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Editing Word documents in none MS software.

StickyMick
Grafter
Posts: 325
Registered: ‎29-11-2008

Editing Word documents in none MS software.

A friend of mine decided to treat herself to a new laptop for Christmas. She used to use a Dell that came with XP and MS Office pre-installed. She has used this to create and store all her Uni work and studies. The new laptop is a HP that didn't come with MS Office. She tells me that although she has successfully transferred all her work across to the HP, but she needs to convert the files into editable documents.
She contacted MS who stated that she will have to buy MS Office again.
She currently has OpenOffice 3.0 installed but this allows her to open them but not edit them. Anyone have any suggestions?
Ta
7 REPLIES 7
paulh
Rising Star
Posts: 1,283
Thanks: 10
Registered: ‎30-07-2007

Re: Editing Word documents in none MS software.

which version of ms office?
what does she mean "can open but not edit" ? can't she "save as" ?
i use openoffice and can open and edit word (.doc) files -- i think there's a workaround for .docx files if that's what she's got.
googling for "convert word docx files openoffice" therw up plenty of hits
artmo
Aspiring Champion
Posts: 19,524
Thanks: 421
Registered: ‎12-08-2007

Re: Editing Word documents in none MS software.

She can try google documents at:  http://docs.google.com/#
It's funny she hasn't got MS Office on her laptop.  HP normally stick a 90 day free trial on the machines.
StickyMick
Grafter
Posts: 325
Registered: ‎29-11-2008

Re: Editing Word documents in none MS software.

Thanks for the suggestions guys  Wink
I'll forward these and get some more info as well.
dvorak
Moderator
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Registered: ‎11-01-2008

Re: Editing Word documents in none MS software.

Might also depend on what version of office she was using, otherwise surprised uni doesn't have office installed for her to use.
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pierre_pierre
Grafter
Posts: 19,757
Thanks: 3
Registered: ‎30-07-2007

Re: Editing Word documents in none MS software.

I believe that Open Office has just upgraded and can now read the Latest M$S non standard muck ups
StickyMick
Grafter
Posts: 325
Registered: ‎29-11-2008

Re: Editing Word documents in none MS software.

It does read them, but for some reason it won't let her edit them.
Problem's been solved by a combination of the above suggestions.
Thanks for the suggestions Wink
samuria
Grafter
Posts: 1,581
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Registered: ‎13-04-2007

Re: Editing Word documents in none MS software.

If the files have been moved of another pc then the permissions on the files may be screwed as the owner will be and none existent SID so you may not have permissions to write to them. that being the case the problem isnt with open office but the permissions. You need to take control of all the files and directories so you have full control of them