Kiwi-farm, I need your tech help. Real thread.

[Whoopsie Daisy]

Hello,

I have a bit of a tech issue which I am hoping one of you fine posters can help me out with. This isn't a satire thread just a genuine cry for help. I would go to Reddit but...it's Reddit.

Anyway. I have some old word files from 1999 that I can't open without gibberish language coming up. The best decoding I can find in Word [current year] only lets me read ~60% of the file. I have tried Google docs but it can't read it.

Can anyone point me in the direction of program that reads all word/doc files? Ideally I would like an all-in-one programme that will give me the best chance of reading the file in full.

 

[RACISM]

OpenOffice (oh actually it's LibreOffice now) is probably your best bet.

 

[Schwarzwald]

That's just how computer language was in 1999, you stupid dumbass. The issue isn't the program, it's your ability to read the text of the ancients.

 

[The Backwards Man]

Just turn it off and on again

 

[Whoopsie Daisy]

That's just how computer language was in 1999, you stupid dumbass. The issue isn't the program, it's your ability to read the text of the ancients.

it's a word file that won't open in English. It looks like the wingdings format.

 

[Just A Butt]

charge your laptop in the microwave

 

[sodaboard]

Create a VM of Win98 or 2000 and install an old version of Office like 97 and see if it renders in there.

 

[AgendaPoster]

Upload the files if it's not private and I'll look at them, or try various encodings and apps, like Notepad++, and maybe you find which worked. The above advice with a VM is also good and should be used by anyone if you decide to upload, cause we don't trust you that it's not some malware

 

[Agent Abe Caprine]

Create a VM of Win98 or 2000 and install an old version of Office like 97 and see if it renders in there.

Check arcjive.org for the isos. Edit because the typo is funny: I meant archive.org. I'm sure arcjive is a fine place for something.

 

[JethroTullamore]

Did you try dropping a beer on it? That sure did fix the last 7 laptops I did tat to.

 

[Whoopsie Daisy]

Thank you for all of the replies. There's enough for me to go at to see if I can solve this problem.

Cheers, Farmers!!

 

[Pissmaster]

Here is a copy of PCEm with Windows 98, pre-installed. https://archive.org/details/pcemwin98se

Here is a copy of Microsoft Word 2000 (published in 1999): https://archive.org/details/microsoft-word-2000

Hopefully you can figure all that out enough to install it and open your file.

 

[Day Drinking]

Also, if all you need is the text, Notepad or TextEditor should be able to pull that just fine. I've never had an issue, at least. Unless the document used some ancient codec for an abnormal font that transcends time and space. Even then, I find most documents will open with Notepad.

 

[Whoopsie Daisy]

Here is a copy of PCEm with Windows 98, pre-installed. https://archive.org/details/pcemwin98se

Here is a copy of Microsoft Word 2000 (published in 1999): https://archive.org/details/microsoft-word-2000

Hopefully you can figure all that out enough to install it and open your file.

Thank you for taking the time and effort to find these files and links. It is much appreciated

Also, if all you need is the text, Notepad or TextEditor should be able to pull that just fine. I've never had an issue, at least. Unless the document used some ancient codec for an abnormal font that transcends time and space. Even then, I find most documents will open with Notepad.

Notepad shat its' pants for some reason. I do believe the format was some ancient font that was used once and never again.

My grandad wrote two books before he passed away some years ago and the files were sat on a floppy disk at my Aunts' house until she re-discovered them. I managed to get the files and all but a few chapters worked fine. The ones that didn't work were in the wingdings gobbly-de-gook but Libre worked a charm.

Soon I will publish my grandfathers books which will be a nice homage to him and his legacy.

You've all done a great service by helping me and my family. Thank you

 

[Just A Fat Round Bird]

have you tried deleting system32 ?

 

[RACISM]

Libre worked a charm.

Glad it worked out.
They have been trying to compete with MS Word for years, so had to try hard to handle all the MS file formats, and get people switched over. Meanwhile MS breaks compatibility to force people to use new stuff constantly, so you can convert everything to new formats. Wait too long and it's unsupported.