baffled how to move from Office 2003 to current software

[pleiades357]

I've been using Office Professional 2003
I tried office 2010 when the trial version was offered, had problems with it not reading 2003 files, friends advised waiting for the problems to be solved

many years later I find I will lose years of publisher materials, financial records... etc.. hundred of files...
when my OP2003 won't work with Windows 10 and can't be opened in Office 2016

I'm not the only one facing this issue
I've seen many posts from people whose business software won't work with the changes...
I'd purchase an older software that would work with 2003, but.. not for sale

how to move forward without losing years of work and financial records I can't lose?

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi and welcome to SevenForums,
I have not used this but seems to work through the reviews
Tech Tip: Bulk Convert Old Office Documents To New Office Format - TeckLyfe

I'd of course create a system image well before using it
Backup and Restore with Macrium Reflect Windows 10 Backup Restore Tutorials

 

[pleiades357]

Thanks!

more help than weeks of asking Microsoft.....

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
No problem hope it works out
Seems like an easy fix just time consuming manually changing the files types to .docx :/
Let use know how it works
Cheers.

 

[pleiades357]

each picture? how will that change which program opens "My pictures"? and... hundred and hundred of pictures...

not even possible...

there must be a better way....

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
Not sure what you mean by pictures I'm referring to file types like the link suggests but offers the other 2 links for downloads for bulk file type changing to make life easier

 

[strollin]

I've been using MS Office since Office 95 and haven't run into issues with later versions of Office not being able to open previous versions of documents. Have you tried opening the files?

It really isn't necessary to convert the old versions to the new format if you don't wish to. Office 2016 can open files saved in older versions and can also save them again in the older format.

The issue comes when someone in your organization is using say Office 2016 and sends you a document saved in the newer format. If you're using Office 2003 you may not be able to open the document. However, most likely you can still open the document but you will lose certain formatting features that are only supported in the newer versions of Office.

 

[pleiades357]

Microsoft communities and windows.... the MS rep online told me
2016 is too different (from 2003), files may be damaged or lost
I had trouble with 2010, the reason I did not buy...

the rep said (of 2016) "we are not in the recovery business, just so you know that"

I'm not a pro... if the files are damaged... I have no one to help with it so trying to avoid problems...

you said, I can save in older format... can I run 2003 on the same computer?

problem of course is, eventual move to a newer version of Windows...

lots of problem with the eventual move
I have alot of designs and patterns for my painted glassware in The Print Shop... TPS has designed their new versions to not open older files.... thousands of designs lost? or hours of screen shots to redesign them later.... lost hours and hours...
but... can I continue to run the old version, is this what is meant about running a program as if it were on on older version of windows?

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
Yep install 2003 in windows 10 if you have 10 installed that is ?
The conversion process would convert to a 2007 office extension which is the first office version to use 4 letters instead of 3.

 

[strollin]

Before trying any of this, make sure you have all of your files backed up. That way, if a file does happen to get damaged (unlikely) you would be able to recover it from the backup.

You should be able to install older software in Windows 10 by right-clicking on the installer exe, selecting "Properties", then "Compatibility". You can then tell the OS to install using "compatibility mode".

My sister used TPS for a bunch of stuff. She whined about not being able to access her old stuff with newer versions but I was able to open her older stuff in the newer version. I also installed the older version of TPS in Win 10 (sorry don't remember the version number) and it ran OK but did spit out an error message or 2 complaining about this or that but that didn't seem to prevent it from working.

 

[mrjimphelps]

There is another way that you could approach this: you could install a virtual machine in Windows 10, and then install Windows 7 (or whatever OS you want) in the virtual machine; then install Office 2003 in the virtual machine.

If you have Windows 10 Enterprise, Professional, or Education, you can use Hyper-V, a virtual machine program which comes with Windows 10. Hyper-V will let you go back as far as Windows Vista in the virtual machine, but no further back than that. (In other words, you can't install XP or 2000 in Hyper-V.)

Another virtual machine program would be Oracle Virtual Box. Virtual Box is free, and there is no restriction as to which OS you can install in the virtual machine. (I installed Windows 2000 in Virtual Box on a Windows 8.1 system a few years ago.)

Here is some information about Hyper-V.