MS WORD .docx - 'Compatability Pack' NO Work

December 7, 2009
3.30pm

Hi again,

I have MS WORD & OFFICE v. 2002 SP3. I got an ".docx" :confused attachment to an email and wanted to open it. (It's a newsletter, virus-safe).

I launch my MS WORD app and get an error message saying I need to download the new post-2007 'compatibility pack'.

This I do, and install it - but alas, it just won't open that darn .docx document :cry !!

I tried re-downloading and re-installing, to no avail.

Simply: help !

- scottportraits

 

check for office updates as well, I know there are compatibility updates out there too.

 

Can you save the email attacment .docx 2007 document as a .doc 97 - 2003 document? If so, that should solve the problem.

 

He would have to be able to open it first in order to do that, and he can not open it. Now, if he could ask the originator to save it as a .doc 97 - 2003 document and re-send it, that would be a solution.

Where did you get the "new post-2007 'compatibility pack'"? Is this what you got?: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...70-3ae9-4aee-8f43-c6bb74cd1466&displaylang=en

 

Actually, you can save and change the format of an attachment without opening it. When you click the Download link on an attachment, you have the option to either Open or Save it. If you click Save, you can, not only save the document to any location you choose, but you can also choose from a relatively long list of options in the "Save as type" section, regarding the format of the document. When an attachment is a Word document (sent in any format), one of the options is: "Microsoft Office Word 97-2003 Document."

 

I disagree. I have a computer with Office 2003 installed and another computer with Office 2007 installed. I just sent myself a Word 2007 (.docx) file and tried to save it in a format other than .docx on my receiving computer. Within Outlook Express, I have two options for handling the attached Word 2007 file. I can either open it, but that will not work since I do not have Office 2007 or the Office 2007 compatibility pack on that computer, or I can simply save the file as is. I do not have an option to save the .docx file in other formats.

Likewise, if I open the email with Outlook 2003 on the computer with Office 2003, I can not save it as a Word 97-2003 Document.

This simply makes sense. Think about it. To truly change the format, the .docx file must be opened with an application that recognizes it, which would be either Word 2007 or the Office 2007 compatibility pack, and that program must make changes to the file to save it as a Word 97-2003 Document. You can't simply change the format of a file to make it work in a different application, i.e. version of Office, by merely changing the filename extension, which is the essence of what you're saying.

 

usafveteran, I agree with the logic of what you're saying, and since I DO have 2007 on this laptop, I can't test out your theory of whether you can change the format of a 2007 docx if you DON'T have 2007 on your system. So you may be right, I don't know. But the essence of what I said in regard to being able to save and change the format of a document without having to open it first, is still accurate. Whether that can be done with a document format that is not already on your system, you're probably right. So we're both half right, okay? (But I'm sorry that I couldn't solve scottportraits' problem, cause that was the whole point.)

PS By the way, you might try this in a stand-alone email program rather than Outlook. I use Yahoo mail, MSN/Hotmail, and GMail, and have the "Save document as" option in all of them.

 

Hm.

Word 2010 file?

 

Dec 8, 2009 3.30pm est


Yes, this is where I got the update file:

:craphttp://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=941b3470-3ae9-4aee-8f43-c6bb74cd1466&displaylang=en:crap

The sender resent the newsletter as a regular WORD .doc, so I guess I can forget about all this until I need to open a new .docx.....which I hope is never.

Case closed. Thanks for all your input. Renaming it did NOT work.

 

No, that's not accurate. You may simply change the name of the file extension but that does not change the format. I could open a Command Prompt panel and change the name of myfile.docx to myfile.doc, or do the same in Windows Explorer. That does absolutely nothing to change the file content and will not make a .docx file compatible with versions of Office prior to Office 2007. So, again, the only way to TRUELY change the file format of a .docx file to .doc is to open it in Word 2007 and Save As .doc. Alternatively, it could be opened with Office XP or Office 2003 if the Compatibility Pack is installed.

I have a Yahoo account and a Gmail account. Neither of them has the "Save document as" option. And, again, if they did, it would merely be a changing of the filename and/or file extension and not an actual conversion of the file. So, it would be a useless procedure.