Picture is displayed as a red X in a Word 2002 document (291346)

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Troubleshooting Steps If You Continue to See a Red X

In some cases, a red X is displayed in your document for reasons other than those described in the "Cause" section of this article. An image can be displayed as a red X if any of the following conditions is true:

• The image is a GIF or JPEG image that contains complex formatting options such as animations, sounds, or progressive displays.
• The directory specified as a temporary directory in Windows does not exist.
• The image has been damaged, or some other aspect of the document has been damaged.
• There is insufficient free space on your computer's hard disk.

To determine whether any of these conditions is causing the display problem, use the following methods.

NOTE: A document that was created in the pre-SR-1 release of Microsoft Word 97 for Windows will continue to display red Xs until you repair the pictures. That is, the damaged pictures are not corrected automatically when you open your document in Word 2002. In this case, use the steps and methods in the "Resolution" section of this article to recover the missing pictures.

Method 1: If the Image Is a GIF or JPEG Image

Many JPEG or GIF images that are downloaded from the Internet contain complex formatting options such as animations, sounds, or progressive displays. Word does not use these options. To modify the picture so that it includes only those elements that Word uses, use a picture editing program to save the picture in a simpler format:

• For a GIF graphic, lower the complexity to CIS GIF 87 or 87A rather than GIF 89A.
• For a JPEG picture, save the picture in the "simple" or "baseline" format, without any progressive redraw features.

For more information about these picture formats, see the documentation that accompanies your picture editing program.

Method 2: Verify That You Are Using a Valid Temp Directory

Verify that the SET TEMP and SET TMP lines in your Autoexec.bat file are pointing to valid folders. To verify the SET TEMP and SET TMP lines in the Autoexec.bat file, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. In the Run box, type sysedit and then click OK. This command opens the System Configuration Editor.
3. Click the Autoexec.bat window.
4. In the Autoexec.bat file, look for a line that begins with SET TEMP or SET TMP. These lines, if they exist, should be set equal to a valid directory. Make note of any directory that is referenced.
   
   NOTE: If the Autoexec.bat file does not contain a line that starts with either of these commands, proceed to the next method.
5. Right-click the Windows Start button, and then click Explore.
6. In the Windows Explorer, verify that the directory that you noted in step 4 is a valid directory.

If your computer is running Microsoft Windows NT, also verify the following:

1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
2. Click System, and then click the Environment tab.
3. On the Environment tab, verify the values for TEMP and TMP under User Variables. These values are the path to a directory. Note the directory that is listed.
4. In the Windows Explorer, verify that the directory noted in step 3 is a valid directory. If the TMP setting is using wildcards (% signs), create a directory called TMP in two places: C:\Tmp and C:\Winnt\Tmp.
   
   NOTE: If your computer is running Microsoft Windows NT version 4.0, verify that Service Pack 3 (SP3) or later is installed. This resolves a problem in which the SET TMP in user variables can be accidentally reset.

For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Method 3: Verify That Your Graphics File Is Not Damaged

If you see a partial re-draw of the picture before it becomes a red X, or if the size of your graphics image is not what you expect, the image may be damaged (corrupted).

To see the size of your graphics file, follow these steps:

1. Click the picture to select it.
2. On the Format menu, click Picture.
3. In the Format Picture dialog box, click the Size tab.
4. Verify the size of the picture by using the numbers under Original Size near the bottom of the dialog box.

If the size reported is not what you expect the intact picture to be, the graphics file may be damaged. If the size reported is 1-inch-by-1-inch, there is a different problem, and you must try some other workarounds to resolve the problem.

To restore the picture, follow these steps:

1. Open the picture in a graphics editing program, such as Microsoft Photo Editor.
2. Save the file in a different file format.
3. Attempt to insert the saved file back into your document.

In some cases, a red X in your document indicates that some other aspect of the document has been damaged. If you receive an "unable to open file" error message, or if you receive an invalid page fault (IPF) when you open the file, some other aspect of your document may be damaged.

Method 4: Verify That There Is Sufficient Free Space on the Primary Hard Disk

To verify how much free disk space exists on your computer's hard disk drive, follow these steps:

1. Double-click My Computer on the desktop.
2. Right-click the primary hard disk (for example, drive C).
3. Click Properties.
4. The amount of free disk space should be 20 megabytes (MB) or more.

There is no minimum amount of free disk space required to run Office programs. However, most computers require a certain amount of free space (usually around 20 MB) to open, close, and save files and to print documents.

If your computer's hard disk has less than 20 MB of free disk space available, you may consider removing unused data files, temporary files, or temporary programs. After you free 20 MB or more on the primary hard disk, restart Windows and open the file again.