Windows XP works well with network-aware applications using remote storage. . .provided the storage is actually there. If the application tries to write to or read from a remote storage device and the device isn't there, the application crashes. In such a case, you would get a message saying that the application has encountered an error and needs to close.
If this happens, the first thing to do is to identify the file that isn't opening and try opening it directly. Given the way Windows is designed, this can be a chore. To locate the file, Microsoft recommends using the Event Viewer (Start>Run>type in eventvwr>OK).
Click Application in the left pane. Then click Source heading in the right pane to sort the applications by source. The sources having application errors will be toward the top of the list. You're looking for a source of Application Error and an EventID of 1005. Double-click this event and the file name will appear in the Description box.
If the file is on the network and you still can't open it, check the network connection to make sure it is working properly. If it is, check other files on the same disk to make sure the disk is present and functioning. If the file is on a removable medium, such as a CD, make sure the medium containing the file is properly inserted in the correct drive. You can also use chkdsk to check the status of the disk and to repair it if necessary.
If you still can't open the file, the file you are working on may be corrupted and you may have to restore it from a backup copy.
About the author: Rick Cook has been writing about mass storage since the days when the term often meant an 80K floppy disk. Today he specializes in writing about issues related to storage and storage management.
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