Unable to Open Word Documents
|
|
OP
Joined: Aug 2009
|
My daughter recently moved many MS documents from a backup drive to her new iMac. Most of these documents open normally. But several others do not. When she tries to open them, Terminal launches.
So my daughter sent the file to me, and when I try, this is what I get:
"Last login: Wed Sep 26 10:16:00 on console Harv:~ harvey$ /Users/harvey/Desktop/QUITCLAIM\ DEED\ 2 ; exit; -bash: /Users/harvey/Desktop/QUITCLAIM DEED 2: cannot execute binary file logout
[Process completed]"
FWIW, Apple suggested she call Microsoft. But is there a better/easier way to put these files to right?
Harv 27" i7 iMac (10.13.6), iPhone Xs Max (12.1)
Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
|
|
Re: Unable to Open Word Documents
|
Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 7
|
Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 7 |
Try something simple: Do a Get Info on the problem file(s) and change Open With to MS Word.
Jon
macOS 11.7.10, iMac Retina 5K 27-inch, late 2014, 3.5 GHz Intel Core i5, 1 TB fusion drive, 16 GB RAM, Epson SureColor P600, Photoshop CC, Lightroom CC, MS Office 365
|
|
Re: Unable to Open Word Documents
|
|
OP
Joined: Aug 2009
|
Jon, Bingo!
After I changed the Get Info and then directed Word to open "Recover Text From Any File", voilà !
There is (of course) a small pagination error, but that is easily put to right.
My daughter will, no doubt, think I'm brilliant.
Always, my thanks.
Last edited by Pendragon; 09/27/12 03:09 PM. Reason: Corrected Word Opening protocol
Harv 27" i7 iMac (10.13.6), iPhone Xs Max (12.1)
Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
|
|
Re: Unable to Open Word Documents
|
Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 7
|
Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 7 |
You're welcome, Harv. Glad to be of help. You'd think that Apple could have deigned to give the same advice instead of thumbing their nose at anything by MS.
Jon
macOS 11.7.10, iMac Retina 5K 27-inch, late 2014, 3.5 GHz Intel Core i5, 1 TB fusion drive, 16 GB RAM, Epson SureColor P600, Photoshop CC, Lightroom CC, MS Office 365
|
|
Re: Unable to Open Word Documents
|
|
OP
Joined: Aug 2009
|
The only advice the Apple tech provided was that he provided a MS phone number. The validity/usefulness of that number, ah, now that gives me pause…
Harv 27" i7 iMac (10.13.6), iPhone Xs Max (12.1)
Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
|
|
Re: Unable to Open Word Documents
|
Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 1
|
Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 1 |
Harv:~ harvey$ /Users/harvey/Desktop/QUITCLAIM\ DEED\ 2 ; exit;
That's the important bit right there. It looks like the file is named quitclaim deed 2; is that right? If so, the computer can't figure out what to do with it because it's missing the .doc (or .docx) extension from the end. I bet if you rename it to quitclaim deed 2.doc (or possibly .docx, depending on how it was saved), it will re-open correctly without needing to do the salvage-text-from-file tango.
|
|
Re: Unable to Open Word Documents
|
|
OP
Joined: Aug 2009
|
Harv:~ harvey$ /Users/harvey/Desktop/QUITCLAIM\ DEED\ 2 ; exit;
That's the important bit right there. It looks like the file is named quitclaim deed 2; is that right? If so, the computer can't figure out what to do with it because it's missing the .doc (or .docx) extension from the end. I bet if you rename it to quitclaim deed 2.doc (or possibly .docx, depending on how it was saved), it will re-open correctly without needing to do the salvage-text-from-file tango. I tried that, Tacit, and alas, no joy. The file icon will change from Terminal to Word, but to actually open the file requires that I first open Word and then "Recover Text From Any file". Indeed I remain confused, but happy that I can (at least) achieve some success.
Harv 27" i7 iMac (10.13.6), iPhone Xs Max (12.1)
Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
|
|
Re: Unable to Open Word Documents
|
|
Joined: Aug 2009
|
Another thought in such cases: TextEdit can open Word documents preserving most if not all formatting
Alex 2.66 GHz 17" MacBook Pro, 4 GB RAM, OS 10.5.7, Office 2008, TimeWarner Cable
|
|
Re: Unable to Open Word Documents
|
|
OP
Joined: Aug 2009
|
Another thought in such cases: TextEdit can open Word documents preserving most if not all formatting I had forgotten about that, Macnerd, so thanks for reminding me. I did give TE a go and indeed it did open the file. While much of the pagination was intact, the process via Word was a bit cleaner. Still, 'tis a tip I'll try to remember.
Harv 27" i7 iMac (10.13.6), iPhone Xs Max (12.1)
Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
|
|
|
|