Hey, I can read that!

Progress marches on. Many of us are purchasing new computers and new software to go with it. We like to keep on the leading edge rather than the bleeding edge. One software package that many users are adding to the arsenal of tools available to them is Microsoft Office 2013 and Office 365 with its Word, Excel and other components. These programs are useful, full of features and make our daily chores easier. We can send out that newsletter, weekly bulletin, letters and even holiday cards.

But across the land we hear from the recipients of our missives, “I can’t open the attachment.” Investigation reveals that there are many users still chugging away on Office 2000, XP or 2003. Starting with Office 2007 Microsoft changed the default file format for documents from .doc to .docx, spreadsheets from .xls to .xlsx and PowerPoint files from .pps to .ppsx which are not compatible with the older versions and hence cannot be opened. Do not despair; there are some options available to remedy this dilemma.

One alternative is to notify the sender that we cannot open the file in its current format and would they resave the document in an older format. Using a Word document as our example (the process is the same for Excel and PowerPoint) start Word 2007 or 2010, open the document to be converted from ".docx" to an earlier format. Click the "Office" button in the upper left corner of the screen. Move the pointer to "Save As" and a side menu will pop out. Select the option for "Word 97-2003." This will save the file in .doc format.

They can also have Word 2007 or 2010 save by default to ".doc" instead of ".docx." This is accomplished by opening Word, clicking on the "Office" button in the top left corner. Next click the "Word Options" button. Select "Save" from the options bar on the left, and select "Word 97-2003" from the "Save files in this format" drop down section. Click "OK." Now our files will save as ".doc" by default.

Perhaps a more efficient method for users still utilizing older versions of Office is to surf over to www.microsoft.com/download. In the search box labeled Search Download Center type in Office Compatibility Pack for Word. Download the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel and PowerPoint File Formats and follow the steps to install it on the computer. Remember this is for older versions of Office and is not needed if running Office 2007 or 2010. This download is a file converter that will allow older versions of Office to open, edit and save the .docx formats as if they were .doc files.

For those of us still using Microsoft Works Word Processor or Works Spreadsheet this converter also allows Works to open .docx files however some of the font, paragraph and other special formatting features may be lost or modified to allow the file to open in Works.

While the downloaded file converter is an easy way to extend the capabilities of our software, the software itself, old or new has many converters already built into it. Again using Word as the example, if we click on File then Open and browse through the folder where our documents reside we will see a list of all the files there that have the default format. Older versions will list document ending in .doc and new versions will display documents suffixed with .docx. But if we look at the bottom of the dialogue box we will see a dropdown box labeled Files of Type. If we click on the pull down arrow a list of formats that Word has the capability of opening. Even files created in other company’s formats such as WordPerfect can be converted and opened by Word. If the file we are looking for still doesn’t appear there, we can change the File of Type to (All Files.) This may let us see the file we want in the list but doesn’t guarantee it can be opened.

From this dropdown we also have the ability to take a document and convert it and save it to any of the formats listed there. So if we know that the person to which the document will be sent does not have Word, Wordperfect some other productivity suite, we can save it in .txt or .rtf which can be opened in Notepad if necessary.

And don’t forget, if we don’t have Office or WordPerfect and finances are an issue, surf over to www.openoffice.org and download the latest version of OpenOffice. This is a fully capable productivity suite that can open and edit .docx, .xlsx and .ppsx files and save as .doc, .xls and .pps files.

Nobody has to know we live on the bleeding edge.

Grumbles From The Keyboard: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love My Computer: Courtland Nederveld: 9781467985895: Books ISBN: 1467985899 ISBN-13: 9781467985895

Epicuria: An Adventure That Really Cooks!: Court Nederveld: 9781456561734: Books ISBN: 1456561731 ISBN-13: 9781456561734

Traveling? Read the Paper anyway!

An e-mail of great magnitude arrived this week from faithful reader Walt. “I am traveling up north and make sure I read your column each week in the electronic version of the Sun. I also like to send the column to some family members. The printed version I just cut out, copy and send, but this electronic version will not allow me to highlight the column and paste it into an e-mail. If I send a link from the page, my relatives are asked to subscribe before they can view the column. Is there any way to send the electronic version to my family?”

This question arises fairly often but Walt even followed up with a phone call so let’s examine the issue. The starting point is a subscription to the Sun. Fire up the computer and surf over to yoursun.com. Click on the copy of the paper of choice. Navigate to the Electronic Edition. The options available are a seven day trial or for just $3 a month, the paper and of course Bits and Bytes will be available anywhere we travel and can reach the Internet. If already a subscriber to the printed version, we automatically have a subscription to the electronic version as well.

The next step in sharing with family is to login to our Electronic Edition, use the navigation tools to find the Bits and Bytes column. Double click on the column to open it in a separate window. From the toolbar at the top click print. This opens a printable copy of the column. From here we have a few options. The column can now be highlighted, copied and pasted into an e-mail for that nephew in Michigan, or when the printer dialogue box appears, send the print job to the printer listed as Microsoft XPS Document Writer. The print job will ask us to give the job a name and save it on our computer. We can then e-mail that document to anyone and they can open it in Internet Explorer. Or the long way would be to print the column, put it in a scanner, and then e-mail it from the scanned copy. Note to those that want past columns, the Electronic Edition archives past copies of the paper. If searching for past Bits and Bytes columns simply search the Wednesday copy of the papers. (Martha, what date was that great column?) Don’t forget, additional columns appear at courtnederveld.blogspot.com.

Special alert: A new scam appears to be making the rounds. We have all gotten the e-mail from friends whose e-mail account has been hacked telling us to click a link because it is something neat. Spammers are trying to infect machines or get us to wire money to Elbonia. Now, the e-mails claim our friend is updating their phone book and please send them our phone number or have gotten robbed in some foreign country losing their passport/money and would we wire them a few thousand till they get home. Call and verify, don’t e-mail the phone number.

Grumbles From The Keyboard: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love My Computer: Courtland Nederveld: 9781467985895: Books ISBN: 1467985899 ISBN-13: 9781467985895

Epicuria: An Adventure That Really Cooks!: Court Nederveld: 9781456561734: Books ISBN: 1456561731 ISBN-13: 9781456561734