print to a file problem

[justamailman]

When I try to use print to a file either in Word or on the Web, it saves it
to a .prn file but when I try to reopen it to see the result, I can't . It
shows an hourglass that tell the process start but it goes nowhere. What's
wrong may be it's me.
--
XP home , Office 97

any or all responses are gratefully accepted and thank you for your time

Running Compaq P3, 500Mhz
WIN XP home, Office 97
Dialup (no choice here)

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

You can't open a .prn file; only a printer can "read" it.

 

[Graham Mayor]

To print to a readable text file you need a driver that will do that, eg the
generic text driver.

--
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Graham Mayor - Word MVP


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[justamailman]

Can someone explain to me the purpose of that print to a file option if I
can't open it to see it or even use it to print a result?
--
XP home , Office 97

any or all responses are gratefully accepted and thank you for your time

Running Compaq P3, 500Mhz
WIN XP home, Office 97
Dialup (no choice here)

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

You can use it to print, but you have to "copy" the file to the printer (in
DOS). This is a convoluted way to print a document but was once used to
prepare a document for printing on a remote printer (such as at a commercial
print house). Now most users would convert to PDF instead. If you print to a
file with a Generic/Text Only printer selected, you will get a text file,
but it won't be of much use, either; the only benefit here is to get a
document that represents something that can otherwise be produced only by
printing (such as the lists of styles, shortcuts, AutoText, etc., that can
be selected in Word's Print dialog).

 

[justamailman]

so as I understand there is not much use for regular user. I thought I could
use it to save a file quickly of something instead of copying opening a blank
document and than paste it on it
--
XP home , Office 97

any or all responses are gratefully accepted and thank you for your time

Running Compaq P3, 500Mhz
WIN XP home, Office 97
Dialup (no choice here)