Hi ibytoohi,

A 'good' installation of Word 2010 can certainly read Word 97-2003 and 2007 files. If the files are presenting as 'read-only', that suggests you may have transferred them via a CD/DVD. Windows automatically marks all such files as 'read-only'. You can remove the 'read-only' attribute via Windows Explorer.

Your problem with Word 2010 files in Word 2007 suggests you may have turned Word 2010's compatability mode check off. By default, Word creates docx files in a compatability mode that can be opened by Word 2007. Earlier file doc & docx versions are opened in this mode also. In Word 2010, '[Compatability Mode]' ordinarily displays at the top of the screen. To change it, look under File|Info. If 'Compatability Mode' is displayed, that also means the active document is in that mode. You can also tell Word whether to check the save compatability under File|Info > Prepare for Sharing.

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Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]