Project 98 and older

[Amedee Van Gasse]

Hello,

One of our users called me about 63 old MS Project files that were
made in the previous millennium with Project 98 or older.
I've been able to install a copy of Project 98, saved one of the files
to .MPX (as recommended by MS KB) but Project 2003 couldn't open that.
Also some of the files, made with Project 4.0, seem to have macro
modules with long names and Project 98 cannot open them (also
explained in an MS KB article).

I know from reading this list that there is no conversion software,
freeware or commercial.
I also tried OpenProj, but it couldn't open the old files.

I also read here that some veteran users are willing to convert small
numbers of files if you ask them nicely and treat them with beer or
cake if you're in town. ;-)

63 files are of course not just "a few" files, and there may be many
more files from other users.
I'm not asking for any kindness. I want to know a rough guesstimate
for how much such a file conversion would cost. I'm not going to take
the offer, I just need another argument to say no to the user because
I'm pretty sure that the budget won't be approved. If you understand
what I mean.

You may reply to the newsgroup (preferred) or to my personal mailbox:
firstname at lastname dot eu. (I don't read the gmail)

Kind regards,
Amedee Van Gasse

 

[miles_hot]

try saving down a blank project file into a format which 98 etc can ope
and then copy and paste the old files into the new blank plan?

Mile

 

[John]

Hello,

One of our users called me about 63 old MS Project files that were
made in the previous millennium with Project 98 or older.
I've been able to install a copy of Project 98, saved one of the files
to .MPX (as recommended by MS KB) but Project 2003 couldn't open that.
Also some of the files, made with Project 4.0, seem to have macro
modules with long names and Project 98 cannot open them (also
explained in an MS KB article).

I know from reading this list that there is no conversion software,
freeware or commercial.
I also tried OpenProj, but it couldn't open the old files.

I also read here that some veteran users are willing to convert small
numbers of files if you ask them nicely and treat them with beer or
cake if you're in town. ;-)

63 files are of course not just "a few" files, and there may be many
more files from other users.
I'm not asking for any kindness. I want to know a rough guesstimate
for how much such a file conversion would cost. I'm not going to take
the offer, I just need another argument to say no to the user because
I'm pretty sure that the budget won't be approved. If you understand
what I mean.

You may reply to the newsgroup (preferred) or to my personal mailbox:
firstname at lastname dot eu. (I don't read the gmail)

Kind regards,
Amedee Van Gasse

Amedee,
If you already have Project 98 then you should be able to "convert" any
files from Project 4.0 without resorting to MPX. Project 98 will open
Project 4.0 file3 directly. When I do it, and I've done a ton of them
for various uses, I usually convert the Project 98 files to Project 2000
and then open them with Project 2003. With Project 3.0 files, you are
out of luck unless you can find someone who either has, or is willing to
re-load, their old version of Project 4.0.

I've never run into the issue of macros with long names. Old macros I
had from version 4.0 converted easily when I moved to Project 98, and I
had a whole bunch of rather complex macros.

63 files is a huge number. A rough guesstimate as to cost is a good
question. If you want to write me direct (address below) we can discuss
it further. I will ask some questions.

John
Project MVP
jensenljatatfastmaildotdotfm
(remove obvious redundancies)

 

[Amedee Van Gasse]

Amedee,
If you already have Project 98 then you should be able to "convert" any
files from Project 4.0 without resorting to MPX. Project 98 will open
Project 4.0 file3 directly. When I do it, and I've done a ton of them
for various uses, I usually convert the Project 98 files to Project 2000
and then open them with Project 2003. With Project 3.0 files, you are
out of luck unless you can find someone who either has, or is willing to
re-load, their old version of Project 4.0.

I've never run into the issue of macros with long names. Old macros I
had from version 4.0 converted easily when I moved to Project 98, and I
had a whole bunch of rather complex macros.

63 files is a huge number. A rough guesstimate as to cost is a good
question. If you want to write me direct (address below) we can discuss
it further. I will ask some questions.

John
Project MVP
jensenljatatfastmaildotdotfm
(remove obvious redundancies)

John,

I just tried the oldest file, from january 1996, and I have a bit of
luck: Project 98 can open it. So it's probably a Project 4 file. I
saved it to a new filename with Project 98, and the file size is
different (x2).
But I cannot directly open that file with Project 2003. I get
"Operation failed".
Do I also need Project 2000?

I did some further experimentation.

Project 4.0 MPP file -> open with Project 98 -> Save as Project 98 MPP
file -> Open with OpenProj -> Save as Project 2003 XML file --> Open
with Project 2003 -> Save as Project 2003 MPP file.

Dammit. I can do it. Except perhaps for those few files with long
macro names.
And I can't automate this. Lets say 2 minutes per file, 63 files,
that's more than two hours working as a stupid point-and-click drone.
Hell, I'm a third level support engineer, they should let an intern do
this. But by the time I have explained it, I can do it myself.
Aaaargh! *Facepalm*

Anyway, thanks for the offer. We'll charge the department.

 

[Amedee Van Gasse]

John,

I just tried the oldest file, from january 1996, and I have a bit of
luck: Project 98 can open it. So it's probably a Project 4 file. I
saved it to a new filename with Project 98, and the file size is
different (x2).
But I cannot directly open that file with Project 2003. I get
"Operation failed".
Do I also need Project 2000?

I did some further experimentation.

Project 4.0 MPP file -> open with Project 98 -> Save as Project 98 MPP
file -> Open with OpenProj -> Save as Project 2003 XML file --> Open
with Project 2003 -> Save as Project 2003 MPP file.

Dammit. I can do it. Except perhaps for those few files with long
macro names.
And I can't automate this. Lets say 2 minutes per file, 63 files,
that's more than two hours working as a stupid point-and-click drone.
Hell, I'm a third level support engineer, they should let an intern do
this. But by the time I have explained it, I can do it myself.
Aaaargh! *Facepalm*

Anyway, thanks for the offer. We'll charge the department.

The theory was good, but...
There are still some files that can't be converted.
I found the package for MS Project 4.0 in the archived software
catalog, but I can't get it to work. Probably because I'm trying to
install Win95/NT software on WinXP.
It complains about a missing file: msp40ole.dll. Can anyone provide me
that file? I found all other missing dlls on Google, just not that
one. Or would that be "illegal" according to the Laws of MicroSoft?
By the way, I know what I'm doing. I'm working sandboxed. If it
breaks, I restore a snapshot.

 

[John]

The theory was good, but...
There are still some files that can't be converted.
I found the package for MS Project 4.0 in the archived software
catalog, but I can't get it to work. Probably because I'm trying to
install Win95/NT software on WinXP.
It complains about a missing file: msp40ole.dll. Can anyone provide me
that file? I found all other missing dlls on Google, just not that
one. Or would that be "illegal" according to the Laws of MicroSoft?
By the way, I know what I'm doing. I'm working sandboxed. If it
breaks, I restore a snapshot.

Amedee,
Glad to hear you got it working. Just for reference, no, you do not
necessarily need Project 2000 to transition between Project 98 and
Project 2003. I just happen to have both Project 98 and Project 2000 on
one of my virtual machines and Project 2000 is more like Project 2003
than Project 98, so I do the interim step.

You should also be aware that if you have the latest update to Project
2003 (SP3), a new security feature was added that prevents legacy files
from being opened unless you specifically allow it. You can find that
setting under Tools/Options/Security tab. Make sure it's checked to
allow legacy files.

With regard to the dll file. Technically it is probably illegal for
anyone to just send you the file. However if you are lucky enough to
find someone who actually has it, (I don't), I doubt the software police
will come calling.

Good luck with further conversions.

John
Project MVP