Apache OpenOffice Community Forum

Hello, My name is Kellie. And let me first apologize for even being here.
I had a computer geek friend , who was trying to be helpful and came over and install all of this high tech computer stuff. Xandro, openoffice ect. The only probelm is I am an idiot, and can barely master even the most basic task on my computer. So the Geek Squad is coming to remove this stuff. Meanwhile I have been converting three years worth of files from Open office, to microsoft office. It will let me resave with no problem. However when I go to open the new file I get a ASC II filter, and it asks me to pick a language but english is not one of the choices.
If someone out there would take mercy on me and tell me how to fix this I would really appreciate it.
Thank you,
Kellie

KellieR wrote:Hello, My name is Kellie. And let me first apologize for even being here.

Hi, Kellie. Heavens, no need to apologize. We're all just users helping other users; that's what the forum is for.

KellieR wrote:I had a computer geek friend , who was trying to be helpful and came over and install all of this high tech computer stuff. Xandro, openoffice ect. The only probelm is I am an idiot, and can barely master even the most basic task on my computer. So the Geek Squad is coming to remove this stuff.

To remove that stuff... so, do you mean you're having OpenOffice removed, too?

KellieR wrote:Meanwhile I have been converting three years worth of files from Open office, to microsoft office. It will let me resave with no problem. However when I go to open the new file I get a ASC II filter, and it asks me to pick a language but english is not one of the choices.

So---just to make sure I understand, because I can be easily confused sometimes, you have three years' worth of ODT files (OpenOFfice documents) and you're trying to convert them to DOC files (Microsoft Office documents). Is that correct? (Sorry for asking that if the answer seems obvious, but people do become confused and get the two switched around sometimes, so I just want to be sure I understand your objective correctly.)

If so, before we can go any further I need to know exactly how you're converting the files... tell me exactly the steps you take.

However when I go to open the new file I get a ASC II filter, and it asks me to pick a language but english is not one of the choices.

It probably lists languages like unicode and utf, followed by some funny numbers. Don't worry. You won't harm the file if you make the wrong choice. Just make a selection, and if the files open and you get some really funny characters that make some of you text unreadable, just close the file and reopen it, and this time make another choice. Simply repeat that procedure until our file looks good on-screen. (It's a good idea to write down what possibilities you have already tried, that way you prevent making the same mistake twice. )

floris v wrote:Simply repeat that procedure until our file looks good on-screen.

I'm rather pessimistic. The ASCII filter dialog is a symptom of a bad file type. Either the extension is wrong (best case) and modifying it can fix it. Or the file is damaged and if it's a .doc, few chances to recover anything.

I was thinking that the files were saved as plain text. If they are corrupt Word files there's a huge problem.

floris v wrote:I was thinking that the files were saved as plain text. If they are corrupt Word files there's a huge problem.

There could be other things going on too, which is why I'd like to know exactly the steps taken to convert the files, if I understand the question properly.