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[Solved] Open very old documents (XLS and WPD)

Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2022 11:06 pm
by kjuarez
My newish version (Apache 4) has stopped opening old OpenOffice documents. How can I either fix or work around this problem?

Re: Reopening old OpenOffice documents

Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2022 11:12 pm
by FJCC
What format are these old documents in?

Re: Reopening old OpenOffice documents

Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2022 2:14 am
by kjuarez
OpenOffice.orgXML 1.0 TextDocument

Re: Reopening old OpenOffice documents

Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2022 2:53 am
by robleyd
These would be files with extension .sxw ? Exactly how are you trying to open these files, and what happens as a result?

Re: Reopening old OpenOffice documents

Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2022 4:05 am
by kjuarez
No, they are just texts and spreadsheets, Extensions .wpd or .xls.

i work part-time for an attorney, so I am opening a legal document, letter, etc. to use as a template. Never had any trouble doing this previously.

Re: Reopening old OpenOffice documents

Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2022 4:26 am
by robleyd
.wpd files are WordPerfect word processor format files; I think older versions of OpenOffice used to be able to open them, but version 4 cannot. Zamzar offers a conversion service from .wpd to .odt

.xls are Microsoft Excel spreadsheet format files; current OpenOffice should be able to open them.

Re: Reopening old OpenOffice documents

Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2022 5:24 am
by kjuarez
Thanks! I’ll try it.

Re: [Solved] Open very old documents (XLS and WPD)

Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2024 10:06 am
by jopower
As I said on a similar query, I had very good luck with Zamzar. It was not difficult and allowed me to download the converted file without issue in Firefox (124). When opened is rendered correctly. There's also a download of the program for free (version 1.1 currently) allowing you to convert files offline native to the PC. Strongly recommended!!!