word perfect files

i have a bunch of old files i cannot read. they represent emails sent back in the days before windows and have 8 char or 8+3 filenames, allcapped (i.e. "NOTES", "WORK", "BANK", "BANK.SAF", "TAXES.89", "TAXES.90", "TAXES.NEW", etc). as such, i thought they were some sort of "ascii" defaults cut/pasted from incoming emails. however, neither notepad nor wordpad can open these files. (nor MS word or word2003, for that matter)

elsewhere, i have notes sorting the files according to "WP 4.0F9, WP 4.0F11, WP4F18". i would assume that means they're wordperfect (4), but i DLed the current WP and it couldn't open them! which got me to thinking that maybe they were PASSWORD PROTECTED in the first place?

i cannot find WP4 anywhere, even on sites like oldversion.com. was it SO different that the current WP would choke on the files? or does this INDEED sound like a password issue? (not popping up and ASKING me for a PW, so it's hard to see it as one)

or are these likely some OTHER type of file (back to the ASCII thinking...)? if so, how the HECK do i view them?!

i tried "UniversalViewer" but it can't open them either.

"WhatFormat" seems to think they're WP. but i remain skeptical.

 

they wouldn't be for a linux or unix system would they?

 

You might still be able to find very old versions of WP on the Corel/Borland/whoever they are now FTP server.

Jarte usually does a pretty good job of opening them otherwise.

 

Open Office does a good job of opening WordPerfect files. The version 2.1 of OO could even open old dos WordPerfect files. I do not know if the current version will but it is worth a try. You would have to use the file open dialog and select all files because the extensions on your files are not the standard .wpd WordPerfect files.

 

I used Jarte recently to open WP Junior files, not perfect but functional and by far the best of the modern 'Office' software I tried to read them with.

 

oh yeah, i WAS on unix at the time...kind FORGOT abt that...

actually, it's SOOOO long ago, i'm totally blurring "dos" and "unix" at this point! wasn't "asc" the default txt file on unix, in the way that "txt" is for dos or unix? (i know there's SOME reason i was asking abt ASC files!)

assuming they ARE unix files, how am i supposed to OPEN them?

i recall weird editors like "emacs" back in the day, but even those are a hazy memory. do i need one of THOSE to open these?

-----
DLing Jarte as I type. will report back. but kench has got me thinking they are indeed straight-up unix.

 

that was a total shot in the dark...I tried a search and came up with this...http://www.tech-faq.com/where-to-download-unix.html ...it says to run it on a virtual drive...hope this helps...

 

i have NO IDEA what i'm looking for there. do i need an "editor", a "word processor", what?

saying they are "unix" files is a bit like saying something's a "windows" file, right? that wouldn't distinguish between TXT or DOC or PDF, say, right? so does "unix file" really mean anything without knowing what TYPE of unix file?

 

I tried Jarte, btw. The few files I had in a "WP?"-type folder opened ok, but the vast bulk from the various "WP locked?" and "ASC?" folders did not. Incidentally, I noticed that a fair number of the 8+3 filenames in this last folder were, in fact, "name.ASC". FWIW. Didn't mention (hadn't noticed!) in earlier posts.

Wasn't ascii just plain ole TEXT tho? If neither notepad nor wordpad can handle these, could they really be ascii in the first place?

Out of curiousity, I googled "ascii viewer", but I'm hesitating DLing/trying one of those.

BTW, most of these files begin with either "þÿaag" or "ÿWPCæ". In case anyone knows what to make of that. I recall WhatFormat not being much help.

 

In the original post, you said they represented emails? How about encoded emails, as in PGP?

 

i was on unix, my friends were on unix, email was always "online" since none of us had hard drives.

at some point we GOT harddrives (2M -- woo hoo!), and we used WP to type papers, resumes, etc., locally, rather than "online" as we had been used to.

somewhere in this temporal haze, i wound up with copies of a few hundred emails. they may have been prepared in WP and "dumped" into the mail system, but even so, the ultimate format should be of said mail system, no? unless i was the SENDER, i suppose.

(since i can't READ any of these, not quite sure what %age were things sent, what %age things received, and what %age things which simply SAT on the PC in those post-HDD years)

i rly don't know much abt PGP, but since wiki puts it from 1991, i'm skeptical. i think many of these emails predate that. the titles reflect things from like 86 or 87. unless they were resaved much later (quite possible, but), i dunno how they'd fall under PGP.

more likely (again), was there some "filetype" associated with unix email? i suspect we typed "mail" or somesuch to access it. wherein a numbered list of msgs popped up, and u then selected by number. using "exit" or control characters or somesuch to get back to the index list.

 

pwillener: are u reading this thread as well?

any chance THESE are the result of wordperfect running atop 9800 or Dos/V?

i've sorted out most everything else from my unix/dos/9800/dos-V days, but as WhatFormat isn't even sure these particular files ARE wordperfect, it got me to wondering whether they could have been preserved as WordPerfect "98" files at some intermediary stage.

no japanese LANGUAGE in any of these, but if even the english is trapped in some unfamiliar format, could THIS be a possibility?

if so, what next? i googled around for "WordPerfect Japanese" or at least "WordPerfect 9800", but I'm not finding anything useful.

(sorry, would have IMed you, but can't figure out HOW!)