Error message: "Word found unreadable content

[MJN]

Error message: "Word found unreadable content in FILENAME. Do you want to recover the contents of this document? If you trust the source of this document, click Yes."

After I click Yes, another error message: "Word experienced an error trying to open the file."

I have tried text only recovery method, have tried windows+R to open the file without add ins, and have tried a couple of free "word recovery" softwares. Nothing works. The text recovery returns 65 pages of commands (?) like the following:

t_Hosts
get_TraceSettings
set_TraceSettings
get_SinkType
set_SinkType
get_ClientTraceLevel
set_ClientTraceLevel

I get the same message when I try the windows+R winword method, and the softwares just give me nothing back.

Please help!

[gmayor]

It appears that the document in question is not a Word compatible document.

[wiganken]

Agree with Graham.

Any file can be renamed with a doc or docx extension so that it appears to be a Word document but this does not turn it into a Word document. The data it contains is incompatible so Word cannot open it. Maybe someone has done this and you think you are opening a Word document but you are not?

[MJN]

No the document was created using Word and attempted to reopen on the same computer.

[wiganken]

If Word can open other documents then Word is working OK so, if it only happens with this one document then maybe the file is corrupt and beyond recovery for some reason?

[Guessed]

If it isn't a valid zip file then the chances of recovery are low. Have you checked that already?

You could upload the file here so we can examine its structure and determine whether it is recoverable.

[wiganken]

File corruption can happen on both HDDs and SSDs. See Bad Sectors Explained: Why Hard Drives Get Bad Sectors and What You Can Do About It

If this is the case then you have been unlucky but Andrew might be able to help. Good luck.