WD95: Error: "Word Cannot Open Document" with Long File Name

You may receive the following series of error messages when you double- click the "New Microsoft Word Document.doc" icon on your desktop: This icon is created when you use the right mouse button to click (right- click) the Windows 95 desktop, point to New, and then click Microsoft Word Document.

NOTE: These error messages may also occur in Windows Explorer when you try to start a document with a long file name if the file name contains spaces.

The registry contains a string value with an incorrect value data string, as in the following examples: In these examples, the %1 represents a file name. Because the %1 is not part of the statement (first example) or is not enclosed in quotation marks (second example), each word in the long file name is interpreted as a single document. As a result, the file name "New Microsoft Word Document.doc" may be interpreted as four documents, not one. Because Word cannot locate these four documents, it displays the error messages.

NOTE: Because there are several versions of Windows, the following steps may be different on your computer. If they are, please consult your product documentation to complete these steps.

To correct the registry, follow these steps:

1. In Windows, right-click the Start button, and click Explore. In Windows Explorer, click Options on the View menu.
2. In the Options dialog box, click the File Types tab.
3. Under Registered File Types, select "Microsoft Word Document," and click Edit.
4. In the Edit File Type dialog box, under Actions, select Open, and then click Edit.
5. In the "Editing action for type" dialog box, the "Application used to perform action" line should point to <path>\Winword.exe, for example:

   "C:\PROGRAM FILES\MICROSOFT OFFICE\OFFICE\WINWORD.EXE" /n %1
   						

   NOTE: The %1 may or may not be present on this line. Change the above line to the following:

   "C:\PROGRAM FILES\MICROSOFT OFFICE\OFFICE\WINWORD.EXE" /n "%1"
   						

   NOTE: The %1 must be enclosed in quotation marks. If the %1 is not on the above line, add the %1 with the quotation marks.
6. Click OK to close the "Editing action for type" dialog box.
7. Click Close to close the "Edit File Type" dialog box.
8. Click Close to close the Options dialog box.

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article.

Errors similar to those listed in the "Symptoms" section of this article will appear for any program that has an invalid registry entry, such as that described in the "Cause" section. Other programs that appear on the shortcut menu when you click New include: You may also encounter these errors in Windows Explorer when you double- click any file that has an undefined file name extension. Windows 95 will prompt you with an "Open With" dialog box so you can choose which program you want to use to open the file.

For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: