How do I convert all older files on a server to 2007 format?

[Joshua]

Apparently a security fix in service pack 3 for Office is preventing older
word files from being opened.

When the users try to open they get a message:

"You are attempting to open a file that was created in an earlier version of
Microsoft Office. This file type is blocked from opening in this version by
your registry policy setting."

I found an article regarding this at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922849

We are going to apply the policy templates but my boss wants a better
solution. He thinks that if Microsoft is blocking these files by default we
cannot ensure there future in new versions of Office.

What would be the best way of accomplishing an upgrade(conversion?) of all
documents on a server to 2007 format?

We were thinking possibly a VB or a VBA script, but there has to be a better
way of accomplishing this.

Thanks for any advice offered.

Joshua

 

[Russ]

Joshua,
Does this link provide the help you need?
Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007
File Formats:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923505

 

[Joshua]

Not really. We actually have this installed on all our machines now as we
have decided to not do a company wide install of Office 2007 until next
Desktop Refresh in 1 year.

What were trying to do is convert old versions of Word Docs that will not
open anymore from SP3 security fix in office. If we could convert them all
to 2007 it would not be an issue again for a very long time.

In my opinion Microsoft made a huge mistake with this feature in SP3 without
giving us proper alternatives. We have 100's if not close to a 1,000 files
spread out throughout the network that date back to 1994 and that will now no
longer open.

 

[davidgmore]

Hi,

I also have a heap of older format files I need to access from time to time
in Office 2007. The trusted location approach does not work for me.

Any useful suggestions.

David