Word 2008 won't open older Word documents

[Nick_P]

Version: 2008 Operating System: Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) Processor: Intel I'm using Word 2008 (12.2.4) on an iMac running OS 10.6.3. I'd like to open some Word documents created a while back in Word 5.1 (when life was much simpler!). When I double click on the document icon I get a message saying that this is blocked, but 'if you trust this file is secure, you can open it by clicking Open on the File menu'. Unfortunately, this does not work either, and nor does the workaround at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/953266 that the dialogue box directs you to.

I do still have my old eMac, with Office X for OSX, which could read these Word 5.1 files. Should I just go back and convert them all on there, and then shift them over, or is there a way I can do it without resorting to that?

Any advice much appreciated.

 

[John McGhie]

The very best way to do this is the way you are proposing: open them in Word
X, and save them out as .doc.

Then move them to OS X and save them again, as .docx. That will
"future-proof" them for another 10 years or so.

The converter for those old formats is a "Classic" application that won't
run in OS 10.6.

Cheers

Version: 2008 Operating System: Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) Processor: Intel
I'm using Word 2008 (12.2.4) on an iMac running OS 10.6.3. I'd like to open
some Word documents created a while back in Word 5.1 (when life was much
simpler!). When I double click on the document icon I get a message saying
that this is blocked, but 'if you trust this file is secure, you can open it
by clicking Open on the File menu'. Unfortunately, this does not work either,
and nor does the workaround at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/953266 that the
dialogue box directs you to.

I do still have my old eMac, with Office X for OSX, which could read these
Word 5.1 files. Should I just go back and convert them all on there, and then
shift them over, or is there a way I can do it without resorting to that?

Any advice much appreciated.

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

 

[CyberTaz]

If you have a large number of files to be updated you may consider investing
in MacLinkPlus... It does batch conversions:

http://www.dataviz.com/products/maclinkplus/index.html

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

 

[Nick_P]

Thanks very much both of you. The numbers are relatively small, so I'll convert them step by step. Just as well I still have the eMac tucked away in the corner of my office!

 

[dow]

Thanks very much both of you. The numbers are relatively small, so I'll convert them step by step. Just as well I still have the eMac tucked away inthe corner of my office!

Is this a problem that only arises in OS 10.6? I've been about to
upgrade from OS 10.5 to 10.6, but this wold be a major inhibitory
factor...

[I'm currently running 10.5.8 on an Intel mac, and with this, I can
BOTH open Word 5.1 files via Word 2008's 'Open' dialog; and Word
2004 will happily open Word 5 docs by just double-clicking them]

 

[John McGhie]

No, it's a design change to Microsoft Word.

The ability to open very old Word files by double-clicking was removed
because it theoretically enables bad guys to read and/or delete the contents
of your Mac.

Don't panic! The level of programming skill it takes to get through this
back door is so high that only the government of a large world power is
likely to have the people, machines and time required. They're not going to
bother for most of us, and for those of us who are worth it, they don't need
Word to do this.

By forcing you to open the file using File>Open, it ensures that you, the
human user, are intentionally opening a document you know to be safe. It
prevents some bad guy from producing a link on a website that opens a file
without your knowledge which could be a virus, not a document.

The other issue is whether Word can read the old formats "at all".

Old Mac Word produced two formats: if you used the newer one, then Word
2004/2008 will read it quite happily, you just need to open the file using
File>Open instead of double-clicking it. Save it as .docx when you get it
open, as we advised the previous user, so you "future proof" it.

If you used the older format, it relies on a converter that runs only in
Classic. OS 10.6 can't run Classic, so make sure you convert your old files
before you upgrade.

Hope this helps

Thanks very much both of you. The numbers are relatively small, so I'll
convert them step by step. Just as well I still have the eMac tucked away in
the corner of my office!

Is this a problem that only arises in OS 10.6? I've been about to
upgrade from OS 10.5 to 10.6, but this wold be a major inhibitory
factor...

[I'm currently running 10.5.8 on an Intel mac, and with this, I can
BOTH open Word 5.1 files via Word 2008's 'Open' dialog; and Word
2004 will happily open Word 5 docs by just double-clicking them]

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

 

[dow]

No, it's a design change to Microsoft Word.

The ability to open very old Word files by double-clicking was removed
because it theoretically enables bad guys to read and/or delete the contents
of your Mac.

Don't panic!  The level of programming skill it takes to get through this
back door is so high that only the government of a large world power is
likely to have the people, machines and time required.  They're not going to
bother for most of us, and for those of us who are worth it, they don't need
Word to do this.

By forcing you to open the file using File>Open, it ensures that you, the
human user, are intentionally opening a document you know to be safe.  It
prevents some bad guy from producing a link on a website that opens a file
without your knowledge which could be a virus, not a document.

The other issue is whether Word can read the old formats "at all".

Old Mac Word produced two formats: if you used the newer one, then Word
2004/2008 will read it quite happily, you just need to open the file using
File>Open instead of double-clicking it.  Save it as .docx when you getit
open, as we advised the previous user, so you "future proof" it.

If you used the older format, it relies on a converter that runs only in
Classic.  OS 10.6 can't run Classic, so make sure you convert your old files
before you upgrade.

Hope this helps

Is this a problem that only arises  in OS 10.6? I've been about to
upgrade from OS 10.5 to 10.6, but this wold be a major inhibitory
factor...

[I'm currently running 10.5.8 on an Intel mac, and with this, I can
BOTH open Word 5.1 files via Word 2008's 'Open' dialog; and  Word
2004  will happily open Word 5 docs by just double-clicking them]

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; mailto:[email protected]

Thanks, John.

From your reply, I think the short answer for me is that as I can
happily open Word 5 docs into Word 2004 on my Intel mac by double-
clicking with 10.5, I will be able to do the same with 10.6.

[I have to confess I don't know if I was saving in the 'older' or
'newer' format when I save in Word 5 (I still have it running on an
older power PC mac with OS10.4 which I access via screen-sharing).
However, I'm not running Classic on my intel mac with 10.5, and the
documents are converting without protest...]

 

[John McGhie]

From your reply, I think the short answer for me is that as I can

happily open Word 5 docs into Word 2004 on my Intel mac by double-
clicking with 10.5, I will be able to do the same with 10.6.

The short answer, for you, is "Save those files as .docx NOW, or you shortly
won't be able to open them at all!"

By saving them as .docx, they will take up a quarter of the disk space:
..docx is highly compressed.

[I have to confess I don't know if I was saving in the 'older' or
'newer' format when I save in Word 5 (I still have it running on an
older power PC mac with OS10.4 which I access via screen-sharing).
However, I'm not running Classic on my intel mac with 10.5, and the
documents are converting without protest...]

If you were in the "old" format, there would be a lengthy wait while Classic
fired up, so I suspect you're in the "new" format.

Cheers

--

The email below is my business email -- Please do not email me about forum
matters unless I ask you to; or 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 | mailto:[email protected]

 

[Jeff_O_Neil]

I have the same problem!!

I had the 2004 Office for Mac student and now have the 2008. When loading it sought out all the updates, version is 12.2.4

I cannot open ANY of my older documents. I really wish that had been clear on the packaging.

So I load office 2004 back onto the machine?

I'm stumped. I also get documents all the time from suppliers so this is a major issue for me.

Any help greatly appreciated!

Jeff

 

[Jeff_O_Neil]

Okay....I'm calmer now!

Gotta love those little green pills..someday I'll ask what they are..lol

The document I was trying to open was from a much older version of word.

I CAN open my own documents and my clients.

I'm having the sender re-save the document with a different name and see if that solves the bug.

I hate upgrades...or rather they hate me!

 

[CyberTaz]

Changing the file *name* will make no difference whatsoever -- it's the file
*format* which needs to be different. The file needs to be saved (using Save
As) in a Word 97-2004 format.

It isn't the upgrading that causes the problem, it's those who cling to the
past who mire the wheels of progress

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