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Open Xml Converter Problem (Power PC App Error)

Hi,


I have just bought a new 2012 Macbook Pro with OSX Lion installed.

My problem is that I also own an iMac G4 (Power PC) which i previously used:

I have Mac Office 2011 installed and whenever I try to open documents into word that were edited previously on my iMac, no matter how I open it (Text only, RTF etc.) the document just displays a random set of symbols.


So I then downloaded the 'Open XML Converter' to convert the .docx files into XML so i could open them into word, however I am getting this error message when I try to convert them:


"You can't open the application wordcvtr because PowerPC applications are no longer supported"


Is there anything I can do to allow me to open my word documents? Any help is grateful as I need these documents for my A level coursework!


Thanks,


Alex

Mac Office 2011-OTHER, Mac OS X (10.7.2)

Posted on Apr 5, 2012 10:56 AM

Reply
6 replies

Apr 5, 2012 6:33 PM in response to Alacey

Alacey wrote:


I have Mac Office 2011 installed and whenever I try to open documents into word that were edited previously on my iMac, no matter how I open it (Text only, RTF etc.) the document just displays a random set of symbols.

"Random"? Unlikely. Office 2011 should be able to open documents created by previous versions of Office (within reason). What application saved the docs you're trying to open. As you're talking text or RTF, did you try to open them with TextEdit? What happens.

So I then downloaded the 'Open XML Converter' to convert the .docx files into XML so i could open them into word

I think you're confusing some issues. That converter (which cannot run under Lion) is required to convert the Office OpenXML format, used by Office 2008 and later, to the format used by Office 2004 and Office X. You say you're trying to go the opposite way.

Apr 6, 2012 11:11 AM in response to fane_j

Thanks for your reply.

I guess random was not the right word to use, however I can tell you that when I open it in TextEdit it comes up with the same set of symbols.

The documents have either been created on MS Word 2007 or Mac Office 2008.


I see that the XML converter is obviously not the solution - what can I do? Would going back into Office '08 and saving them in a different format work?


Thanks again, Alex

Apr 6, 2012 4:02 PM in response to Alacey

Alacey wrote:


when I open it in TextEdit it comes up with the same set of symbols.

Then the problem is not in Word.

The documents have either been created on MS Word 2007 or Mac Office 2008.

They use the same file format as Word 2011. No conversion is required.

Would going back into Office '08 and saving them in a different format work?

Perhaps. Take one such document. What format did you save it in? What file name and file name extension did you give it? Open the doc in Word 2008, and, if it's OK, save it again under a different name. Make sure the format is "Word Document (.docx)". Then open it in Word 2011. If it's still not what you expect, take a screen shot and post it here.

Apr 7, 2012 2:51 AM in response to fane_j

I tried to open the documents in Word 2008 and the same situation occurs.

The extension of the files are ".docx"


However when I try to open the docs as an RTF, Word '08 says:


'Word cannot open this document. The document might be in use or might not be a valid Word document.'


Perhaps the files are corrupted? As I have tried to open different documents edited and saved in the same way (on Word '08 or MSWord '07) and they open fine.

Apr 7, 2012 4:29 AM in response to Alacey

Alacey wrote:


I tried to open the documents in Word 2008 and the same situation occurs.

If the doc was created in Word 2008 and now it can't be opened correctly in Word 2008, then it must be corrupt. I can't think of any other possibility.

The extension of the files are ".docx"


However when I try to open the docs as an RTF, Word '08 says:

How did you try to open it as RTF?


Unfortunately, I can't get much out of the screen shot. It's certainly not text, RTF, PDF, JPEG, or .docx. It could be the Word 97 format (.doc), but I doubt it; even if you give it the wrong file name extension, Word should still recognise it.

Here's two other things you can try. In Lion, Preview can open docx files; so try to open one of the problem files with Preview. See what happens.


Another test is to duplicate the file in Finder; then, change the duplicate's file name extension from .docx to .zip (docx files are actually zip archives). Wait a couple of seconds, then double-click it. The system unarchiving utility should start and try to expand it. If it fails, then it's very likely the file is either corrupt, or not docx.

Open Xml Converter Problem (Power PC App Error)

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