How do you remove Filter by Attributes from Conrefs, but still have conrefs display

We are using FM8 in Tech Comm Suite 1 in a Windows XP environment.

We've created a number of conrefs and they did not display unless we did a filter by attribute > Show All.

Synopsis of the problem:

We created a conref as we normally do and placed it in the same directory as the map and the concept (target). In my case, the conref is a concept that contains a table.  We inserted the conref in the target doc and it is displayed correctly; however, when we save it, it does not display, unless we select Special >Filter by Attribute > Show All. Then we can save and reopen the doc, and it is still displayed. If it has not had the filter by attribute > Show All selected, all that we see upon opening the document is a conditional text marker.

When we created the conref, four attribute expressions are available. We have tried deleting all of these expressions from the conref.

In the target document where the conref is inserted, we selected Special > Conditional Text > Show/Hide Conditional Text, and selected DITA-Conref to show. The conrefs then are displayed.  However, when we close the document and reopen it, we have lost the conrefs, and the DITA-Conref is no longer selected.

Any ideas?