Unspecified Error, word/document.xml, Line:2, Column: 0

@WilliamThay;

I'd be happy to have a look at your problem document. You will need to upload a copy of your damaged DOCX to a public file area like OneDrive, DropBox  or Google Drive and post the location to the publicly shared file back here.

Please try to upload a copy that has not already been subjected to repair attempts as previous attempts may have stripped content that was recoverable with a manual edit of the internal components configuration files.

Hi Jeeped

I really need your help.

I have an Assignment due Monday and ive worked on this assignment for a 2 weeks now and its huge. Its 85mb.

It wont open for the same reason but I have no formulas in the document so im not sure how to fix it.

Would you pleaseeeeeeeee have a look at it for me pleasseeeeee???

THANK YOU

The problem is not simply working directly on a USB drive. Although that is one of the worst ways to use a USB.  The real problem is how WINDOWS handles USB / Flash / Thumb drives. 

Ideally this is the process you should use:

1. should copy (rather than "Move") the file from USB to local drive (gives you a backup on USB),
2. do your editing,
3. copy the file back to your USB  (now you have a backup on your local drive)
4. use the Windows 'Safely Remove ..." process to shut down the USB BEFORE unplugging it.

The "Safely Remove ... " step is the part of the process is what prevents the error.

Here are some articles with more details:

Potential Causes of DOCX Corruption - Problems saving to USB Devices - safely eject

Windows does not write files directly to a USB flash drive / thumb drive. Due to technical limitations of Flash memory, files are first saved in a cache on the HD. When a full “block” worth of data is available, it is only then moved to the USB device. When you shut down the USB Device “Properly”, Windows flushes any partial files from the cache to the USB.  In the following link, Tony J says that his experience is that the most important part of the DOCX files, the text content in the DOCUMENT.XML sub file, is usually located at the end of the file structure. So it is the text content that gets left behind.

**http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/wordcreate/thread/73a1e1b0-e6cf-43b8-a97f-0b01b5c33da3/******

This discussion is primarily about missing XML tags, but on page 2 it also discusses the effects of pulling USB devices without stopping them correctly

Why use “Safely Remove” function

**http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb%3Ben-us%3B328856**

**http://word.tips.net/T000132\_Dont\_Work\_Off\_Floppies.html******

How to Safely Remove USB

**http://etc.usf.edu/techease/win/hardware/how-do-i-safely-remove-a-usb-device-from-my-computer/**

**http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/safely-remove-devices-from-your-computer Windows 7**

**http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-safely-remove-hardware-in-windows-7.html**Windows 7

**http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkdm-kY3cZ4**Windows 8

There are also tips on how to turn off the caching function so you don’t have to use the Safely Remove tool

USB Safely Remove Utility

**http://safelyremove.com/**

Displaying what prevents a device from being stopped

Safe removal via hotkeys

Lets you recognize a device in a snap...

The handy menu with device icons

Real device names and the ability to rename them

Lets you hide devices you never need to stop

Thanks a lot Jeeped!

My sister-in-law had been working from a removable drive on that document. I'll definitely tell her to stop doing that.

She told me that she first got the error when editing the numbering on her document. But in any case, as you said, it'll probably be the fault of working from a removable media.

Anyway thanks alot for the effort you've put into this. At least now she has some of those pages recovered. 

Many thanks

P-j