Word for Mac 2008 files will not open on PC

[ourcobra]

Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
Processor: Intel

My wife regular creates Word files using Word for Mac 2008 and emails them to clients and others in her office. She saves these files in the .doc format to help reduce compatibility issues. However she periodically receives feedback that the file cannot be opened. Sometimes she is told she did not send them a Word file. In all cases she has saved the file as a .doc file and has also included .doc in the file name.

She has also tried converting these files to a .pdf before sending them. She frequently has people tell her that these files cannot be opened either.

It's a sporadic problem and there doesn't seem to a consistent cause.

She emailed one of these .doc files to others in her company yesterday. They were all able to open the file. One of the employees sent the file to a client and the client was not able to open the file. My wife attempted to send the file directly to the client and they were still not able to open it. Why would others in the company have been able to open the file on a pc but their client could not?

Any thoughts/suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Kevin

 

[CyberTaz]

Keep in mind that when you email an attachment the file is handled by the
outgoing email server, the recipient's incoming email server as well as by
the recipient. Any of the 3 can shred attachments regardless of where
they're coming from or where they're going... And the sender can't control
any of them.

The best you can do from your end is to make sure that the files do have the
appropriate extension & that your email client software is set to encode
attachments in the appropriate manner. For sending to the Windows
environment the best choice is MIME/Base64 with AppleDouble as #2.

Additionally, I'd suggest sending a zipped/stuffed attachment rather than
the "raw" file. It's more likely to get by unscathed.

Also, if you can do so, pass the word on to Windows users in particular that
they need to download the attachment to their local HD rather than trying to
open the attachment directly form the server.

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[ourcobra]

Thanks for the information. You've given us a couple of suggestions she has not yet tried.

She has regularly used the MIME/Base64 format when sending attachments but still has this problem. Is this more of an issue with Entourage and the encoding of emails than a Word problem?

Since she has had similar issues after converting documents to .pdf directly from Word and then sending, we have been wondering if she could eliminate this problem by purchasing Adobe Professional for Mac. Any thoughts on this?

Thanks
Kevin

 

[John McGhie]

This issue is more of a "mis-configured email system at the other end"
problem.

Entourage encoding is one of the better ones around: I fire emails back and
forth to work all the time, without any problems at all.

However, if the other end has not maintained their mail system, it may still
be attempting to "Unzip" a .docx when it gets it. Internally, the OOXML
files are compressed with the zip (base 64) encoding.

If you "unzip" them, Word can then not read them.

The updates required were released by Microsoft more than two years ago.
But some companies have not yet got around to applying them.

Often you can make your life a lot easier by simply saying "It's fine at
this end. I sent it to a bunch of people and nobody else is complaining.
Problem belong'im you!"

If you continue to do for others what they should be doing for themselves,
you will continue to be expected to hand-feed them long after they should
have solved their own problem

My thoughts on sending PDF is that in the business world, it's a bad idea.
It simply means the recipient will have to email you back and ask for a real
copy. When you receive a PDF, all you can do is read it, or print it.
That's fine if that's all you want to do with it. But in business, that's
very rarely the case. They want to edit it, or copy bits out of it, and
send it to someone else.

When people send me a PDF, I typically drop it in the "Pending" folder while
I get on with work I can do right now. At the end of the day (or the end of
the week if I am busy...) I go through that folder and send back to the
originators asking for a Word copy of their document that I can use. I then
mark the task "Done" and if they don't send back, well... Maybe your lady
has more time than I have, but somehow I doubt that she will think so

Cheers

Thanks for the information. You've given us a couple of suggestions she has
not yet tried.

She has regularly used the MIME/Base64 format when sending attachments but
still has this problem. Is this more of an issue with Entourage and the
encoding of emails than a Word problem?

Since she has had similar issues after converting documents to .pdf directly
from Word and then sending, we have been wondering if she could eliminate this
problem by purchasing Adobe Professional for Mac. Any thoughts on this?

Thanks
Kevin

This email is my business email -- Please do not email me about forum
matters unless you intend to pay!

--

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP (Word, Mac Word), Consultant Technical Writer,
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
Sydney, Australia. | Ph: +61 (0)4 1209 1410
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]

 

[ourcobra]

John, I appreciate the info. The puzzling thing is she never seemed to have this issue when she was working on a pc, although she had plenty of other issues! It's a touchy issue since she is working with clients and having these issues so we're trying to figure out what we can do to mitigate these problems as much as possible.

Kevin

 

[John McGhie]

One of the things we have to get used to in business is that "clients"
usually come to us because they need help.

Chances are, their IT system is in the same state as the rest of the
business. Often, client's computer are barely running.

The most fundamental rule of this game is NEVER admit you are on a Mac (or
Linux...) People love to blame others for their troubles, and they hate
change.

If you tell them you are on a Mac they start to do all these weird things
with the files you send, then complain that they won't open. Tell 'em
you've sent them a "Microsoft Word Document" and it will just work, the same
as a Word document they get anywhere else does

Cheers

John, I appreciate the info. The puzzling thing is she never seemed to have
this issue when she was working on a pc, although she had plenty of other
issues! It's a touchy issue since she is working with clients and having these
issues so we're trying to figure out what we can do to mitigate these problems
as much as possible.

Kevin

This email is my business email -- Please do not email me about forum
matters unless you intend to pay!

--

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP (Word, Mac Word), Consultant Technical Writer,
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
Sydney, Australia. | Ph: +61 (0)4 1209 1410
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]

 

[ourcobra]

Thanks for the info guys. I appreciate it.

I've not done a lot of work with zipped files so I'd like to confirm a couple of things. Do I simply select the file in Finder and then select compress? When I do I see it does create a zipped file. If I then email this to a pc user will they need anything special to unzip the file? Or can I include that with the zipped file?

Thanks a lot!
Kevin

 

[John McGhie]

Hi Kevin:

Yes, when you select "Compress" or "Create Archive" (depending which flavour
of OS X you have, you do indeed create a Zip file.

It is possible to configure your system to create other things instead, but
you would know if you had done that.

If you send Zip to a PC user using anything later than Windows 2000, they
will be able to open it without adding anything to their system: the Zip
format has now become so ubiquitous it is built in to all operating systems
including Unix and Linux

There are various grades of Zip file: the built-in facility creates the
lowest grade that can be unzipped by anything. The higher grades may give
you as much as 10 per cent more compression (usually less) but they require
WinZip to open, so you can't use them on a Mac. You can't open them on most
PCs either, since it requires the "paid for" version of WinZip, and many
computer users seem a little averse to putting their hands in their pockets


Older Macs still have the Stuffit utility built in: not a good bet for
sending to PCs, it requires them to install a Stuffit Expander, which is
free, but most PCs at work are locked down so they can't install "anything".

Hope this helps

Thanks for the info guys. I appreciate it.

I've not done a lot of work with zipped files so I'd like to confirm a couple
of things. Do I simply select the file in Finder and then select compress?
When I do I see it does create a zipped file. If I then email this to a pc
user will they need anything special to unzip the file? Or can I include that
with the zipped file?

Thanks a lot!
Kevin

This email is my business email -- Please do not email me about forum
matters unless you intend to pay!

--

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP (Word, Mac Word), Consultant Technical Writer,
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
Sydney, Australia. | Ph: +61 (0)4 1209 1410
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]

 

[Phillip Jones, C.E.T.]

Are you aware that recent versions of Stuffit Deluxe are capable of
creating opening Zip files

If you could send me a word 2007 file on a PC stuffed with win zip I can
see if it opens with Stuffit Expander. Or Stuffit Deluxe.

Or I can send you a word 2008 file zipped by Stuffit Deluxe and see
whether Winzip can open.

 

[John McGhie]

Hi Phillip:

Yes, Stuffit has always been able to open Zip. But it may or may not open
..zipx.

http://kb.winzip.com/kb/entry/177/

My point is: Use the built-in Apple OS X utility, and don't worry about the
details. Everyone will be able to open it.

If you insist on chasing eight per cent more compression, you will get some
disappointed recipients out there.

Cheers

Are you aware that recent versions of Stuffit Deluxe are capable of
creating opening Zip files

If you could send me a word 2007 file on a PC stuffed with win zip I can
see if it opens with Stuffit Expander. Or Stuffit Deluxe.

Or I can send you a word 2008 file zipped by Stuffit Deluxe and see
whether Winzip can open.

This email is my business email -- Please do not email me about forum
matters unless you intend to pay!

--

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP (Word, Mac Word), Consultant Technical Writer,
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
Sydney, Australia. | Ph: +61 (0)4 1209 1410
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]