You receive a "The document name or path is not valid" error message when you try to open or save a document in Word 2000 (224016)

RESOLUTION

Common Causes

• Cause: You are trying to open a file that is listed in the Most Recently Used (MRU) list on the File menu.
  
  You may receive this error message if you try to open a document from the MRU list, and the name or location of the document changed since you last opened it. To open your document, follow these steps:
  1. On the File menu, click Open.
  2. Select your document, and then click Open.
• Cause: You are opening an HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) document or Web page in Word.
  
  Use one of the following methods to work around this problem.

  Method 1: Use a Different HTML Editor or Text Editor

  NOTE: This is the recommended method to work around this problem.
  
  To open or edit the HTML document, use a different HTML or text editor, and make the changes that you want. For example, open the HTML document in Notepad or Microsoft FrontPage.

  Method 2: Copy or Move the Referenced File

  Before you open the HTML document in Microsoft Word, copy or move the referenced file that is listed in the error message to the appropriate location that is listed in the error message.

  Method 3: Modify the Link Tag

  IMPORTANT: It is not recommended that you modify a LINK tag in an HTML file, because this can make the result of the HTML file useless if you point it to an incorrect file. Use the following procedure at your own risk.
  
  Before you try to open the file in Microsoft Word, follow these steps to edit the invalid LINK tag in the HTML file:
  
  
  1. Click OK to close the error message that you received in the "Error Message" section of this article.
  2. Open the HTML file in a text editor. For example, open the file in Notepad. To do this, follow these steps:
     1. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, and then click Notepad.
     2. On the File menu, click Open.
     3. In the Open dialog box, click to select the file, and then click Open.
  3. Locate and change the LINK tag that references the missing file as listed in the error message. For example, locate and change the LINK tag similar to the following, to point to the correct location and file name:

     <link id=Main-File rel=Main-File href="../test.htm">

  4. After you modify the appropriate LINK tag, save and close your HTML file.
  The HTML file should now open in Microsoft Word.

  Method 4: Remove the Link Tag

  IMPORTANT: It is not recommended that you remove a LINK tag from an HTML file, because this can make the result of the HTML file useless. Use the following procedure at your own risk.
  
  Before you try to open the file in Microsoft Word, follow these steps to remove the invalid LINK tag from the HTML file:
  
  
  1. Click OK to close the error message that you received in the "Error Message" section of this article.
  2. Open the HTML file in a text editor. For example, open the file in Notepad. To do this, follow these steps:
     1. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, and then click Notepad.
     2. On the File menu, click Open.
     3. In the Open dialog box, click to select the file, and then click Open.
  3. Select and delete the LINK tag that references the missing file as listed in the error message. For example, select and delete the LINK tag similar to the following:

     <link id=Main-File rel=Main-File href="test.htm">

  4. After you delete the appropriate LINK tag, save and close your HTML file.
• Cause: You are opening a Word document with a file name that contains international characters.
  
  This problem occurs when you open a document whose file name contains international characters that are not in the current Windows system code page, and therefore are not recognized by Microsoft Windows.
  
  For example, this error message occurs when your default country settings are set to "English (US)", and you attempt to open a document with Chinese, Greek, or Serbian (Cyrillic) characters in the file name.
  
  You do not receive this error message when you open a document with German, French, or Swedish special characters in the file name, because these languages use the same code page as English.
  
  To work around this problem, try one of the following:
  
  
  • Do not double-click the document in Windows Explorer or My Computer. Instead, open the document in Microsoft Word. To do this, follow these steps:
    
    
    1. In Microsoft Word, click Open on the File menu.
    2. In the Open dialog box, click to select the document that you want to open, and then click Open.
    -or-
  • Right-click the file in Windows Explorer or My Computer, click Rename on the shortcut menu that appears, type a new file name for the document without using the international characters, and then press ENTER.
  For additional information, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

  251383 WD2000: Cannot Open Document with International Characters in File Name

Other Causes

• Cause: You create a document by using a template that contains a Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) frameset.
  
  When Word loads frame files, it uses the default Document folder, as set in File Locations under Options on the Tools menu, regardless of where the frame files are located. When the default document and template folder are identical, this behavior does not occur.
  
  To work around this issue, link each frame to a file. To do this, try the following.
  
  
  1. Follow these steps for all frames in your document:
     1. Right-click each frame, and then click Save Current Frame As.
     2. In the Save As dialog box, click Word Document in the Save as type list, and then save the file.
     3. Right-click each frame, and then click Frame Properties.
     4. In the Frame Properties dialog box, on the Frame tab, click Link to file.
  2. On the File menu, click Save, and then click Document Template in the Save as type list.
  3. Type a file name, and then click Save.
  For additional information, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

  203859 WD2000: Template File Containing Frames Does Not Open As Expected

• Cause: You open a mail-merge main document, and Word cannot find the document's attached data source.
  
  This problem can occur in the following cases.

  Case 1

  This problem can occur when all of the following conditions are true:

  The mail-merge main document was saved as a Web page.
  
  -and-
  
  The attached data source is a Microsoft Access database file (*.mdb) or a Microsoft Excel worksheet that was attached to the mail-merge main document by using Microsoft Excel Worksheet via Converter ( *.xls, *.xlw).
  
  -and-
  
  The data source was renamed, moved, or deleted.

  To prevent this problem, use one of the following methods.
  
  Method 1: Find the Data Source
  
  To find the data source for your Web page mail-merge main document, follow these steps:
  
  
  1. Click Find Data Source.
  2. In the Open Data Source dialog box, click to select your data source, and then click Open.
  Method 2: Remove and Reattach Your Data Source
  
  
  1. Click Options.
  2. Click Remove Data/Header Source when the following message appears:

     If the mail merge data/header source address list_file name no longer exists, choose Remove Data/Header Source to remove its association with mailmerge_main_document_file name or choose Remove All Merge Info to make mailmerge_main_document_file name a normal Word document.

  3. On the Tools menu, click Mail Merge.
  4. In the Mail Merge Helper, click Get Data, and then click Open Data Source.
  5. In the Open Data Source dialog box, click to select your data source, and then click Open.
  For additional information, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

  279346 WD2000: Invalid Page Fault When You Close "Find Data Source" in Mail Merge

  Case 2

  This problem can occur if you try to close the following error message by clicking the X in the upper-right corner of the dialog box:
  File name.dot is a mail merge main document. Word cannot find its data source, ~~~_virtual_file_~~~.olk.
  To work around this problem, follow these steps:
  
  
  1. When you receive the error message described in the "Error Message" section of this article, click No.
  2. When you receive the second error message, click Options.
  3. Click Remove Data/Header Source.
  The document now is no longer associated with the data source. To reattach the data source, follow these steps:
  
  
  1. With the document open, click Mail Merge on the Tools menu.
  2. In the Mail Merge Helper, click Get Data, click Use Address Book, select Outlook Address Book, and then click OK.
  This creates a new virtual file, based on the current contact list information.
  
  NOTE: You must repeat these steps each time that you restart Word and open the mail-merge main document that is attached to this data source.
  
  For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

  241269 WD2000: Error Message: "C:\~~\~~~_virtual_file_~~~.olk Is Being Used by Unknown"

• Cause: You attempt to insert a named range from a Microsoft Excel file.
  
  When you want to insert a named range that is contained in an Excel file into Microsoft Word, follow these steps:
  
  
  1. On the View menu, point to Toolbars, and then click Database.
  2. On the Database toolbar, click Insert Database.
  3. In the Database dialog box, click Get Data.
  4. In the Open Data Source dialog box, change the Files of type box to MS Excel Worksheets (*.xls), and then click to select your Excel file.
     
     NOTE: You may need to change the Look in box to the folder that contains your Excel worksheet.
  5. In the Open Data Source dialog box, select the Select method check box, and then click Open.
  6. In the Confirm Data Source dialog box, click Excel sheets via ODBC (*.xls), and then click OK.
  7. In the Select Table dialog box, click the table (named range) you want that is contained in your Excel worksheet, and then click OK.
  8. In the Database dialog box, click Insert Data.
  9. In the Insert Data dialog box, click the range of records that you want to insert, and then click OK.
     
     For example, if you want to use all of the records that are contained in the named range, click All.
  For additional information, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

  224699 WD2000: Cannot Insert File Using Named Range of Excel File

• Cause: You open a frames page that you shared with an earlier version of Word.
  
  This problem can occur because you renamed a document that is part of an HTML Frames page. If you must open the document in an earlier version of Microsoft Word, follow these steps:
  
  
  1. Determine the file name of your original Word 2000 document that is contained in the frame. To do this, follow these steps:
     1. In Word 2000, open the document.
     2. On the Format menu, point to Frames, and then click Frame Properties.
     3. Click the Frame tab. The original Word 2000 document is listed in the Initial page box, under General.
     4. Click Cancel.
  2. Open the document that is listed in step 1-c.
  3. On the File menu, click Save As to save this document with a new file name, before you share the file with an earlier version of Word.
  For additional information, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

  210041 WD2000: Error Message Opening Word 2000 Document in Earlier Version