Old Word 2.0 1994 files

[Steve]

I'm trying to open some of my old files, created and probably not accessed
since 1994.
I'm using Word 2000, but on the files I'm trying to open I get "Macros in
this template are in Word 2.0 format and will not be converted." Then
continue opening template, and it hangs. Trying to open in wordpad I get
"cannot load word for windows 2.0 file".

Is there any way I could open these old files ?

Much thanks,

Steve

 

[Herb Tyson [MVP]]

You can try setting Files of type: to Recover text from any file (I believe
I'm recalling correctly that that was an option in Word 2000). FWIW, I just
used Word 2007 to open some old Word files from 1990 and 1991, and they open
fine as Word files.

A couple more things to try... hold down Shift when you open the files. This
should suppress any automatic macros from opening. Or, try starting Word
with the /a switch.

 

[Steve]

I can' seem to find that Files of Type -recover as an option. But then , more
browsing the help does indicate that they should be able to be opened by
2000, so I wonder if they're really something other than 2.0, like maybe
originally created in WordPerfect, which I did have.

Also, shift/open doesn't seem to work. How do I use that /a switch ?

Thanks again,

Steve

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

I don't know about the other options but Word 2000 does definitely have
"Recover Text from Any File" listed in "Files of type" in the Open dialog.
If you do use this option, be sure to reset the file type to Word Documents
or All Word Documents when you're done, as this setting is "sticky" in Word
2000, even between Word sessions.

 

[Steve]

Oh, that's where it is. Very good, thank you.

This is getting them opened.

Much thanks,

Steve

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Glad we got there in the end. I'm kind of surprised that Word will not open
Word 2.0 files, since it will certainly open Word 6.0 files, and they use
the same file format. In fact, have you tried selecting Word 6.0/95 as the
file type?