Problem with lost MS Office files

[Leslie]

When I edit MS Word or PowerPoint files, then frequently the file icon will not update as it should. The changes will be in there, but the date modified stays the way it was before. At other times, I will do a save and/or a save as, and the file icon will totally disappear. It's still there somewhere most of the time. If I remember the name, I can search and find it. Then it's possible to save it onto a thumb drive and copy it over from the thumb drive into the original folder. It's a pain in the neck. Sometimes these files totally disappear, never to be seen again, but that's rare. This does not happen with pictures.

My computer is free of viruses--checked that. We still have a third license for the MS Office that was originally loaded onto this machine. But if the program is defective, that will not touch the problem. We will travel to the States in another couple weeks and it will be necessary to buy there--can't buy here in-country.

What would you suggest--reloading the MS Office we have, buying a new one, or (horrors) having to buy a new computer?

 

[HoldFast]

Reinstall MS Office and see if that helps.

 

[fredtgreco]

Can you go into Word and report what the save settings are? Maybe a screenshot if you can?

 

[Edward]

What version of MS Office?

 

[Leslie]

It's 2010. How does one get into Word and find the save settings? I'm racing against time here since my anti-virus expires in 48 hours and I'm having trouble loading AVG to replace Norton, which I hate.

 

[Edward]

It's 2010.

I probably can't help with MS Office, then. I use older versions at work and home.

An emergency work around might be OpenOffice. Free, and it would enable you to open, edit, and save doc files. (Defaults to a different format on save, but 'save as' works.)

For Virus, you might try the free Microsoft Security Essentials version. Scans can be slow, but it's better than Norton.

 

[Berean]

replace Norton, which I hate.

If you're having trouble getting rid of Norton, try their removal tool.

Download and run the Norton Removal Tool to uninstall your Norton product | Norton Support

 

[fredtgreco]

It's 2010. How does one get into Word and find the save settings? I'm racing against time here since my anti-virus expires in 48 hours and I'm having trouble loading AVG to replace Norton, which I hate.

No need to race against time. You can remove Norton with the removal tool below. I would recommend MS Security Essentials rather than AVG.

To find the Save settings, go to the "File" tab. Then click "Options" then "Save" it should show you the save options. If you can take a screenshot, do that and post it here. If not, tell us what the settings are.

 

[Ask Mr. Religion]

When I edit MS Word or PowerPoint files, then frequently the file icon will not update as it should. The changes will be in there, but the date modified stays the way it was before. At other times, I will do a save and/or a save as, and the file icon will totally disappear. It's still there somewhere most of the time. If I remember the name, I can search and find it. Then it's possible to save it onto a thumb drive and copy it over from the thumb drive into the original folder. It's a pain in the neck. Sometimes these files totally disappear, never to be seen again, but that's rare. This does not happen with pictures.

I have had this happen when working with files saved to my Desktop versus saved to a local file elsewhere. I also have files I am working on that are saved on the Desktop inexplicably revert to read-only. You should be able to locate a recently edited file using the File menu and the list of recent files that appears therein. Disable the fast save option in Word, too, as this causes plenty of problems. Try opening a recently edited file from the File menu and then save it elsewhere. This will tell you where the original file is located so you can investigate why the file icon is not appearing properly.