Cannot open my 'saved as .doc' files

[katiequinn]

I am using OpenOffice 2.3.1 on Window XP sp2.
I wrote an essay which is 42k in size in .odt.
Then saved the essay as Word doc, it became 177k. Sent it to 2 people. Both cannot open it with Word, which says my doc is corrupted.
The 2nd time, I opened a new Word file, copied and pasted the whole essay from .odt into .doc. It became about 100k. Sent it to the same people. They still cannot open it; Word still says the file is corrupt.
But I myself can open those two files with Word in my own computer.

Can anyone tell me what's gone wrong? And what can I do? (It is crucial that they can open and read the file.)

Thanks a lot.

[RoryOF]

Send them the .odt file - MS Word claims, since 2007, to be able to read .odt files.

[robleyd]

I am using OpenOffice 2.3.1 on Window XP sp2.

It might help if you upgrade to a version of OpenOffice that is less than twelve years old. The current version. 4.1.6, is capable of running on Windows XP - see http://www.openoffice.org/download/

[John_Ha]

Please upload a file showing the problem so that it can be analysed. Use the Upload attachment tab below where you type (128 kB max); or use a file share site, Dropbox or Google Drive for a larger file.