Posted this once or tried to and lost the lost. So I'll try again.
 Hi,
I am a complete NOVICE.
I have several corrupt files and documents with the following symbols
~$ with the rest of my file name
~WRL with rest of my document name.
Please can someone advise me how to recover these very important files and documents.
I have followed Microsoft advice and couldn't get any further after clicking on RUN and typing in
"C:\ProgramFiles|MicrosoftOffice\Office10\Winword.exe" /a
a box with a red cross popped up and wouldn't let me go any further.
Please can someone help me to recover these vital files.
I didn't know how to back them up.
Yours sincerely Mad-FriendWhat OS? Try USING all slashes instead of a vertical line and some slashes. Hi squirrel,
thankyou for replying to me.
I made a typing error just now. All the slashes I used when clicking on RUN were correctly done and I had a box with a red X come up. This was the message it GAVE;

C:\ProgramFiles refers to a location that is unavailable. It could be on a hard drive on this computer, or on a network. Check to make sure that you are connected to the internet or your network then try again. If it still cannot be located the information might have moved to a different location.

I was online and typed in the correct wording etc. Yet I cannot go any further.
I have tried doing two restores and this did not correct the corruption.

Any advice please?
Yours sincerely Mad-FriendThe problem started when I tried to fix a problem with Word. On the bottom left corner the following came up every time I opened word "Requesting VIRUS scan". ON another web site I read a fix for corruption and did this.
Clicked on RUN typed in sfc/scannow that was when things went wrong. some files and 26 documents now had ~$ before document titles. Also the look of the documents had changed from a small page with a W in the top left corner to a box with three little coloured spots in the centre.
ON opening them there were three odd letter and a row of squares and that's all, no writing.

Some of files are vital, work that means a great deal to me, please can you help me to recover it.

in HOPEFUL anticipation Mad-Friend Mad-Friend  lets try and clarify a few things first .......
What operating system are you using ?
Which version of MS Office are you using ?
Does MS word open and function normaly ?
Were the documents you are having issues with , produced and saved on the same pc as the one with the issues and with the same version of Word ?


dl65  

Hello dl65,
thankyou for replying to me.

I have a Windows XP. The Word is 2002 home edition.
MS Word opens and closes okay but I haven't attempted to do any writing on a document because I was concerned of creating more problems.
The documents were produced and saved on the same PC, with the same version of Word.

Hope this helps clarify things a bit. I have very little understanding of the technical side of PCs jargon etc. can't even get one of thsoe little smilies up.

Yours sincerely Mad-Friend. Mad-Friend   ...... ok , how about doing a little test .  Open up MS word , and type anything ..........  then save it as THE TEST and save it to your desktop ...... then close up MS word , go to your desktop and try and open the document you just created called  "THE TEST" and report back with the results .

dl65  Hello dl65,

Just CARRIED out the test exactly as you requested and word saved it fine. It opened and read perfectly.
Hope this helps.
With regards Mad-FriendTry using both wordpad then notepad to open them. Found in Accessories in the start menu.Hi Neil,
I have tried wordpad first then notepad. None of the corrupted files appear on either just a blank screen. They only appear in Word.

Thankyou for replying to me. It's almost one in the morning, my head needs a rest from all this stress. Will talk to you in the morning.
Thanks again, Mad-friend.Hello dl65 &Neil,

just want to say I have now resolved the problem. I was given this link

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q212274/

Although it is for windows 2000 I followed the instructions and it worked. My files/documents are restored and appear to be in good order. I shall delete the corrupted files once I am sure. I have also saved all my vital work to disc and will make sure I don't repeat this mistake again.

Thankyou for your help, interest and advice. It is much appreciated.
Yours sincerely Mad-Friend