file looks fine in Word X, text displays as squares in Word 2004

[BrianC]

Files created on an iMac G4 pre-2002 or so look fine when opened in
Word X on my MacBook Pro (Intel). The same file when opened in Word
2004 on the same iMac G4 where they were created displays text as
squares (unknown character?). Images look fine in both. Newer files
created in Word X (again, on the MacBook Pro) look fine when opened
using Word 2004 on the iMac. I've tried using "save as" to create new
versions from Word X ---- I've saved as a standard Word X file, Word
5.1, & RTF --- none of these display properly in Word 2004. Again in
Word X, I selected the entire document, copied, and then pasted into a
new document --- still no luck. Even saving as text, most of the text
comes out as dashes.

Any ideas as to what I should try next?

 

[Elliott Roper]

Files created on an iMac G4 pre-2002 or so look fine when opened in
Word X on my MacBook Pro (Intel). The same file when opened in Word
2004 on the same iMac G4 where they were created displays text as
squares (unknown character?). Images look fine in both. Newer files
created in Word X (again, on the MacBook Pro) look fine when opened
using Word 2004 on the iMac. I've tried using "save as" to create new
versions from Word X ---- I've saved as a standard Word X file, Word
5.1, & RTF --- none of these display properly in Word 2004. Again in
Word X, I selected the entire document, copied, and then pasted into a
new document --- still no luck. Even saving as text, most of the text
comes out as dashes.

Any ideas as to what I should try next?

yeah. Word X does not use Unicode. Instead it makes do with "Apple
Extended' which has a measly 256 possible characters, many of which are
different in different fonts. Unicode fonts can have up to 2^16
characters (that's 65,536 different glyphs).

My guess is that Word or the system is making a mess of mapping one to
the other in the font you are using.
Are you using lots of Cyrillic or other unusual characters, and it is
only the funny ones that comes out as squares?

If yes, try this on a copy of your file in Word v.X. Select all, then
change the font to Times New Roman or Arial. Save it and see if Word
2004 deals with it any better.

It is possible that Word or the system is getting confused about which
fonts are unicode and which are not. Installation of Office 2004 over
the top of an existing v.X installation, particularly one where you
might have shifted fonts between the user libraries and the main
library makes a fine salad of different versions of the same font with
the same name. Use Font Book to resolve duplicates and try again.

I strong recommend making a zip archive of all your fonts (in both
/Library and ~/Library) before proceeding. Microsoft has issued some
kind of challenge to Font Book by giving some of its Unicode fonts of
the same name lower version numbers and earlier create dates.

I remember going through that hassle when I first installed 2004
alongside v.X, although I never saw a whole page of squares. But then I
can't talk too much Russian.