Can't open Office 2007 embedded as objects in Word

[DK8220]

I have Office 2003 and also have the compatibility pack installed, which allows me to open newer office documents without problems. However, it's when I try to open an Office 2007 (or never) document embedded as an object that it won't open. It could seem like Office 2003 treats it as a picture. Is there a way to solve the problem without actually upgrading to a newer Office version?

[macropod]

Hi DK8220,

What kind of embedded objects?

[DK8220]

Could be Word or Excel

[macropod]

Hi DK8220,

It may be that, with docx files, the Word docx converter for earlier versions of Office doesn't give you access to embedded docx or xlsx objects. I can't actually test this on my system as I have both office 2000 and Office 2007 installed, and that combo does allow access to embedded docx and xlsx objects in Word 2000 (presumably because I have the necessary apps to natively open these objects). You may get better results with docx files containing embedded doc and xls objects.

[WeberEInc]

Hi DK8220 and all!

I discovered a work-around that will allow an MS Office 2003 user to open up embedded MS Office 2007 or 2010 objects (e.g. docx, xlsx, pptx) from within original MS Office 2007 or 2010 documents using the MS Converter and a simple trick about the document format.

The 2007 and 2010 formats are simply compressed XML documents. As a result, the work around involves a simple process:

Step 1) save a copy of the original, un-opened 2007 or 2010 document to work with so you do not mess with the original document.

Step 2) make sure you can see the file extensions of all registered files. You should see your copied document as either a .docx or a .xlsx. or a .pptx, etc.

Step 3) rename your copied document to be a .zip file. The operating system will bark at you with a warning about the file becoming unusable, but just say 'OK' and rename the file.

Step 4) now that the file is a .zip, you can open it up with your favorite uncompress program. This is built-in to windows explorer in most newer OS version, so you should be able to simply double-click it to see the compressed folder contents.

Step 5) locate the folder called 'embeddings' and, therein, you should see the embedded object.

Step 6) copy that object to a location external of the zip file and then you will be able to open up that file directly using MS office converter.

I hope this is helpful.

- Ed Weber
Weber Enterprises, Inc.

[macropod]

Thanks Ed,

I'm sure there are plenty of pre-Office 2007 users who'd find that useful.