"The disk is full or too many files are open" Error Message in Microsoft Word

The information in this document applies to:

Issue

When trying to save Microsoft Word documents, some users receive the following error message,

which may be followed by a second message that says,

This message is displayed despite plenty of available free space on their hard drive. The exact error message may vary by version of Microsoft Word and platform. The examples above were taken from Microsoft Word 2000 for Windows.

Reason

This error message indicates the embedding information for some of the graphics in your Microsoft Word document has been corrupted. Since Word cannot correctly save the file, it displays its default error message for file save failure. This problem occurs in Microsoft Word with many types of embedded graphics and is not specific to MathType and Microsoft Equation graphics.

Determine if this error message is accurate before proceeding! Before reading further, verify that you have at least 10% available free space on your hard drive. Having 20% free is preferable.

Solutions

In order to save your document, you must delete or repair the graphics with corrupt embedding information in your document. There are a number of methods available. This notice covers the following:

1. Microsoft's Technical Notices about the "Disk Full" Error

2. How to Quickly Repair Your Document

3. How to Identify Corrupted Graphics

4. How to Repair A Graphic Manually

5. How to Prevent the "Disk Full Error"

6. Microsoft Knowledge Base Articles about Corrupt Word Documents

7. Getting This Problem Addressed by Microsoft

Microsoft's Technical Notices about the "Disk Full" Error

Microsoft discusses this problem on their website and provides a solution, but a simpler solution is available for MathType users below.

Word 97 for Windows: Error Message: "Disk Is Full"

Word 2000 for Windows: Error Message: "The Disk Is Full or Too Many Files Are Open"

Word 2001 for Mac: "Disk Is Full" Error Message When You Save a Document Multiple Times

Microsoft does not have an article specifically addressing every version of Word. Word 98 users should read the article for Word 97; Word 2002 and 2003 users should read the article for Word 2000.

Microsoft recommends locating and deleting those graphics which have corrupt embedding information. If a graphic created by a program other than MathType has corrupt embedding information, you must either delete the object and recreate it or contact the manufacturer of the application and see if they have any suggestions for dealing with this problem.

How to Quickly Repair Your Document

MathType 4 and 5 for Windows and MathType 5 for Macintosh provide an add-in for Microsoft Word that is automatically added to Word when MathType is installed. This add-in makes it easier to use MathType with Microsoft Word. The add-in adds a MathType menu to Microsoft Word, which includes the Convert Equations command.

In MathType 3.5 for Windows and MathType 3.6/3.7 for Macintosh, macros are provided that add an Update Equations command to the Tools menu of Word. If you have MathType 3.5 for Windows but do not have the Update Equations command on your Word Tools menu, you will need to install the MathType macros.

Microsoft Equation users will need to repair each damaged equation in their document manually using the method provided below.

Before using this method, please consider if your document contains other kinds of embedded graphics from other applications. If it does, you should verify that they are all okay before repairing your MathType equations using this method or Word may crash.

If you are using MathType 4 or 5 (Windows or Macintosh), do the following to repair the embedding information for all the equations in your document:

1. Choose Convert Equations from the MathType menu of Microsoft Word.
2. Select a Range of "Whole Document".
3. Make sure that the "MathType or Equation Editor Equations" box is checked. It does not matter if the other boxes are checked or not.
4. Choose to Convert Equations to "MathType Equations (OLE Objects)".
5. Click "Convert".
6. You should be able to save your Word document. If you cannot, you document contains graphics which cannot be repaired. Identify them per the above instructions, delete them, and recreate them.

If you are using MathType 3.5 for Windows or MathType 3.6/3.7 for Macintosh, the process is largely the same, with one caveat: the process will apply MathType's current preferences to every equation it updates. You should make sure that your current MathType preferences are appropriate for the equations in the document that you need to repair. If your document contains equations with varied formatting, you should set your MathType preferences accordingly, select sections of your document which contain matching formatting, and repair the equations in your document in segments. In MathType 4 and 5, we offer separate Convert Equations and Format Equations commands, so that equations can be recreated or converted without changing their formatting.

1. Choose Update Equations from the Tools menu of Microsoft Word.
2. Select a Range of "Whole Document" (or "Current Selection" if you are updating your document in segments).
3. Make sure that the boxes for "MathType Equation (OLE 1)" is checked.
4. Choose the Update Equation Type of "MathType Equation (OLE 1)" and "Microsoft Equation 2.0 (OLE 2)" are checked. It does not matter if the other boxes are checked or not.
5. Click the Update button.
6. You should be able to save your Word document. If you cannot, you document contains graphics which cannot be repaired. Identify them per the above instructions, delete them, and recreate them.

How to Identify Corrupted Graphics

In order to be able to save the document, you must first locate the graphic with corrupt embedding information using Word's Update Fields command and either repair or delete it.

1. In Word, choose Select All from Word's Edit menu to select the whole document.
2. Press the F9 key to Update Fields. (some Mac OS X configurations override this F9 shortcut.)
3. After the fields have been updated, Word will indicate if there were any problems with the update on its status bar in the lower left corner for a few seconds. If there were any errors, you will see the message, "One or more of the fields in the selection could not be updated".

4. After you see this message, one or more of the equations in your document will have been replaced by the bolded message: 

Error! Object cannot be created from editing field codes.  

5. You can locate them in your document by choosing Find from the Edit menu of Word and searching for "Error!" (without the quotes).

6. This appears for each equation which has corrupt embedding information. You may have more than one equation with corrupt embedding information.
7. Choose Undo from the Edit menu of Word to undo the Update Fields and return the object back to its original state. If the object is a MathType or Microsoft Equation graphic, you can attempt to repair it (see following section). If another kind of graphic has corrupted embedding information, you should delete the graphic or contact the manufacturer of the application that created it.

How to Repair a Graphic Manually

Although the embedding information for a graphic may be corrupt, the formatting information needed by MathType or Microsoft Equation to create the equation is usually still intact and you can salvage the equation. To see if the equation can be repaired, try the following:

1. Single-click on the equation to select it. Do not open the equation in MathType.
2. Choose Cut from the Edit menu of Word to move the equation to the Windows clipboard.
3. Without moving the cursor in your Word document, choose to insert a new equation into the same position in your Word document. An empty MathType window or Microsoft Equation frame will open.
4. Choose Paste from the Edit menu to paste the equation from the Clipboard into the empty window.
5. If the equation reappears, you can simply close the window and the equation will be embedded in your document with new embedding information in the same position.
6. If you get a message that says, "Clipboard contains no equation data" or no equation appears in the window, the equation is too damaged to repair and you will need to recreate it.

How to Prevent the "Disk Full Error"

Do Not Copy Equations and Paste Them Directly into the Same Word Document

Often, users may have an elaborate equation and would like to add a second equation to their document which is slightly different. Rather than creating the minor variation or the original from scratch, they copy the original equation that they have created, paste it elsewhere in the document, then double-click on it to edit it. This practice is strongly associated with the occurrence of the "Disk Full" error, but an alternate method is available which will not require completely recreating equations.

If you are copying and pasting equations within documents, rather than pasting copied equations directly into Word, do the following

1. Open the equation you want to copy into MathType or Microsoft Equation and copy it using standard copy methods.
2. Insert a new MathType (or Microsoft Equation) equation where you want the duplicate inserted.
3. Paste the equation directly into the MathType (or Microsoft Equation) window.
4. Make any desired changes to the equation.
5. Close MathType or Microsoft Equation and return to your Word document.

Using this method will reduce the frequency of the "Disk Full" error or eliminate it altogether. If you have copied and pasted equations directly into a Word document before switching to this method, you may still experience the "Disk Full" error in that document, but you can address it as explained above.

Repair Frequently-used Source Documents and Templates which Include Equations

Many Word users use templates or are in the habit of opening old documents and revising or copying from them to create new documents, rather than starting from a new, blank document. To reduce the incidence of this problem, use the quick repair method to repair any document or template containing equations that you frequently use as a source for new document content.

Turn off "Allow Fast Saves"

Many users report that turning off the Fast Save option in Word drastically reduces the incidence of the "Disk Full" error. To turn it off in Word for Windows, choose Tools>Options, click on the Save tab, and uncheck the box for "Allow Fast Saves". In Word for Macintosh, choose Preferences from the Tools, Edit or Word menu, click on the Save tab, and uncheck the box for "Allow Fast Saves". To learn more about the "Allow Fast Saves" option, please view Microsoft's Fast Save FAQ for your version of Word. Microsoft has not yet posted a version of this notice for Word 2001 or X for Macintosh or 2003 for Windows; users of these versions should read the notice for the most recent version of Word available for their platform.

Word 97 for Windows: Frequently Asked Questions About "Allow Fast Saves"

Word 98 for Mac: Frequently Asked Questions About "Allow Fast Saves"

Word 2000 for Windows: Frequently Asked Questions About "Allow Fast Saves"

Word 2001 for Mac: Description of Auto Features and How to Turn Them Off

Word 2002 for Windows: Frequently Asked Questions About "Allow Fast Saves

Please note that automatically saving the working copy of your document is handled by the "Save Autorecover info" and "Allow Background Saves" features, not "Allow Fast Saves". More information about all of these features is available in your Word Help files. 

Microsoft Knowledge Base Articles about Corrupt Word Documents

You may get the "Disk Full" error if your document is severely corrupted.

Microsoft suggestion methods for salvaging corrupt Word documents in their online Knowledge Base. If the methods outlined in this document are insufficient to address the "Disk Full" error, follow Microsoft's more general recommendations.

Word 97 for Windows: Troubleshooting Damaged Documents

Word 98 for Mac: Troubleshooting Corrupted Documents

Word 2000 for Windows: Troubleshooting Damaged Documents

Word 2001 for Mac: Troubleshooting Damaged Documents

Word 2002 for Windows: Troubleshooting Damaged Documents

Word 2003 for Windows: Troubleshooting Damaged Documents

Getting This Problem Addressed by Microsoft

It's important for Microsoft’s customers to report their experience of this problem so that Microsoft can appreciathow widespread it is and appreciate the need to devote their programming resources toward resolving it. We’ve reported the details of this issue, including sample documents to Microsoft, and we encourage all users who experience this problem to do the same.

• Sending feedback to Microsoft
• Contacting Technical Support at Microsoft
• Or call them at (800)936-5700

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