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Files becoming corrupted


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Hi, I have had a friend give me very scant details on an issue they are having.  Let me break it down:

 

* They are using MS Office

* Saving files to hard drive, sometimes they save fine sometimes they cannot reopen them with Word saying they are corrupted.

* This occurs in all other MS Office filetypes

* It also occurs when saving to a number of USB memory sticks

* Files are fine if they are sent as attachments

 

What I've not been able to ascertain (as I am not at PC):

 

* Is it only Office filetypes

 

Now, I know it's a sledgehammer to crack a walnut, but I'm not going to be paid for this work, so I have glibly said "Backup, wipe, reinstall" and left it at that.  But I'm actually kinda curious - any ideas?

 

They are running AVG which has been recently updated, so I don't believe it to be virus related.

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Hi, I have had a friend give me very scant details on an issue they are having.  Let me break it down:

 

* They are using MS Office

* Saving files to hard drive, sometimes they save fine sometimes they cannot reopen them with Word saying they are corrupted.

* This occurs in all other MS Office filetypes

* It also occurs when saving to a number of USB memory sticks

* Files are fine if they are sent as attachments

 

What I've not been able to ascertain (as I am not at PC):

 

* Is it only Office filetypes

 

Now, I know it's a sledgehammer to crack a walnut, but I'm not going to be paid for this work, so I have glibly said "Backup, wipe, reinstall" and left it at that.  But I'm actually kinda curious - any ideas?

 

They are running AVG which has been recently updated, so I don't believe it to be virus related.

had this issue before.. Definitely the hard drive is failing..

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I've have had this problem too like around 10-20 years ago.  But that was when my computer is trying to save data that my hard drive could not handle the packets.  I assume it has something to do with "Write-caching buffer" on that drive.  This happens a lot of not set properly when you are using the IDE cable.  I do not have that problem at all now that I am using only the SATA drive.  But then again, this is only my speculation.

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If files are also appearing corrupted when saving to external USB then it's unlikely to be an issue with the host HDD failing. I'd ask them to make sure their office is patched up with the latest SP & patches & then to run an AV scan with an AV that doesn't beat around the bush such as nod32 or Kaspersky, I know the latter has a 30 day no restriction free trial.

Failing that, there's nothing better than wiping and starting over.

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I had a virus in the 90's that would pick specific types of files and corrupt them, text files, doc files etc. I imagine they still have virii out in the wild that do this sort of thing. Should def check for virus, if the virus scan bombs (cant scan files), id check the ram.

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Hi, I have had a friend give me very scant details on an issue they are having.  Let me break it down:

 

* They are using MS Office

* Saving files to hard drive, sometimes they save fine sometimes they cannot reopen them with Word saying they are corrupted.

* This occurs in all other MS Office filetypes

* It also occurs when saving to a number of USB memory sticks

* Files are fine if they are sent as attachments

 

What I've not been able to ascertain (as I am not at PC):

 

* Is it only Office filetypes

 

Now, I know it's a sledgehammer to crack a walnut, but I'm not going to be paid for this work, so I have glibly said "Backup, wipe, reinstall" and left it at that.  But I'm actually kinda curious - any ideas?

 

They are running AVG which has been recently updated, so I don't believe it to be virus related.

 

Look at memory. If there are multiple modules installed try removing each module or set, and then swap to see if it clears up the errors.

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Look at memory. If there are multiple modules installed try removing each module or set, and then swap to see if it clears up the errors.

 

Doubtful that memory would only pick out Office files to corrupt. Like someone else said, it's probably the HDD.

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Doubtful that memory would only pick out Office files to corrupt. Like someone else said, it's probably the HDD.

Doubtful its the hard drive if its also corrupting on multiple usb drives.

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* Saving files to hard drive, sometimes they save fine sometimes they cannot reopen them with Word saying they are corrupted.

* Files are fine if they are sent as attachments

What does this mean? If you e-mail a file that won't open on your friend's computer to another computer, will it open fine?

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Actually, it does.

No it doesn't, if you want to spread FUD go and post it on a forum no-one else uses.

 

Sounds like the cryptovirus to me, but could be any malware that infects office files (VBA exploits)

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I have a feeling that the files may not actually be corrupt and it may just be the copy of office is unable to open them correctly due to some sort of add-on. It's also possible that an add-on is corrupting them (someone already mentioned this).

 

No it doesn't, if you want to spread FUD go and post it on a forum no-one else uses.

 

Sounds like the cryptovirus to me, but could be any malware that infects office files (VBA exploits)

 

In his defense, there is other software that has done that in past (Eagle PCB comes to mind). It's the sort of thing that becomes a PR disaster when it goes haywire or means that people with legitimate copies can't use libraries or work from other users. Office certainly doesn't do that for those reasons.

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Does it matter? MS doesn't have a "Save files as corrupt if not valid copy" flag...

 

I've seen bugs in Office which would cause the file not save files correctly. If its an illegal copy there is a possibility he isn't receiving updates.

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I've seen bugs in Office which would cause the file not save files correctly. If its an illegal copy there is a possibility he isn't receiving updates.

 

MS doesn't like leaving illegitimate copies of its own software unpatched because it leads to making the entire windows ecosystem more insecure (that's a great way to help botnets to spread): http://www.tomshardware.com/news/windows-pirate-bootleg-security-patches,7666.html

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No it doesn't, if you want to spread FUD go and post it on a forum no-one else uses.

 

Sounds like the cryptovirus to me, but could be any malware that infects office files (VBA exploits)

You really should do some research.

 

I have a feeling that the files may not actually be corrupt and it may just be the copy of office is unable to open them correctly due to some sort of add-on. It's also possible that an add-on is corrupting them (someone already mentioned this).

 

 

In his defense, there is other software that has done that in past (Eagle PCB comes to mind). It's the sort of thing that becomes a PR disaster when it goes haywire or means that people with legitimate copies can't use libraries or work from other users. Office certainly doesn't do that for those reasons.

(Y)

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You really should do some research.

 

(Y)

Or, you should do research.

They implement non-legitimate checks and when they fail, they use annoying but not destructive methods of trying to get you to buy the product.

If a program annoys the hell out of you with nag-boxes but still fundamentally works, there's a much higher chance of the person buying VS a product that looks incredibly unprofessional and intentionally deletes something you've spent hours on.

I mean, if you can back up anything you've said, please do, I'd love to hear of computers with non-legitimate versions of windows on just spontainiously combusting...

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So reading over this again, you've used the nuclear solution. If it fixed the issue, then we might never figure out why this is occurring. If the issue isn't resolved, then it is likely to be a hardware issue. I'm inclined to think that this was Office-specific rather than hardware-related, since Windows itself reads and writes to the disk constantly when in use. Any global corruption issue would make itself more obvious than you've described (but I could be wrong).

For general troubleshooting with Office in the future, consider the built-in repair function, or creating a new user account to eliminate profile/settings-specific problems:

https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1177283-word-2013-will-not-type/#entry596188639

I know these aren't as effective or hands-off as a complete nuke-and-reinstall, but they are less time-intensive and more informative.

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Or, you should do research.

They implement non-legitimate checks and when they fail, they use annoying but not destructive methods of trying to get you to buy the product.

If a program annoys the hell out of you with nag-boxes but still fundamentally works, there's a much higher chance of the person buying VS a product that looks incredibly unprofessional and intentionally deletes something you've spent hours on.

I mean, if you can back up anything you've said, please do, I'd love to hear of computers with non-legitimate versions of windows on just spontainiously combusting...

Ummm...What in the world are you talking about. I think you're over-thinking this topic.

What exactly do you want me to back up what I have said. All I said/asked is if the copy of office is legal and yes, it does matter. It's all common sense when it comes to legal/illegal copies of software. Right?

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Ummm...What in the world are you talking about. I think you're over-thinking this topic.

What exactly do you want me to back up what I have said. All I said/asked is if the copy of office is legal and yes, it does matter. It's all common sense when it comes to legal/illegal copies of software. Right?

Not really no, because unless there was something up with the office team sleeping whilst releasing updates and patches, there wouldn't be such a huge problem with office.

And as for over thinking? You were the one that said it's common for dodgy versions of office to cause the problem, go and re-read what you put. Not only is that complete baloney but if it was an actual issue, I'm pretty sure that for being a very widely used pirated piece of software, the internet would be full of reports on it.

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