Word for MS-DOS: Corruption When Updating Summary Information
The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft Word for MS-DOS versions 5.0
SYMPTOMS
When you save a document in Word for MS-DOS version 5.0, the summary
information may become corrupt or the system may lock up if the computer's
system clock is set to a date that is not between 1/1/80 and 12/31/99.
The problem seems to occur regardless of whether the Summary Sheet field is
set to No or Yes in the Options menu. Also, the problem does not occur in
earlier versions of Word or in Word version 5.50.
CAUSE
If the system clock is set to a date with a year of 2000 or later, the
"creation date" and "revision date" fields will default to invalid
dates the first time the document is saved.
For example, if the system date is November 8, 2010, the creation and
revision dates will appear as 11/8/110 when the document is saved.
Word will not accept this date and prompts with the error message
"Not a valid date format." The summary information will be saved
incorrectly regardless of whether ESC is pressed or the dates are
changed to valid dates.
If a file that has been saved under these conditions is selected and
updated in the Library Document Retrieval menu, the summary information
will become corrupted with strange characters, text from other menus, or
other file names (the dates will probably change to 00/00/00). In some
cases, if the file has been saved several times, the computer will hang.
This problem will occur even if No is selected in the Summary Sheet field
in the Options menu.
WORKAROUND
Once a the summary information for a file has been corrupted in this
manner, use the following steps to correct the problem:
1. At the MS-DOS prompt, type "date" (without the quotation marks) and
press ENTER. Type a new date that is between 1/1/80 and 12/31/99.
2. Choose Transfer Load, and type the name of the corrupted file.
3. Choose Transfer Save, type a new file name, and press ENTER.
4. When Word prompts for the summary information, the information will
still appear corrupted. Press ESC (instead of ENTER).
5. The new file should no longer have corrupted summary information.
If the computer resets the date to the year 2000 or later on start-up, the
date will need to be changed with a system configuration disk (the
instructions for setting the computer's system date will vary depending on
the computer manufacturer).
STATUS
This problem has been corrected in Microsoft Word version 5.5 for MS-DOS.
Additional reference words: y2k
Keywords : kb2000
Version : MS-DOS: 5.0
Platform : MS-DOS
Issue type : kbbug
Solution Type : kbnofix
