Can't open word .doc in Mac Word

[mamabear]

Version: 2008 Operating System: Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) Processor: Intel I have a lot of documents created in MS Word 97-2004 that I would like to migrate to my new Mac desktop, but I can't open them in the Mac version of Word.

Any suggestions?

I tried renaming with a docx extension, but that doesn't work either.

 

[LauraA]

Can you post the exact names of some of the files, along with their extensions, and also in which Microsoft Word version they were saved?

 

[CyberTaz]

Make certain that Office is fully updated -- 12.2.3 is the current level.
Once updated run Disk Utility - Repair Disk Permissions. Also, use the File>
Open method rather than double-clicking in Finder.

BTW: *Never* arbitrarily change a filename extension. The extension
determines how the app attempts to open the file & can cause permanent
damage.

 

[hielan' laddie]

Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard)
Processor: Intel
I have a lot of documents created in MS Word 97-2004 that I would like to
migrate to my new Mac desktop, but I can't open them in the Mac version
of Word.

What error message(s) do you get when you try? What version of Word was used
to create the files in the first place? One which platform, Mac or Windows?
How are you accessing the the files, directly from a local hard drive, from a
USB thumb drive or similar, from a CD or similar, over a network connection?
If a local hard drive or a thumb drive, how is the drive formatted? NTFS,
HFS, HFS+, FAT, something else? If the drive is NTFS or HFS+, do you have the
proper permissions set? If a network connection, how are you connecting? AFP,
SMB, something else? What's the volume on the far end of the network
connection formatted in? Do you have the proper permissions set?

Any suggestions?

The first thing I'd do is to see if the files will open in TextEdit, which
comes free with the Mac. If they do, then the problem is likely to be in the
Word setup, and I'd update the Word setup to the latest version. If they
don't, then I'd try Pages or Open Office (if available) and if they still
don't open in either of those then the problem is with the files themselves.
I'd check to see if the original app will open them. If so, then we can
probably fix the problem. If not, well...

I tried renaming with a docx extension, but that doesn't work either.

That's a _bad_ idea. _Never_ mess around with the extensions.