Compatibility problem between Mac Excel 2008and Windows 2003 Excel

[Khilari]

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

* I have an iMac 2.8GHz with 2GB RAM. I am running OS X 10.5 (Leopard) and Windows Office 2008*

I have created a number of (large) spreadsheets for my PhD and saved them in both the *.xlsx and the *.xls (Excel 97-2004 Workbook) formats.

My supervisor runs an Intel Windows PC and uses Microsoft Office 2003. He is unable to open either file at present.
-on trying to open the "*.xlsx" file, he is shown an error message
-on trying to open the "*.xls" (compatibility version) file, he is asked if he wishes to continue with opening the file as it may be corrupted. on clicking yes, Excel opens but he gets a spreadsheet of garbage (hundreds of lines symbols and random letters, nothing like the original spreadsheet).

I am able to open these very same versions of the file on the library PC running Office 2008. My friend who runs Office 2003 on his laptop was able to open the "xlsx" file after he was asked if he wanted to download an update to which he said 'yes' - allowing him to view *.docx, *.pptx and *.xlsx files.

Given the above, I do not think the data is corrupt.

1. Is there a way my I can save the files to avoid this problem with PC Office 2003 users?
2. Is there an update a PC Office 2003 user can download in order to allow them to view *.xlsx/*.docx/*.pptx files?

As my research is suffering and deadlines are approaching and I do not have time to re-input the data using a PC, some advice would be much appreciated!

Kind regards
Shamim Rahman

 

[Khilari]

*I have an iMac 2.8GHz with 2GB RAM. I am running OS X 10.5 (Leopard) and Windows Office 2008*

{just to clarify, I run Mac Office 2008, not Windows Office 2008 and I do not run Windows on my Mac at all - apologies}

 

[Jim Gordon MVP]

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

* I have an iMac 2.8GHz with 2GB RAM. I am running OS X 10.5 (Leopard) and Windows Office 2008*

I have created a number of (large) spreadsheets for my PhD and saved them in both the *.xlsx and the *.xls (Excel 97-2004 Workbook) formats.

My supervisor runs an Intel Windows PC and uses Microsoft Office 2003. He is unable to open either file at present.
-on trying to open the "*.xlsx" file, he is shown an error message
-on trying to open the "*.xls" (compatibility version) file, he is asked if he wishes to continue with opening the file as it may be corrupted. on clicking yes, Excel opens but he gets a spreadsheet of garbage (hundreds of lines symbols and random letters, nothing like the original spreadsheet).

I am able to open these very same versions of the file on the library PC running Office 2008. My friend who runs Office 2003 on his laptop was able to open the "xlsx" file after he was asked if he wanted to download an update to which he said 'yes' - allowing him to view *.docx, *.pptx and *.xlsx files.

Given the above, I do not think the data is corrupt.

1. Is there a way my I can save the files to avoid this problem with PC Office 2003 users?
2. Is there an update a PC Office 2003 user can download in order to allow them to view *.xlsx/*.docx/*.pptx files?

As my research is suffering and deadlines are approaching and I do not have time to re-input the data using a PC, some advice would be much appreciated!

Kind regards
Shamim Rahman

Hi,

It sounds to me that the problematic PC has not been updated.

An updated 2003 machine should be able to open both xls and xlsx files
without difficulty.

Yes, Windows users have ways of updating their software. They can
download the updates manually or let their computer do it for them. But
they do have to install the updates to get their software to work.

-Jim

--
Jim Gordon
Mac MVP


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