4jbl7

Q: How can I retrieve apple works ?

My wife has an iMac intel duo core and has for ages used Apple Works on Snow Leopard O/S. The files are extensive and vital. She has just recently increased the memory to download the newer Mountain Lion O/s from Apple. All went well ...

until...

she tried to open one of the Apple Works files and found she couldn't, it was not supported by the newer O/S. This is disaster.

So, is there any way she can retrieve the files and then use them or is the only option to reload the older O/S ?

Thanks.

Brian.

iMac

Posted on Dec 10, 2014 2:13 PM

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Q: How can I retrieve apple works ?

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Dec 10, 2014 2:16 PM in response to 4jbl7
    Level 10 (270,329 points)
    Desktops
    Dec 10, 2014 2:16 PM in response to 4jbl7

    Backup her files, erase the drive, and reinstall Snow Leopard.

     

    Clean Install of Snow Leopard

     

    Be sure to make a backup first because the following procedure will erase

    the drive and everything on it.

     

         1. Boot the computer using the Snow Leopard Installer Disc or the Disc 1 that came

             with your computer.  Insert the disc into the optical drive and restart the computer.

             After the chime press and hold down the  "C" key.  Release the key when you see

             a small spinning gear appear below the dark gray Apple logo.

     

         2. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue

             button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu.

             After DU loads select the hard drive entry from the left side list (mfgr.'s ID and drive

             size.)  Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.  Set the number of

             partitions to one (1) from the Partitions drop down menu, click on Options button

             and select GUID, click on OK, then set the format type to MacOS Extended

             (Journaled, if supported), then click on the Apply button.

     

         3. When the formatting has completed quit DU and return to the installer.  Proceed

             with the OS X installation and follow the directions included with the installer.

     

         4. When the installation has completed your computer will Restart into the Setup

             Assistant. After you finish Setup Assistant will complete the installation after which

             you will be running a fresh install of OS X.  You can now begin the update process

             by opening Software Update and installing all recommended updates to bring your

             installation current.

     

    Download and install Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1.


    Be sure you can reinstall AppleWorks. It, too, will be erased.

  • by Niel,Helpful

    Niel Niel Dec 10, 2014 2:15 PM in response to 4jbl7
    Level 10 (311,951 points)
    Dec 10, 2014 2:15 PM in response to 4jbl7

    No version of AppleWorks will run in Mountain Lion. The options are to either find another application to open the files(this depends on what type of documents they are; LibreOffice may work) or to run AppleWorks 6 in an older OS.

     

    (118041)

  • by petermac87,Helpful

    petermac87 petermac87 Dec 10, 2014 2:15 PM in response to 4jbl7
    Level 5 (7,402 points)
    Dec 10, 2014 2:15 PM in response to 4jbl7

    Open them in Pages. Otherwise partition the drive and install Snow Leopard on that. Which would suit better?

     

    Pete

  • by Chris CA,

    Chris CA Chris CA Dec 10, 2014 2:17 PM in response to 4jbl7
    Level 9 (79,451 points)
    iPhone
    Dec 10, 2014 2:17 PM in response to 4jbl7

    4jbl7 wrote:

    So, is there any way she can retrieve the files and then use them or is the only option to reload the older O/S ?

    You can create a new partition on a hard drive and restore the old OS to that then boot off it to run AppleWorks.

     

    To convert the files, see this -> AppleWorks for the modern day, a migration tip

  • by 4jbl7,

    4jbl7 4jbl7 Dec 10, 2014 2:51 PM in response to Chris CA
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 10, 2014 2:51 PM in response to Chris CA

    Thanks all, we will see what we can do in the morning.

    Brian.

  • by Roger Wilmut1,

    Roger Wilmut1 Roger Wilmut1 Dec 10, 2014 2:57 PM in response to petermac87
    Level 9 (77,925 points)
    iTunes
    Dec 10, 2014 2:57 PM in response to petermac87

    petermac87 wrote:

     

    Open them in Pages.

    Not the current version - that facility was withdrawn.

  • by Roger Wilmut1,

    Roger Wilmut1 Roger Wilmut1 Dec 10, 2014 3:00 PM in response to 4jbl7
    Level 9 (77,925 points)
    iTunes
    Dec 10, 2014 3:00 PM in response to 4jbl7
    • Word Processing documents can be opened directly in Pages 4 (AppleWorks 6 only) but this is no longer available from Apple - the new Pages 5 (Mavericks required) does not open AppleWorks documents. (The older version is contained in the iWork '09 box set which may still be available from Amazon and other independent retailers.) Panergy Software's docXConverter v3.2 ($19.95) can convert Appleworks 5 and 6 Word Processing documents to RTF (though it has been reported that it can only handle documents which contain only text, not those which include images or frames). The latest version of the free LibreOffice has announced that it can open AppleWorks 6 Word Processing documents and an ability to open ClarisWorks documents has been reported: it does appear to be able to handle at least some embedded images.
    • Draw Documents can be opened directly only in EazyDraw (the more expensive version from their website, not the cheaper one from the Mac App Store, and you will need v4.0 'Retro' not the most recent version) or Intaglio (though this appears not to be able to handle very complex drawings). LibreOffice will open simple Draw documents but I found it very unreliable with complex ones.
    • Spreadsheets can be opened directly only in the older versions of  Numbers - the new version for Mavericks will not do this. The old version is no longer available from Apple. (Again, the older version is contained in the iWork '09 box set which may still be available from Amazon and other independent retailers.)
    • Presentations can be opened directly only in the older versions Keynote; again, the new version for Mavericks will not do this. The old version is no longer available from Apple. (The older version is contained in the iWork '09 box set which may still be available from Amazon and other independent retailers.)
    • Nothing will open database documents.

     

    If you have upgraded to Lion/Mountain Lion/Mavericks and have AppleWorks documents you cannot open, then you should be able to install Snow Leopard on an external hard disk and start from that (provided that the Mac did not come with anything higher than Snow Leopard originally installed); and success has been reported in running Snow Leopard Server under emulation in Parallels - the method is described here: Snow Leopard Server is (as far as I know) still available in the Apple Store (by telephone) at a reduced price and is preferable to using ordinary Snow Leopard which is quite tricky. I haven't tried this myself: use at your own discretion. You can then run AppleWorks as an emergency measure.

  • by petermac87,

    petermac87 petermac87 Dec 10, 2014 3:10 PM in response to Roger Wilmut1
    Level 5 (7,402 points)
    Dec 10, 2014 3:10 PM in response to Roger Wilmut1

    Roger Wilmut1 wrote:

     

    petermac87 wrote:

     

    Open them in Pages.

    Not the current version - that facility was withdrawn.

    Was it really? Thanks for the correction, Roger. Something I have not tried for a while. Pity, but Appleworks, sadly, is a long time ago.

     

    Thanks

     

    Pete

  • by BillyWonker,

    BillyWonker BillyWonker Dec 11, 2014 7:41 AM in response to 4jbl7
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 11, 2014 7:41 AM in response to 4jbl7

    I believe that if nothing else works the freeware word processing app Libre Office will open AppleWorks files and save them into Libre Office. I opened ClarisWorks files using Libre Office quite a while ago. I assume it still has that capability. Then you can save them as PDFs and put into Pages or copy/paste.

  • by Roger Wilmut1,Solvedanswer

    Roger Wilmut1 Roger Wilmut1 Dec 11, 2014 7:59 AM in response to BillyWonker
    Level 9 (77,925 points)
    iTunes
    Dec 11, 2014 7:59 AM in response to BillyWonker

    As said above, LibreOffice will open some Appleworks files - specifically Word Processing, Drawing (with limitations) and they are working on Paint.

  • by 4jbl7,

    4jbl7 4jbl7 Dec 11, 2014 1:25 PM in response to Roger Wilmut1
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 11, 2014 1:25 PM in response to Roger Wilmut1

    Right, a bit of getting nowhere fast.

     

    We have tried to download Libreoffice from their web site but the iMac throws it out, the information window says 'It is damaged and cannot be loaded'.

     

    Help !

     

    Cheers

    Brian.

  • by Niel,

    Niel Niel Dec 11, 2014 1:27 PM in response to 4jbl7
    Level 10 (311,951 points)
    Dec 11, 2014 1:27 PM in response to 4jbl7

    Delete and redownload it. If it still doesn't work, contact the people running the site.

     

    (118094)

  • by 4jbl7,

    4jbl7 4jbl7 Dec 11, 2014 1:46 PM in response to Niel
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 11, 2014 1:46 PM in response to Niel

    No, our fault…user error..idiots that we are !!!!!

    On the Libreoffice page there is a link that helps and shows the error message and what to do about it.

    Following the instructions helps a lot !!!!!!!

    Libreoffice is now up and running and at first glance opened a spread sheet. This was the vital bit as wife has lots of them for various finance and other work.

    So she reckons she can now access the old appleworks and will become familiar with the new OS and look at newer ways of doing things.

    Once again thanks to all for the excellent advice.

    Cheers

    Brian.

  • by MlchaelLAX,

    MlchaelLAX MlchaelLAX Dec 16, 2014 7:42 PM in response to 4jbl7
    Level 4 (2,256 points)
    Dec 16, 2014 7:42 PM in response to 4jbl7

    As Roger noted, if LibreOffice will not open certain Appleworks files, consider running Appleworks in Snow Leopard Server installed into Parallels for use on all Macs that can no longer run Snow Leopard:

     

    Appleworks.jpg

                                  [click on image to enlarge]

     

    More information here:

     

    http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1365439