Apache OpenOffice Community Forum

Welcome beginner. Please answer all of the questions below which may provide information necessary to answer your question.
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Which version of OpenOffice.org are you using?
2.4

What Operating System (version) are you using?
Windows XP

What is your question or comment?
I downloaded OpenOffice.org to my home PC and it converted all of my Microsoft Word 2003 documents on the C: drive into OpenOffice documents. There are a few documents that are work related and I need to be able to open these documents on my work computer. My employer restricts downloading any programs to work PCs. This is all controlled by the IT department. Which means I am unable to use these documents on my work PC.

I need to convert my files back to Microsoft Word 2003 but I do not know how to do this. I tried removing the OpenOffice program from my home PC in the hopes that it would automatically convert the documents back to their original format but this did not happen. Can anyone tell me how to troubleshoot this problem?

Thanks,
Nancy

Computer programs manipulate data. Removed programs don't do anything. Renaming myLetter.odt to myLetter.doc may change the displayed symbol of that file but it won't change a single bit of the file's data. The usual graphical coputer program with a "File" menu offers File>Save As... opening a dialog where you specify the location, the name and type (format, encoding, flavour,) of the new file. In the same dialog OpenOffice offers to append file name extensions (.doc, .odt, .txt, whatever) automatically, so name "myLetter" becomes "myLetter.doc", "myLetter.odt", "myLetter.txt" depending on the selected type of file. See screenshot in this thread: http://user.services.openoffice.org/en/ ... f=7&t=5241
Keep the option "Automatic extension" always checked unless you know why you want to append your own name extension.

Nancy just open each file in OOo and then use File SaveAs to save then as DOC, XLS or PPT as appropriate. If your employers have an MSOffice enforcement policy for their proprietary docs then you need to follow that and use DOC (etc.) formats for documents that you need to take to and from work. You can still open and save them in OOo. However, this shouldn't stop you using the native OOo formats for personal documents that you prepare at home.

Nance2312 wrote:I downloaded OpenOffice.org to my home PC and it converted all of my Microsoft Word 2003 documents on the C: drive into OpenOffice documents.

OOo doesn't convert anything alone without you running the wizard to convert files by batch. Have you tried to open these documents at work? I'm wondering if the problem is not the file association that has changed the icon only. What's the exact extension of the files?

Hi,
Downloaded OpenOffice on my new laptop with Windows 7 at the recommendation of my "programmer" son-in-law, but am finding it has more of a learning curve than I have time for right now. (I WILL get to this at some point - but no time now. LOL)

I installed my old standby, MS Office 2003, for now and had to figure out (thanks, in part, to your forum) how to make sure than any future things I do in Open Office are "saved as" Word or Excel files. I also changed all of the OpenOffice default program settings that were applicable (.doc, .rtf, .slk, etc.) in the Windows 7 default program option.

Now I'm wondering if there is a way to do a "batch" convert of the OpenOffice files I've created in the past two months over to Word or Excel files?

Now that I've changed defaults, will all icons still be the OpenOffice icons on all docs? This really makes for confusion as to which have been converted and which have not. I finally created a folder, "Converted" and am opening and saving all of the OpenOffice files I've created one-by-one in Office format. I'll then have to delete the OpenOffice files, I guess. Is there a quicker, more simple way to do it?

Thanks.

GrannyK

Basically, under Windows, better make your file browser show the extension for security issue. Then you will see if it's a .doc or .odt.

Thanks for the suggestion.

So, basically there is no batch or group convert for all .odt files? I know there is a wizard that coverts TO .odt files, but want something that will convert all .odt to .doc.

Perhaps someone has made a macro for that, or an extension. But it could be rather dangerous IMHO because until recently, the .doc file was secret, the import/export filters have been made by reverse engineering, so you may face some flaws in the process.

I appreciate your help! Thanks.

That's a really good method to doing that conversion. I've decided to help other users so I setup a page http://www.odttodoc.com with screen shots because in the begining I found it a bit hard to understand.. Hopefully that'll simplify it even more
I'll add a video soon.. shame so many people are resorting to madness before they realize how simple it actually is

when i try to change the file type from .odt to .doc but the file won't change because the file came from a mac.

How are you trying to change the file type? Did you use File-->Save As or rename the file?