WD97: Error Expanding Subdocuments If Network Connection Lost

• Microsoft Word 97 for Windows

SYMPTOMS

If you lose your network connection, Microsoft Word 97 cannot find or expand any subdocuments until you restart the Expand Subdocuments command (by clicking the Expand Subdocuments button on the Master Document toolbar). If a master document and its subdocuments are located on a network drive and you lose your network connection, when you reestablish the connection, Word displays the following message for each subdocument to be expanded:

   The subdocument \\<path name>\<file name> is missing. Do you want to
   expand the master document without this document?

WORKAROUND

To prevent this error message after losing your network connection, end the Expand Subdocuments command to prevent expanding the remaining collapsed subdocuments. To do this, click No in the error message described earlier.

NOTE: The Expand Subdocuments command will also end after the last collapsed subdocument in the master document receives the error.

After ending the Expand Subdocuments command, you must reestablish your network connection before restarting the Expand Subdocuments command. The remaining collapsed subdocuments should now expand correctly.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Microsoft Word 97 for Windows. We are researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.