Word 2011 document changed to all asterisks!

BrianLachoreVPI


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Scrivener as a package looks really nice. If most of my writing didn't include a fair amount of Math - I'd almost certainly use it - but I'm pretty much stuck with Word. Fortunately I haven't seen this bug yet - and my SOP should be sufficient to limit any damage should it occur.
 
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Just happened to me, too. I found that I could get some work back by going into my last Time Machine Backup and then using the pathway
Documents/Microsoft User Data/Office 2011 AutoRecovery and finding the autosave doc there. But ***?

Also - AutoRecover in Word does not work until you set the file location in Word Preferences - File Locations. I forgot to reset it when I installed this latest version of Word. Dang it.
 

chscag

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Good for you having a Time Machine backup! One hint about setting the location of the auto recovery and backup: I set them to my documents folder. That way I can glance through that folder every once in awhile and delete the old backups or auto recovery files.

Word 2008 and 2011 will also sometimes dump the auto recovery folder into the Trash upon a reboot. So be sure to look there also.
 
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OH yeah - a "critical" software update became available on 14/6/11 and the MS consultant recommended on the Office for Mac forum that everyone install it forthwith. Doesn't say that it will solve the asterisk problem, but the main points from all his advice are:

Save every time you pause to think.
Shut Word down at least once a day.
Log out on your machine every night to allow OSX to do its housekeeping.
Reboot your machine at least once a week.
Have automatic back-up checked.
Don't use Track Changes.
Uncheck "keep track of formatting."
 

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OH yeah - a "critical" software update became available on 14/6/11 and the MS consultant recommended on the Office for Mac forum that everyone install it forthwith. Doesn't say that it will solve the asterisk problem, but the main points from all his advice are:

Save every time you pause to think.
Shut Word down at least once a day.
Log out on your machine every night to allow OSX to do its housekeeping.
Reboot your machine at least once a week.
Have automatic back-up checked.
Don't use Track Changes.
Uncheck "keep track of formatting."

Not using Track Changes would be a deal breaker. :Angry:
 
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I think those last two are really his way of dealing with the likelihood of your document failing. In his words, those two features turn your docs into "code salad." Me, I'm installing Pages now and will be using it from now on to finish my book.
 

chscag

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You're certainly not the only one who is disappointed in the response from MS. I wish I could switch over to Pages as you did but I have a very old copy of iWork (08) and my Word documents and templates do not transpose correctly. Perhaps when iWork 11 is released I'll try again.

In the meantime, I'm going to download the Scrivener trial version and see how well my docs and templates transpose. Thanks for posting back.
 
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Think I need a new job, gardening rather than academia. Pages doesn't interface with Zotero, and I'd rather eat glass than go back to Endnote. Zotero does interface with NeoOffice, but they promise on the front page of their website that their software WILL crash and have bugs. So, stuck with Word '11. Will do all the fixes, follow all the advice and see how I go.
 
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Have you guys with asterisks tried opening the document with other applications (TextEdit, Openoffice...) Do you still have asterisks?

For long writing projects, just use scrivener.
 

chscag

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@Virgeist:

Once the document turns to asterisks, it's toast. Gone forever. :Angry-Tongue:
 
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@Virgeist:

Once the document turns to asterisks, it's toast. Gone forever. :Angry-Tongue:

I... I knew in my heart it was gone. But I refused to believe it. I was grasping at straws, in complete denial. ;D

Seriously though, I ALWAYS keep spare copies of my work and valuable documents. Not just time machine backups, but USB key backups (since text files are small) as well, often in PDF form to avoid any form of file corruption. The only thing I don't do is printing copies, because of the cost of ink.
 

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I'm the same way. I have Word set to make backups every time I edit a document and also have the automatic backup timer set to every 5 minutes. Another trick is to not open the original document to edit but rather tell Word to open a "copy". That way if the "Black Plague" strikes, you always have a well patient to work with. :)
 
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Same Asterisk Problem

My girlfriend has this same problem and it happens to be 29 pages as well. Not sure if the page numbers are consistent, but one other person mentioned that number.

We did find that she can UNDO about 400 characters and then it changes back to normal text. Weird Mac stuff i guess.

Hope we find a solution, she is studying for the bar and this is the last thing she needs to worry about. Not to mention how her attitude ultimately affects the way i get to enjoy my nights as well....
 

BrianLachoreVPI


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Not to mention how her attitude ultimately affects the way i get to enjoy my nights as well....

LOL - I'd be filing a bug report with Microsoft STAT!! Heck, you might even have a civil claim here... ;D
 
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:D The asterisk bug. I did see people crying. Just removed Mac Office from 214 Macs in our company. Nobody is allowed to use it any more. Costs for training seminars and an additional employee for the liftover to the new solution are nothing, compared to what happened with the asterisks. This is the end of it and next next week we remove it from the Windows PCs. However, its going to be boring for me in the future...
 

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asterisks devastation

The asterisks attacked my novel, sixty single spaced pages irretrievably gone in mere moments. Months worth of work lost. Having never seen this before, I did not intervene quickly enough to stop Auto Save making the asterisks permanent (the night before a critical deadline--classic). Instead I was online, looking for answers. Hours of subsequent research yielded no clues, and the Genius Bar people had never even heard of this. Finally an online consultant at 'Just Answer' directed me here. I save obsessively, but apparently must now look beyond manual actions, computer settings, and Time Machine in doing so. It's virtually impossible to find any mention of this bug, which people should be made aware of even if there isn't yet a solution--at least then they can take preventative measures. Just completely inexcusable.
 

BrianLachoreVPI


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I agree - it is inexcusable - and fortunately I haven't encountered it personally. If you do have a Time Machine backup - that should have your document for you. Hopefully you have one?
 

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chscag

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It's virtually impossible to find any mention of this bug, which people should be made aware of even if there isn't yet a solution--at least then they can take preventative measures. Just completely inexcusable.

You didn't look hard enough. The bug is well documented and has been for some time.

Here's a link to it with work arounds.

Also, I advise anyone who is working on large documents (writing a novel, magazine articles, PHD dissertations, and the like) to avoid using Word altogether. Scrivener is a professional writing tool for large documents and has no known bugs.
 

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