How to troubleshoot a damaged publication in Publisher

Try to open the publication

After you start the computer in Safe Mode, try to open the publication. If you do not receive an error message, a program or a device that is loaded when the computer is in normal mode may interfere with the publication.

Paste the publication into the Publisher program file

You may be able to open the publication by pasting it into the Publisher program file. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Start Windows Explorer.

2. Locate the publication file.

3. Right-click the publication file, and then click Copy.

4. Quit Windows Explorer.

5. Click Start, click Run, type one of the following lines in the Open box, and then click OK:

   For Publisher 2003
   C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office11
   For Publisher 2002
   C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10
   For Publisher 2000
   C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office

6. Right-click the Mspub.exe program file, and then click Paste.

If you cannot open the publication, go to the next method.

Double-click the publication file in Windows Explorer

To double-click the publication file in Windows Explorer, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, point to Programs, and then click Windows Explorer.

2. Locate the publication file.

3. Double-click the publication file.

If you cannot open the publication, go to the next method.

Configure Publisher to hide pictures

To configure Publisher to hide pictures, follow these steps:

1. Start Publisher, and then open a new, blank publication.

2. On the View menu, click Picture Display in Publisher 2000 or click Pictures in Publisher 2003 or in Publisher 2002.

3. Click Hide pictures, and then click OK.

4. On the File menu, click Open.

5. Locate the publication file.

6. Click to select the publication, and then click Open.

If you can open the publication, the publication may contain a damaged object or object placeholder. To remove or replace a damaged object or object placeholder, go to the next method.

If you cannot open the publication, go to the "Copy the publication to a second computer" method.

Find and remove a damaged object or object placeholder

To find and remove a damaged object or object placeholder, follow these steps:

1. In the publication, right-click an object placeholder, and then click Delete Object.

2. On the File menu, click Save As.

3. In the Name box, type a new name for the publication, and then click Save.

4. On the View menu, click Picture Display in Publisher 2000 or click Pictures in Publisher 2003 or in Publisher 2002.

5. Click Detailed display, and then click OK.
   
   Note If you receive an error message, go to step 8.

6. On the File menu, click Close.

7. On the File menu, click Open, and then click the publication that you saved in step 3.
   
   If you can open the publication, the object or the object placeholder that you deleted in step 1 is damaged. Adjust your layout to the missing object or object placeholder. Alternatively, draw a new object placeholder and replace the deleted object with one that is not damaged. To do this, use the method that is appropriate for your object source.
   
   From the ClipArt Gallery

   1. On the Insert menu, point to Picture, and then click Clip Art.

   2. From one of the available categories, click to insert the picture, the sound, or the motion clip that you want.

   3. Save and then close the publication. Then, try to reopen the publication.

   From a location other than the ClipArt Gallery

   1. Use the Picture Frame tool to draw a new object placeholder.

   2. Click to select the placeholder, point to Picture on the Insert menu, and then click From File.

   3. Locate the picture that you want to insert, and then click to select it.

   4. Click Insert.

   5. Save and then close the publication. Then, try to reopen the publication.

   If you cannot open the publication, repeat the "Configure Publisher to hide pictures" method. Then, go to step 8.

8. Repeat steps 1 through 7 until you can open the publication with the Detailed display option enabled.

9. When you can open the publication, use one of the following methods:

   • Replace the deleted object or object placeholder with one that is not damaged.

   • Adjust the layout to the missing object or object placeholder.

10. On the File menu, click Save.

If you still cannot open the publication, go to the next method.

Move the publication file to another disk

If your publication file is located on a removable disk, such as a floppy disk or a Zip disk, Windows may not be able to read the file. In this scenario, copy the file to the hard disk.

If you cannot copy the file from the removable disk, the file may be cross-linked with other files or folders. Alternatively, the file may be located in a damaged sector of the disk. In either scenario, go to the "Run Error Checking on the disk" method.

Copy the publication to a second computer

In some scenarios, you can open a damaged publication after you copy the publication to a second computer that has Publisher installed. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Start Windows Explorer.

2. Locate the publication file.

3. Right-click the publication file, and then click Copy.

4. Use one of the following methods to copy the publication to a second computer:
   

   • Copy the publication file to a removable disk, such as a floppy disk or a Zip disk. Then, copy the publication from the removable disk to a second computer.

   • Copy the publication file to a second computer over a network.

5. On the second computer, start Windows Explorer.

6. Locate and then double-click the publication file.

If you can open the publication, examine each page to determine whether any blank object placeholders are present. For each blank object placeholder that you find, right-click the file, and then click Delete. Save the publication, and then copy the publication file back to the first computer.

If you cannot open the publication, go to the next method.

Run Error Checking on the disk

Run Error Checking to repair all errors on the disk. Instruct Error Checking to repair all cross-linked files and to convert lost fragments to files.

Note Although Error Checking may determine that the publication file is cross-linked and then repair the file, this method does not guarantee that Publisher can read the file after Error Checking has finished scanning and fixing errors.

To run Error Checking, follow these steps:

1. Quit all programs that are running.

2. Double-click the My Computer icon on the desktop.

3. Right-click the local disk that you want to check, and then click Properties.

4. On the Tools tab, click Check Now under Error-checking.

5. Under Check disk options, click to select the Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors check box. Then, click Start.

6. When Error Checking finishes scanning and fixing errors, click Close.

7. Start Publisher, and then try to open the publication.

If you cannot open the publication, go to the next method.

Try to recover the text in the publication

This method describes how to recover the text from your damaged publication and how to insert the recovered text into a new, blank publication. You must then re-create the layout and reinsert all the objects from the damaged publication into the new publication.

To recover text from the damaged publication and then insert the text into a new publication, follow these steps:

1. Start Publisher, and then create a new, blank, full-page Publication.

2. Use the Text Frame tool in Publisher 2000 or the Text Box tool in Publisher 2003 or in Publisher 2002 to draw a text frame on the blank page.

3. On the Insert menu, click Text File.

4. In the Files of type box, click
   Publisher Files (*.pub).

5. Click your publication, and then click OK.
   
   If you receive a message that states how the text that you want to insert fits on the page, click Yes.

Copy pages from the damaged publication to a new publication

To copy pages from a damaged publication to a new publication, follow these steps:

1. Start Publisher, and then open the damaged publication.

2. Start another instance of Publisher.

3. Create a new, blank publication that is configured the same as the damaged publication.

4. In the damaged publication, select all the objects on a particular page.

5. On the Edit menu, click Copy.

6. Press ALT+TAB to switch to the new publication.

7. On the Edit menu, click Paste.

8. Repeat steps 4 through 7 until all the pages are pasted into the new publication.

Note If you notice odd behavior in the new publication after you copy a page to the new publication, that copied page probably contains a damaged object. In this scenario, use one of the following methods to work around this issue:

• Copy one object at a time from the problem page to the new publication to determine which object is damaged. Then, make sure not to include the damaged object in the new publication.

• Rebuild the problem page in the new publication.

If each page in the publication is damaged, go to the next method.

Save the publication in RTF (Rich Text Format) format

If the damage to your publication seems widespread, save the publication in RTF format to recover the text of the publication. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Open the publication.

2. Click a text frame.

3. In the Save as type box, click
   Rich Text Format (*.rtf).

4. In the File name box, type the file name that you want.

5. In the Save in box, click the folder in which you want to save the text of your publication.

6. Click Save, and then click OK.

7. Close the publication.

8. On the File menu, click Open.

9. In the Files of type box, click
   Rich Text Format (*.rtf).

10. In the list of files, click the text file that you saved in step 6.

11. Click Open.

12. Lay out and format the text in a manner that duplicates how the text is laid out and formatted in the damaged publication.