. Repeat steps 2 through 5 for each affected document.
  7. Quit Word.

Method 2: Disable Smart Tags

  1. Start Word 2002.
  2. On the Tools menu, click Options.
  3. Click the Save tab.
  4. Click to clear the Embed smart tags check box.
  5. Click OK.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article. This problem was first corrected in Office XP Service Pack 3.

MORE INFORMATION

This problem has been reported to occur in environments that use the Smart Tag technology.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:4/7/2006
Keywords:kbQFE KBHotfixServer kbopenfile kberrmsg kbenv kbbug kbfix kbOfficeXPPreSP2fix kbOfficeXPsp2fix KB328100
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