Recover the text from a damaged document

On the File menu, click Open.

In the Look in list, click the drive, folder, or Internet location that contains the file that you want to open.

In the folder list, locate and open the folder that contains the file.

Select the file that you want to recover.

Click the arrow next to the Open button, and then click Open and Repair.

On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the General tab.
Make sure the Confirm conversion at Open check box is selected, and then click OK.
Click Open .
In the Files of type box, click Recover Text from Any File.
If you don't see Recover Text from Any File in the Files of type box, you need to install the file converter.

How?
1. Run the Microsoft Office Setup program.
  
  How?
  1. Quit all programs.
  2. Click Add or Remove Programs in Microsoft Windows Control Panel.
  3. If you installed Microsoft Word as part of Office, click Microsoft Office 2003 in the Currently installed programs box, and then click the Change button.
  4. If you installed Word individually, click Microsoft Office Word 2003 in the Currently installed programs box, and then click the Change button.
2. On the Maintenance Mode Options screen, click Add or Remove Features, and then click Next.
3. On the Custom Setup screen, select the Choose advanced customization of applications check box, and then click Next.
4. On the Advanced Customization screen, click the expand indicator next to Office Shared Features.
5. Click the expand indicator next to Converters and Filters, and then click the expand indicator next to Text Converters.
6. Click the arrow next to Recover Text Converter, and then click Run from My Computer.
Open the document as usual.