Powerpoint can't read the outline from no text converter is installed for this file type

A

Alain Dekker

I've got Powerpoint 97 installed. I can't read a PPT file from work because
of this error. I ahve the Office 2007 compatibility pack installed. What do
I do?

The first Google article on this is from Microsoft, but doesn't even
*mentino* Office 97, only going back to Office 2000.

I do not want to install Office 2007, if you're going to suggest that.

Thanks,
Alain
 
E

Echo S

I don't think you're going to be able to open the file, then, because PPT 97
doesn't support the compatibility pack.

You can open the file at the office and choose Office Button | Save As and
save as a 97-2003 format file (*.PPT).
 
A

Alain Dekker

All right, thanks, will suggest this to whomever gave me the PPT file.

Bit of a problem, though, because Powerpoint 97 and the rest of Office 97
are a nice set of programs. Why should I be pushed into installing Office
2007? I know MS wnat to make more money out of me, but its not right that
they do it this way.

Regards,
Alain


Echo S said:
I don't think you're going to be able to open the file, then, because PPT
97 doesn't support the compatibility pack.

You can open the file at the office and choose Office Button | Save As and
save as a 97-2003 format file (*.PPT).

--
Echo [MS PPT MVP] http://www.echosvoice.com
What's new in PPT 2007? http://www.echosvoice.com/2007.htm
Fixing PowerPoint Annoyances http://tinyurl.com/36grcd
PowerPoint 2007 Complete Makeover Kit http://tinyurl.com/32a7nx


Alain Dekker said:
I've got Powerpoint 97 installed. I can't read a PPT file from work
because of this error. I ahve the Office 2007 compatibility pack
installed. What do I do?

The first Google article on this is from Microsoft, but doesn't even
*mentino* Office 97, only going back to Office 2000.

I do not want to install Office 2007, if you're going to suggest that.

Thanks,
Alain
 
L

LVTravel

Alain Dekker said:
All right, thanks, will suggest this to whomever gave me the PPT file.

Bit of a problem, though, because Powerpoint 97 and the rest of Office 97
are a nice set of programs. Why should I be pushed into installing Office
2007? I know MS wnat to make more money out of me, but its not right that
they do it this way.

Regards,
Alain


Echo S said:
I don't think you're going to be able to open the file, then, because PPT
97 doesn't support the compatibility pack.

You can open the file at the office and choose Office Button | Save As
and save as a 97-2003 format file (*.PPT).

--
Echo [MS PPT MVP] http://www.echosvoice.com
What's new in PPT 2007? http://www.echosvoice.com/2007.htm
Fixing PowerPoint Annoyances http://tinyurl.com/36grcd
PowerPoint 2007 Complete Makeover Kit http://tinyurl.com/32a7nx


Alain Dekker said:
I've got Powerpoint 97 installed. I can't read a PPT file from work
because of this error. I ahve the Office 2007 compatibility pack
installed. What do I do?

The first Google article on this is from Microsoft, but doesn't even
*mentino* Office 97, only going back to Office 2000.

I do not want to install Office 2007, if you're going to suggest that.

Thanks,
Alain

If you only need to view the files and not edit them you can download the
PPT viewer for 2007 and install that. Won't affect the way PPT 97 works
except if you double click on a ppt filename and then it would open the
viewer instead of PPT 97. To get around that problem you would need to
start PPT 97 and then open the file. Viewer is here:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...40-14E1-467D-8DCA-19D2A8FD7485&displaylang=en

Another free option is to download Open Office 3.11 (www.openoffice.org)
which will open, play and edit almost all PPT and PPTx files from Office
2007 and earlier.
 
E

Echo S

The suggestion about using the Viewer is another good one.

I'd say, though, that Office 97 is now 12 years old, and it's four versions
back -- soon to be five. They've provided compatibility back to Office 2000,
which is nearly 10 years old and three versions back. I don't consider that
a rush at all. At some point, you've gotta move on.

--
Echo [MS PPT MVP] http://www.echosvoice.com
What's new in PPT 2007? http://www.echosvoice.com/2007.htm
Fixing PowerPoint Annoyances http://tinyurl.com/36grcd
PowerPoint 2007 Complete Makeover Kit http://tinyurl.com/32a7nx


Alain Dekker said:
All right, thanks, will suggest this to whomever gave me the PPT file.

Bit of a problem, though, because Powerpoint 97 and the rest of Office 97
are a nice set of programs. Why should I be pushed into installing Office
2007? I know MS wnat to make more money out of me, but its not right that
they do it this way.

Regards,
Alain


Echo S said:
I don't think you're going to be able to open the file, then, because PPT
97 doesn't support the compatibility pack.

You can open the file at the office and choose Office Button | Save As
and save as a 97-2003 format file (*.PPT).

--
Echo [MS PPT MVP] http://www.echosvoice.com
What's new in PPT 2007? http://www.echosvoice.com/2007.htm
Fixing PowerPoint Annoyances http://tinyurl.com/36grcd
PowerPoint 2007 Complete Makeover Kit http://tinyurl.com/32a7nx


Alain Dekker said:
I've got Powerpoint 97 installed. I can't read a PPT file from work
because of this error. I ahve the Office 2007 compatibility pack
installed. What do I do?

The first Google article on this is from Microsoft, but doesn't even
*mentino* Office 97, only going back to Office 2000.

I do not want to install Office 2007, if you're going to suggest that.

Thanks,
Alain
 
A

Alain Dekker

Thanks for all the comments.

Tried the viewer, but it wasn't able to open the file. Something about a
"text converter not installed" I think. Forget the exact error, will report
later.

I do understand and appreciate the issue of "moving on". Its just a shame.
Bit like having a great 1987 model of Toyota Corolla, say, and loving the
car...but eventually the manufacturer stops making spare parts for it. With
software, though, it should really be different, especially for such a large
corporation as Microsoft.

Spent some time reading about some of these new and (supposedly) wonderful
features that Office 2007 brings to the party. The fundamentals of creating
great slides, spreadsheets and documents haven't changed and I for one
remain unconvinced that these new features actually add much. Certainly
nothing springs out at me and says "Wow, I need that feature!".

I'm suspicious that breaking backward compatibility with its own products is
a commercial decision. Not aimed at legitimate Office 97 users such as
myself, but aimed squarely at competitors of Office, like Open Office. I'm
just an unfortunate casualty. I think this is unfair, but sadly an all too
common, business practice. MS dominates the OS market and by virtue of that
dominates the office-style programs as well (we remember Lotus 123 and Word
Perfect, I hope!). They should win the office-style program market by
producing great programs, not changing proprietary file formats to prevent
competitors writing readers.

Not totally unrelated, this reminds me of a serious problem I heard a
lecture on recently - the issue of "bit rot". The lecturer, who did
consultancy work for Google and NASA, pointed out that we'll soon get to a
stage where the only way to open old files is to preserve the program, the
operating system on which the program ran, the media to load both, the
hardware to support both and perhaps even an electrical supply to run that
hardware! If we don't then 20 or more years from now, nothing we've created
today will be usable, it'll be "rotted bits", a pile of useless 1s and 0s.
I'm sure we all hope this doesn't apply to some fundamental file formats,
like BMP or JPG or TXT, but its already happening very rapidly to many other
file formats. This PPT question I've raised is an excellent example.

I bought a private copy of Office 2000 for myself which I use on my personal
computer...hope nobody minds if I install that (illegally?) on my work
computer to get around the compatibility issues.

Thanks again,
Alain

Steve Rindsberg said:
All right, thanks, will suggest this to whomever gave me the PPT file.

Bit of a problem, though, because Powerpoint 97 and the rest of Office 97
are a nice set of programs. Why should I be pushed into installing Office
2007? I know MS wnat to make more money out of me, but its not right that
they do it this way.

Office 97 really was (and remains) a classic.

But in order to make needed improvements to the program and to support new
features, MS had to change the file format. We can't expect them to do
all
that AND maintain backward compatibility with the old software as well.
The
fact that they've managed to do so through Office 2000, 2002 and 2003 is,
to
me, quite amazing, but it couldn't go on forever.

The problem isn't so much that you're being pushed into updating ... after
all,
you can continue to do what you've always done with the software. It's
more
that others around you have elected to update and are now incompatible
with
your software.

If we're happy where we are, we're free to stay there while the world
moves on,
but we have to accept that that can leave us a bit out of synch.

FWIW, the compatibility pack will run with Office 2000, and 2000's not so
wildly different from 97 that you'd have difficulty using it. If you can
lay
your hands on a copy, it'd be worth considering.
Regards,
Alain

Echo S said:
I don't think you're going to be able to open the file, then, because
PPT
97 doesn't support the compatibility pack.

You can open the file at the office and choose Office Button | Save As
and
save as a 97-2003 format file (*.PPT).

--
Echo [MS PPT MVP] http://www.echosvoice.com
What's new in PPT 2007? http://www.echosvoice.com/2007.htm
Fixing PowerPoint Annoyances http://tinyurl.com/36grcd
PowerPoint 2007 Complete Makeover Kit http://tinyurl.com/32a7nx


I've got Powerpoint 97 installed. I can't read a PPT file from work
because of this error. I ahve the Office 2007 compatibility pack
installed. What do I do?

The first Google article on this is from Microsoft, but doesn't even
*mentino* Office 97, only going back to Office 2000.

I do not want to install Office 2007, if you're going to suggest that.

Thanks,
Alain


==============================
PPT Frequently Asked Questions
http://www.pptfaq.com/

PPTools add-ins for PowerPoint
http://www.pptools.com/
 
E

Echo S

Make sure you've downloaded and installed the 2007 viewer from
office.microsoft.com -- it includes the compatibility pack so the 2007
Viewer can open PPTX (2007-format) files. The 2003 Viewer doesn't have this
capability.

--
Echo [MS PPT MVP] http://www.echosvoice.com
What's new in PPT 2007? http://www.echosvoice.com/2007.htm
Fixing PowerPoint Annoyances http://tinyurl.com/36grcd
PowerPoint 2007 Complete Makeover Kit http://tinyurl.com/32a7nx


Alain Dekker said:
Thanks for all the comments.

Tried the viewer, but it wasn't able to open the file. Something about a
"text converter not installed" I think. Forget the exact error, will
report later.

I do understand and appreciate the issue of "moving on". Its just a shame.
Bit like having a great 1987 model of Toyota Corolla, say, and loving the
car...but eventually the manufacturer stops making spare parts for it.
With software, though, it should really be different, especially for such
a large corporation as Microsoft.

Spent some time reading about some of these new and (supposedly) wonderful
features that Office 2007 brings to the party. The fundamentals of
creating great slides, spreadsheets and documents haven't changed and I
for one remain unconvinced that these new features actually add much.
Certainly nothing springs out at me and says "Wow, I need that feature!".

I'm suspicious that breaking backward compatibility with its own products
is a commercial decision. Not aimed at legitimate Office 97 users such as
myself, but aimed squarely at competitors of Office, like Open Office. I'm
just an unfortunate casualty. I think this is unfair, but sadly an all too
common, business practice. MS dominates the OS market and by virtue of
that dominates the office-style programs as well (we remember Lotus 123
and Word Perfect, I hope!). They should win the office-style program
market by producing great programs, not changing proprietary file formats
to prevent competitors writing readers.

Not totally unrelated, this reminds me of a serious problem I heard a
lecture on recently - the issue of "bit rot". The lecturer, who did
consultancy work for Google and NASA, pointed out that we'll soon get to a
stage where the only way to open old files is to preserve the program, the
operating system on which the program ran, the media to load both, the
hardware to support both and perhaps even an electrical supply to run that
hardware! If we don't then 20 or more years from now, nothing we've
created today will be usable, it'll be "rotted bits", a pile of useless 1s
and 0s. I'm sure we all hope this doesn't apply to some fundamental file
formats, like BMP or JPG or TXT, but its already happening very rapidly to
many other file formats. This PPT question I've raised is an excellent
example.

I bought a private copy of Office 2000 for myself which I use on my
personal computer...hope nobody minds if I install that (illegally?) on my
work computer to get around the compatibility issues.

Thanks again,
Alain

Steve Rindsberg said:
All right, thanks, will suggest this to whomever gave me the PPT file.

Bit of a problem, though, because Powerpoint 97 and the rest of Office
97
are a nice set of programs. Why should I be pushed into installing
Office
2007? I know MS wnat to make more money out of me, but its not right
that
they do it this way.

Office 97 really was (and remains) a classic.

But in order to make needed improvements to the program and to support
new
features, MS had to change the file format. We can't expect them to do
all
that AND maintain backward compatibility with the old software as well.
The
fact that they've managed to do so through Office 2000, 2002 and 2003 is,
to
me, quite amazing, but it couldn't go on forever.

The problem isn't so much that you're being pushed into updating ...
after all,
you can continue to do what you've always done with the software. It's
more
that others around you have elected to update and are now incompatible
with
your software.

If we're happy where we are, we're free to stay there while the world
moves on,
but we have to accept that that can leave us a bit out of synch.

FWIW, the compatibility pack will run with Office 2000, and 2000's not so
wildly different from 97 that you'd have difficulty using it. If you can
lay
your hands on a copy, it'd be worth considering.
Regards,
Alain

I don't think you're going to be able to open the file, then, because
PPT
97 doesn't support the compatibility pack.

You can open the file at the office and choose Office Button | Save As
and
save as a 97-2003 format file (*.PPT).

--
Echo [MS PPT MVP] http://www.echosvoice.com
What's new in PPT 2007? http://www.echosvoice.com/2007.htm
Fixing PowerPoint Annoyances http://tinyurl.com/36grcd
PowerPoint 2007 Complete Makeover Kit http://tinyurl.com/32a7nx


I've got Powerpoint 97 installed. I can't read a PPT file from work
because of this error. I ahve the Office 2007 compatibility pack
installed. What do I do?

The first Google article on this is from Microsoft, but doesn't even
*mentino* Office 97, only going back to Office 2000.

I do not want to install Office 2007, if you're going to suggest
that.

Thanks,
Alain


==============================
PPT Frequently Asked Questions
http://www.pptfaq.com/

PPTools add-ins for PowerPoint
http://www.pptools.com/
 
A

Alain Dekker

Hi thanks, for those thoughtful replies.
True to the extent that the "overlap" period for Office 95 and earlier
formats
ends once you move totally to 2007 and no longer have an earlier version
available.

Just wanted to quickly comment on this one, though. You make a good point,
but I do think the situation might be less rosy than you suggest. On a
personal level, we move with the times fairly painlessly, particularly if
you're young and into techy things. Over a period of 5 years, say, not much
appears to change.

But make that 20 years and its a very different story altogether. In order
to read files created in Word 6 and Windows 95 (I still have some on a 3.5"
floppy somewhere!) its not going to be long before we have to keep the OS,
disk reader, hardware (that'll have moved on and maybe the Windows 95 OS
we've kept won't install), etc. For the average user, that will be an
impossibility.

You're right that we must "take advantage of the period of overlap". Very
true. Without constantly worrying (for want of a better word) about these
issues, we'll get into "bit rot" faster than we think. Your example of NASA
data tapes is a perfect example. In my opinion, though, file format writers
also have a responsibility to keep the file format itself lean and mean. We
do need to ask ourselves whether that extra data field allowing us to use
animated smiley faces in powerpoint slides really is a good idea!

But maybe I'm just pontificating too much. We have to deal with
"obselescence" all the time, and always will. A good example to this is my
wedding suit I tried to put on the other day. Hadn't worn it for several
years and, umm, the waistline must have shrunk in the cupboard because it
was too tight! :eek:)

Thanks again for yout thoughtful replies.

Regards,
Alain
 

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