Converting Word 97 Files

[jordii]

I never imagined that my data would rot this quickly!

I have lots of Word 97 files. Even if I add extension ".doc", I can't get Pages or other word processors to open them. TextEdit will open them, but with a lot of nonsense characters. Worst of all, Spotlight's not indexing the files (and there's important data there).

Microsoft offers an ancient "Microsoft Word 97, 98, and 2000 Converter for the Macintosh" to update to Office 2004, but it won't launch on modern hardware, nor can I launch my copy of Office 2004.

I have hundreds of these files, so I'd like to bulk convert/update them (preferably to RTF or PDF). LibreOffice is the sole word processor that can open them, but there's no scripting, and no bulk conversion.

Also, many files wind up named "Untitled". I'd like them to retain their current name, and, if at all possible, their created/modification dates. I've been recommended Larry Wall's 'rename' for the former issue, and "-r oldfilenewfile" for the latter. I'm hoping for a less geeky solution (i.e. hoping there's an app or script out there).

 

[JohnDS]

That's odd, because this recent Apple KB: https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT202227 says that pages will open Word 97 documents.

 

[jordii]

Without adding a "DOC" extension, Pages (v5.6.1) can't recognize the file as openable.

Adding that extension allows Pages to try to open the file, but it reports "Can't be opened for some reason". I've tried this with a variety of Word 97 files. I'll report the problem to Apple, but can't imagine it'd be high priority.

Any advice out there?

 

[JohnDS]

Are you absolutely sure they are Word 97 files? My recollection is Word 97 was a Windows format.

Also, could you post the exact error message?

Do you have an example file with no personal information that you could upload?

 

[jordii]

Are you absolutely sure they are Word 97 files? My recollection is Word 97 was a Windows format."

Yes, you are apparently right. Must have been Office 1998. Was definitely Mac.

Also, could you post the exact error message?

"(FILENAME) can't be opened for some reason"

Do you have an example file with no personal information that you could upload?

Two samples, zipped: https://www.dropbox.com/s/dkyrasr8ns3qo20/samples.zip?dl=0

LibreOffice opens them flawlessly. TextEdit adds garbage characters, and so does Bean. Pages won't touch them without extension, and fails attempts to open them when you add one. If you test, keep a backup, because once you've added an extension, they're not quite the same as the originals even if you strip the extension.

 

[JohnDS]

I can open both files in Word 2011 even without adding an extension provided I open them from the file menu in Word. They won't open from finder.

 

[jordii]

I don't own Word 2011. Do they show garbage characters atop, as they do via Text Edit?

 

[JohnDS]

Nope. Looks perfect to me. No garbage characters.

 

[DeltaMac]

Same here. Both files open from the file menu/Open with Word 2011 (running on OS X 10.11.4)
And Word 2011 shows full formatting of those files, with no garbage characters.

The document types show as Word 1.x-5.x, and the file dates show 1996, which would be older than Word 98, or Word 97.
That may be where you have some difficulty when the files (at least your samples) are older than you think they are.

 

[JohnDS]

That makes sense. Pages is only supposed to be able to open Word 97 or newer.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:

I downloaded your sample files.

Try this:
1. Download LibreOffice 5 and install it on your Mac. It's free.
2. Launch LibreOffice, and open the Word docs.
3. They open right up!

Once you have them opened, I believe LibreOffice will "save them back" into a format readable by recent Word releases (I don't use MS Office myself).

Or, just save them in LibreOffice format...

 

[Partron22]

Buying an old iMac (1999-2001) that can still run System 9 can be part of the solution here, especially if you've still got the old install disk, or 160MB HD tucked away somewhere. I keep the old thing in the basement, where it still runs a reasonably useful version of iTunes (under 10.5.11), when I'm not translating documents from the 80's.
$10 would be a reasonable price for one of these, and you can boot off a 500GB external.

 

[jordii]

For future people with the same problem, this is by far the best solution on the Internet.

Install LibreOffice (which is free).

Download and decompress this script by double clicking; https://www.dropbox.com/s/qze3lm1gi054uov/word_to_pdf.rb.zip?dl=0

Put it in your user folder.

Open terminal, and type this: ruby word_to_pdf.rb

It will ask you to choose a folder. Choose a folder with ancient Word documents in it.

The script will create PDF versions of all outdated Word Files in that folder (and in any sub-folders), with all the original formatting retained (i.e. no garbage characters). They'll have the same name as the originals, aside from the PDF extension.

The script will also label the original Word files as "red" (so you can find and trash them...or back them up somewhere).

And the new PDFs will have the same modification dates as the original, so you don't lose that data.

 

[bwbecker]

Is this script still available?

For future people with the same problem, this is by far the best solution on the Internet.

Install LibreOffice (which is free).

Download and decompress this script by double clicking; https://www.dropbox.com/s/qze3lm1gi054uov/word_to_pdf.rb.zip?dl=0

Put it in your user folder.

Open terminal, and type this: ruby word_to_pdf.rb

It will ask you to choose a folder. Choose a folder with ancient Word documents in it.

The script will create PDF versions of all outdated Word Files in that folder (and in any sub-folders), with all the original formatting retained (i.e. no garbage characters). They'll have the same name as the originals, aside from the PDF extension.

The script will also label the original Word files as "red" (so you can find and trash them...or back them up somewhere).

And the new PDFs will have the same modification dates as the original, so you don't lose that data.

 

[Phrannest]

Just in case anyone comes across this thread as I did -- Mac rewrote a batch of my old document files as "exec" files. I didn't want to just recreate them, I wanted to keep their creation dates and metadata intact so I could sort them appropriately with the rest of my writing files.

I was able to open the supposed exec files on Mac Sonoma 14.2.1 by setting TextEdit as their default app. However I could not edit or save them. The solution:
Select all and copy the text from the exec file. Close and rename the file with .txt at the end. Reopen the file (it will show a lot of gobbledygook text). Select all and paste the text you copied over it. Save. Et voila! You have a usuable file with the correct and sortable start date.

 

[Le Big Mac]

Buying an old iMac (1999-2001) that can still run System 9 can be part of the solution here, especially if you've still got the old install disk, or 160MB HD tucked away somewhere. I keep the old thing in the basement, where it still runs a reasonably useful version of iTunes (under 10.5.11), when I'm not translating documents from the 80's.
$10 would be a reasonable price for one of these, and you can boot off a 500GB external.

I don't think you need to go back this far. Versions of Word as recently as I believe 2011 could open old Word files - as far back as 4.0 some of which I had. Certainly other older versions of Office for OS X could do this.