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280 commentsConvert .docx to .doc
December 31st, 2007 | by admin |
I have recently been getting quite a few documents by email from clients that use the .docx extension and found out that I am on the receiving end of a bitter Microsoft ploy to take over the office software market by brute force!
Microsoft is upsetting the whole world again. This time it is the introduction of the .docx format which most people will not be able to open unless they have the latest version of Microsoft Office / Word.
It seems that the latest version of Microsoft’s overpriced, overweight, under performing, insecure office suite defaults to save in .docx format. Great job! Linux users have a few options to try and read these documents but it is not 100% reliable yet and requires a fair amount of tinkering with OpenOffice (That good FREE office suite that everyone should be using).
For the time being, until OpenOffice manages to add .docx support out of the box, you may find it easier to use an online .docx converter, that will convert .docx to .doc for you and send the documents to your email.
I had the best results by using this websites online conversion service:
A few other sites seem to offer the service too, but are charging money - $5.00!
Microsoft OOXML Nightmare
I’m not sure how the fight is going against the so called OOXML (Or some S*** like that), but if the usual corruption prevails then governments will no doubt adopt it.
Sign your name and email here to protest the adoption of Microsoft’s “OOXML” standard…
Setup .docx Support For OpenOffice On Linux (Novell)
Finally, if you are lucky enough to be using the Novell version of OpenOffice on Linux you can try out these fixes -
http://download.novell.com/SummaryFree.jsp?buildid=ESrjfdE4U58~
Once you have had a look at that page from Novell you can check out this page on tips on how to setup the ODF converter -
http://www.sigmundvoid.com/?p=81
Please Don’t Use The Microsoft Office .docx File Format
By using this format you are alienating yourself in incompatibilities. OOXML is not truely open as is OpenOffice’s standard file formats. It is also apparently very badly made. If you want to send out documents, then consider using the standard .doc extension, Adobe PDF or even plain text files.
If you recently purchased Microsoft Office, consider returning it to the shop where you bought it and getting your $300 + cash refunded back. You can download OpenOffice for free from http://www.openoffice.org or if you like to pay money, you can buy a copy - for example the “Star Office” version.
September 2009 Update!
The information on this page has not been updated or checked in a while - there may or may not be new solutions available for working with / converting .docx files.
[30]
On August 22nd, 2010 at 12:37 am admin wrote:
Hi Michael,
Yep that’s right you can convert with 3rd party sites however I need to say this… because many readers of this blog post may not know it yet…
Open Office now has full support for .docx files!
It’s had it for a while now really, this post is out of date
I repeat… Open Office can now open, save, save as (same as “convert” I guess) Microsoft DOCX docs…
Cheers!
[29]
On February 24th, 2009 at 9:26 am Michael wrote:
There are also some online tools like http://zamzar.com or http://converter.tds.lv
[28]
On October 9th, 2008 at 6:06 am admin wrote:
Hi Shamyl,
That’s correct but only useful if you are creating documents. Then you can save as .doc instead of .docx i guess. The problem is more for people who get docx documents and can’t open them.
Dan
[27]
On October 9th, 2008 at 5:40 am Shamyl wrote:
Hi…there i am reading the topics its great discussion ..but u people are missing one thing …if u wanna get rid of the .Docx file don’t throw the CD …b/c When you are going to save the file u can save it in the Doc formate ..just look into the save as type beneath title u will find there 98/2003 formate .doc …So happy ending
[26]
On September 19th, 2008 at 10:32 am Nick wrote:
lol, plus it’s always nice to add a badge to a product “compatible with microsoft word”.
[25]
On September 19th, 2008 at 10:27 am admin wrote:
Hi nick,
OK got it. Yes agreed most governments are “bum buddies” with Microsoft
So it makes sense for them I guess.
Dan
[24]
On September 19th, 2008 at 10:24 am Nick wrote:
Hi Dan,
Governments like Microsoft, the price may not always be right. But they know Microsoft Word, they don’t have to teach an old dog new tricks.
Nick
[23]
On September 19th, 2008 at 10:18 am admin wrote:
Hi Nick,
thanks for that. I can’t think who would need a file format as in “need to generate a file in a Microsoft standard” as opposed to an open format. Unless you don’t want some people to easily view your files? LOL.
Dan
[22]
On September 16th, 2008 at 3:49 pm Nick wrote:
Docx seems to be getting a lof of bad press, I also started of hating it. But if you need to generate a file in a microsoft standard, docx is the way to go. It will be adopted, it’s not a clean format but the people who adopt a standard often don’t fully understand what happens under the covers.
[21]
On August 7th, 2008 at 3:58 pm admin wrote:
You’re welcome!
I’ve just read that the latest version of Star Office (which is built on OpenOffice) now supports .docx files and etc as used by the latest MS Office programs.
You can get it as mentioned in a post earlier @ http://www.google.com/tools
It should then solve your problem - so long as you are allowed to install software on your work PC’s
Dan
[20]
On August 7th, 2008 at 3:49 pm Steen wrote:
Hi again Admin
I guess you are right.
I forgot to install the High Priority updates before the converter.
Therefore I uninstalled the converter. But the problem persists.
Then I tried to install the HP package but the system denies me doing that.
The real problem is the IT-department here.
I work in a large public institution and the local IT-commisars don’t allow us to install system updates on our own!
Any way: thanks again for your help
Steen
[19]
On August 6th, 2008 at 10:07 am admin wrote:
Hi Steen,
Yes it looks like the official Microsoft FileFormatConverters.exe file.
According to this page - http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=941b3470-3ae9-4aee-8f43-c6bb74cd1466&displaylang=en - on the Microsoft site:
“Users of the Microsoft Office XP and 2003 programs Word, Excel, or PowerPoint—please install all High-
Priority updates from Microsoft Update before downloading the Compatibility Pack.”
Maybe you forgot to update Windows before installing the File Format Converters pack?
I really have no idea what could have gone wrong. I’d recommend you to just install Linux - http://www.ubuntu.com
[18]
On August 6th, 2008 at 9:14 am Steen Thomsen wrote:
Thanks for that admin.
Actually I don’t know which converter is running on the PC now.
Because last Friday I was in a rush and I just downloaded a converter which installed itself.
I didn’t write the name of the converter itself down.
As far as I can see there files like “OARTCONV.DLL”, “Oice.exe”, “Moc.exe”, “excelcnv.exe” and “XLCPRTID.XML”.
Could it have been the “FileFormatConverters” that I installed?
Kind regards
Steen
[17]
On August 4th, 2008 at 4:53 pm admin wrote:
Hi Steen,
Not sure which doc2docx converter you are talking about… is it this one?
http://docx-converter.com/
If you are having problems then I recommend you try some other solutions people have posted above. If you opt for a Microsoft official solution it is more likely to work better.
“You are trying to open a file type which has been blocked by the policy setting in the regestry database”
LOL - sounds like something broke!
I would turn to something like http://www.experts-exchange.com and post that as a question in the Windows XP / Windows Registry section. You will normally get a geeky response within a day or two.
[16]
On August 4th, 2008 at 2:04 pm Steen Thomsen wrote:
I did install the doc2docx ms converter on my XP pc and in the beginning it seemed to work without any problems.
But only until I tried to open my xls-files.
Now Excel just comes with the message “You are trying to open a file type which has been blocked by the policy setting in the regestry database”. And nothing further happens.
Damn it.
Steen