You receive an error message when you open a saved Visio drawing: "An error (100) occurred" or "Visio cannot open the file"

When you open a saved Microsoft Visio drawing, you receive one of the following error messages:

Microsoft Office Visio 2007

Error message 1 To determine the unique number that is associated with the message that you receive, press CTRL+SHIFT+I. The following number appears in the lower-right corner of this message: Error message 2 To determine the unique number that is associated with the message that you receive, press CTRL+SHIFT+I. The following number appears in the lower-right corner of this message:

Microsoft Office Visio 2003 and Microsoft Visio 2002

Error message 1Error message 2Note In this error message, File name is the name of the file.

If this problem occurs only with a single drawing or a small group of similar diagrams, your drawing or diagrams probably are damaged.

The information and shapes in a damaged or corrupted drawing can seldom be recovered.

The best way to protect yourself against the data loss that results from a damaged drawing is to keep backup copies of your diagrams. As an alternate to keeping a separate backup copy, you can work with a copy of the Visio drawing instead of the original. To do this, follow these steps:

1. On the File menu, click Open.
2. In the Open dialog box, select a drawing, click the arrow on the Open button, and then click Copy.
   
   Note In Visio 2007, click the arrow on the Open button, and then click Open as Copy.

For more information about how to troubleshoot damaged drawings, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: