BigTarantula99
Level 2 (481 points)

Q: Any way to open AppleWorks .cwk files?

I was going through some old files on a flash drive and I noticed there were a few old .cwk files.  Of course, there isn't AppleWorks anymore, instead there's iWork.  Unfortunately, I can't open these old files with iWork.  Is there still some hope for converting and opening .cwk files?  Any help is appreciated greatly.

Posted on Jan 3, 2013 12:15 PM

by Allan Eckert,Solvedanswer
Allan Eckert Allan Eckert
Level 9 (53,353 points)
Desktops
A:

Do you have any idea as to what was stored in the cwk files?

 

I know Pages can open text document and Numbers can open spreadsheets.

 

As far as I know there is no way to open database or drawings.

 

Allan

Posted on Jan 3, 2013 12:27 PM

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BigTarantula99

Q: Any way to open AppleWorks .cwk files?

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  • by Allan Eckert,Solvedanswer

    Allan Eckert Allan Eckert Jan 3, 2013 12:27 PM in response to BigTarantula99
    Level 9 (53,353 points)
    Desktops
    Jan 3, 2013 12:27 PM in response to BigTarantula99

    Do you have any idea as to what was stored in the cwk files?

     

    I know Pages can open text document and Numbers can open spreadsheets.

     

    As far as I know there is no way to open database or drawings.

     

    Allan

  • by BigTarantula99,

    BigTarantula99 BigTarantula99 Jan 3, 2013 1:36 PM in response to Allan Eckert
    Level 2 (481 points)
    Jan 3, 2013 1:36 PM in response to Allan Eckert

    Every one is a word processing document (sorry for not mentioning that above).  I assumed they could be opened with Pages, but that's not the case.  Is there maybe an application I can download to convert/open them?

  • by Roger Wilmut1,Helpful

    Roger Wilmut1 Roger Wilmut1 Jan 3, 2013 1:41 PM in response to BigTarantula99
    Level 9 (77,712 points)
    iTunes
    Jan 3, 2013 1:41 PM in response to BigTarantula99

    Pages will open AppleWorks 6 word processing documents, but if these are Appleworks 5 you are, I'm afraid, out of luck unless you can find a working copy of AppleWorks to open them (AW 6 will open them and convert them to AW6, then Pages will open them). Of course AppleWorks will not run on Lion or Mountain Lion.

  • by BigTarantula99,

    BigTarantula99 BigTarantula99 Jan 3, 2013 1:44 PM in response to Roger Wilmut1
    Level 2 (481 points)
    Jan 3, 2013 1:44 PM in response to Roger Wilmut1

    They were AppleWorks 6!  But Pages isn't openeing them!

     

  • by Roger Wilmut1,

    Roger Wilmut1 Roger Wilmut1 Jan 3, 2013 2:07 PM in response to BigTarantula99
    Level 9 (77,712 points)
    iTunes
    Jan 3, 2013 2:07 PM in response to BigTarantula99

    How exactly are you trying to open them? Try File>Open rather than dragging them over the Pages icon - and ensure that the files are showing the .cwk extension.

  • by BigTarantula99,

    BigTarantula99 BigTarantula99 Jan 3, 2013 2:14 PM in response to Roger Wilmut1
    Level 2 (481 points)
    Jan 3, 2013 2:14 PM in response to Roger Wilmut1

    The files definitely end with .cwk.  I open Pages, go to "Open an Existing File" and locate and double-click my file.  Then it gives me some pop-up that says "This file is not a text document" or whatever.  What am I doing wrong?

  • by Roger Wilmut1,

    Roger Wilmut1 Roger Wilmut1 Jan 3, 2013 2:57 PM in response to BigTarantula99
    Level 9 (77,712 points)
    iTunes
    Jan 3, 2013 2:57 PM in response to BigTarantula99

    You're not doing anything wrong - I just checked and that should work fine even without the .cwk extension. If the file was a database or something other than a WP document it would be greyed out in the selection list. So I'm afraid I can't offer an explanation.

  • by mns579,Helpful

    mns579 mns579 Jan 3, 2013 3:06 PM in response to BigTarantula99
    Level 4 (1,155 points)
    Jan 3, 2013 3:06 PM in response to BigTarantula99

    Verify that these are truly AW6 files.  Put one on the Desktop.  Rename it "test.cwk".  Open Terminal (you'll find it in the Utilities folder in Applications) and issue this command:

     

    hexdump -n 10 Desktop/test.cwk

     

    You'll see a brief sequence of numbers and letters.  Immediately after the first string (0000000), you'll see "06" and then a few characters later the sequence "42 4f 42 4f" if it's an AW6 file.  It will be "05" and then a few characters later the sequence "42 4f 42 4f" for AW5.

  • by BigTarantula99,

    BigTarantula99 BigTarantula99 Jan 3, 2013 3:14 PM in response to mns579
    Level 2 (481 points)
    Jan 3, 2013 3:14 PM in response to mns579

    Thanks so much; I will check tomorrow.

  • by BigTarantula99,

    BigTarantula99 BigTarantula99 Jan 4, 2013 3:43 PM in response to mns579
    Level 2 (481 points)
    Jan 4, 2013 3:43 PM in response to mns579

    Thank you so much for all of your guys' help.  I finally solved my problem by Ctrl+Clicking on the .cwk file and selecting "Open In > Pages".  How weird that it would only work that way?

     

    You all helped me, but I awarded Allan Eckert the 10 Solved points because he currently has the least amount of points.  Thanks again!

  • by christopher rigby1,

    christopher rigby1 christopher rigby1 Jan 6, 2013 3:07 PM in response to BigTarantula99
    Level 4 (2,146 points)
    Jan 6, 2013 3:07 PM in response to BigTarantula99

    A similar thing happened to me after I bought iWork 09 off eBay. My AW WP docs wouldn't open in Pages - just an error message. It wasn't until I updated iWork (which Software Update was strangely silent about - I had to go direct to Apple's Support Downloads) that they would open.

  • by BigTarantula99,

    BigTarantula99 BigTarantula99 Jan 6, 2013 6:47 PM in response to christopher rigby1
    Level 2 (481 points)
    Jan 6, 2013 6:47 PM in response to christopher rigby1

    Yeah...it's weird...but at least I can see all of my old files now!

  • by Peggy,

    Peggy Peggy Jan 6, 2013 6:47 PM in response to christopher rigby1
    Level 8 (38,720 points)
    Applications
    Jan 6, 2013 6:47 PM in response to christopher rigby1

    The most common reason for Software Update not recognizing that there are updates available for iWork is not having the three applications in the iWork '09 folder, renaming the folder and/or renaming the applications. Only the latest standalone 9.3 update can apply its updates if the apps have been moved out of the iWork '09 folder.

     

    Peggy_sig.png

  • by christopher rigby1,

    christopher rigby1 christopher rigby1 Jan 7, 2013 9:48 AM in response to Peggy
    Level 4 (2,146 points)
    Jan 7, 2013 9:48 AM in response to Peggy

    No - I launched Software Update right after installing iWork, so that's not the reason. But I also noticed on my old G4 PB that iTunes 10 wasn't updating to 10.6.3 - but then it reappeared in S.U. a few weeks later, so I guess it's glitches?

     

    What makes it even more laughable is that I had a G5 iMac for years, which had only a free trial of iWork, which I never used or even began ... yet there it was every time S.U. ran!

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