Conversion of ClarisWorks files to Ms Office (Windows)

Hi - I had this problem on my PowerBook 5300. I wanted to convert some old files on there to put on my mac and then give it away. I do not know a one-click way but I know how to do it.

In ClarisWorks, open your file and save as (Command+Shift+S) a Microsoft Word PC file from the drop-down menu.

Save it to a media readable via PC and Performa. I used a floppy disk and a USB to floppy-disk converter.

Put that media in your computer. You will have a file with either no extension or a very odd one. Open it in Word.

Select the first encoding option if it asks. Then you must copy all the text that you want. (There will be some symbols)

Select all (Control+A) and delete (DELETE). Then paste your contents in.

Optionally change the font, or formatting.

Then Save As (Control+Shift+S) and make sure it says Word in the format box.

Done!!

There may be an easier way, and I will look into this.

Thanks, Jonathan

Someone else may be able to direct you to a company that could (read Mac-formatted Zip 250 disks and) convert ClarisWorks files to an Office 2010 file format.

However, it is not difficult to use the Save As command in the File menu (while using ClarisWorks on the Performa 6200CD) in order to accomplish something similar. Under Save As a list of available file formats can be seen. Look for a suitable format to save the file as. This could be another special format, or a generic file format (RTF, SYLK, etc). Move a number of test files from the Performa to a Windows PC, and try to open these files inside a program there. 1.44 MB PC-formatted floppies can be used for transfers, providing that the PC Exchange control panel is installed and active on the Performa.

Another way could be to use the free PrintToPDF (http://www.jwwalker.com/pages/pdf.html) "printer driver" on the Performa. That Chooser extension would (instead of printing) produce PDF files, which could be moved to, read by and printed on a Windows PC.

Hi,

>I've read the conversion is a multiple step process. CW file from a Zip Disk to a later Apple word processor to Word for Mac to Word for PC - files on DVD.

Not necessarily all these steps. It all depends on the existing CW translators, the hardware that you have to work with, and the ability to read various file formats on the receiving computer.

First of all, take a ClarisWorks word processing document as an example. Open a copy of the document on the Performa. Choose Save As under the File menu. Check and note which file formats appear in the Save As dialogue; you may find formats like Rich Text Format (RTF), plain Text, older MS Word formats, etc.

Then, have a look at the Open dialogue in word processing programs on the Windows PC. Check whether you can find some of the formats that were listed under the Save As dialogue in ClarisWorks on the Performa. Look for a common denominator. Sometimes earlier versions that have not been directly mentioned can be opened anyway; this will have to be tested later.

>My mom's mac (OS 8.6) has a floppy disk drive and an iOmega Zip Drive. I'm Windows 7 with a CD/DVD writer/reader..

It is possible to write to and read from 1.44 MB PC-formatted floppy disks on the Performa. For transfers, you could connect a USB floppy drive to your Windows PC. This is the easiest solution, at least for a limited number of relatively small files.

The Zip (250) drive would be connected to the Performa via SCSI. If you wish to use Mac-formatted Zip (250) disks on the Windows PC, you would need a USB Zip (250) drive, and a special PC utility for Mac disks (such as MacDrive or TransMac).

If necessary, and with the correct hardware, there are other ways to transfer files (including modem-to-modem or through a network).

Jan

Mac OS 8 driver files on Epson's support website appear to be encoded BinHex (.hqx).

You should not have a problem burning a CD-R (in an ISO format) with the files in question on your Windows computer. Just keep the .hqx unaltered; do not try to decode or decompress anything on the PC. If possible, burn at a low speed.

A Mac OS 8.6 Performa 6200CD should be able to detect and read a CD-R from a Windows PC. If so, copy the .hqx file to the hard disk. In order to decode the .hqx, a utility called StuffIt Expander will be needed. You may have this utility on the Performa's hard disk already (try a search). The decoding is normally done by dragging the .hqx file onto the StuffIt Expander icon.

Hi,

I am by no means a Windows 7 specialist, but speed settings should be found under "burn options" or something similar (depending upon the application). However, the CD-R could possibly be readable even if burned at a higher speed. You may also want to test a third-party burning program (InfraRecorder?).

Jan

In case I forget to post this after you get the drivers copied to a CD: After installing the Epson drivers, you should disable the following Apple printing Extensions - (1) PrintMonitor, (2) Desktop PrintMonitor, and (3) Desktop Printer Spooler. You can do so manually, by dragging each to the Extensions (Disabled) folder or by using the Extensions Manager to disable them.

USB Floppy drives are only capable of loading the 1.44 MB floppy disks. The 800 kB, and 400 kB are only accessible to those with pre-USB Macs. If you have the 1.44 MB floppy disks, I offer Mac tech support service at a fee*:

http://www.macmaps.com/techsupport.html

You may find someone at a local Mac user group who has the necessary machine for the transfer:

http://www.apple.com/usergroups/

Or find an old Beige G3 PowerMac for the data transfer from one of the used or refurbished shops here*

http://www.macmaps.com/usedrefurbished.html

* Links to my pages may give me compensation.

Sorry about trying to convince you to download and transfer the needed drivers, but that is probably going to be the faster solution. If one method does not work, you may want to try another one.

First of all, regarding the CD-R, could you check whether the Extensions folder (inside the System Folder) of the Performa contains a file called ISO 9660 File Access?

Which burning application are you using on your Windows 7 computer (and have you checked the burn options available)? Have you tested a free downloadable burning program (maybe InfraRecorder, or something similar) on the PC?

Addendum

The 740 driver BinHex (.hqx) downloads from the Epson support site all appear to be over 1.44 MB, thereby ruling out transfers of the complete (neither decoded nor decompressed) files on floppy disks.

A CD-R can handle the file sizes in question. The decoding of the BinHex and any subsequent decompression is supposed to take place on the Performa under the Macintosh operating system.