Re: Accessing MS Word

I've only been following this desultorily, so I'm not
sure I understand what has been said. But it seems to
me there are two entirely separate potential problems
here. The first one is, does roy cave still have
Works WP itself, i.e. all the files needed to run it,
on the machine, or did the Office trial actually
delete those? If they're gone, then indeed some
copy of them, like from a distribution disk, will be
needed. But it seems unlikely that Office would do
anything so extreme, without any warning, and
especially since the other parts of Works seem to be
still there.

So far more likely, it's only problem two, namely the
association of the file extensions with the program
has been severed. But that's pretty trivial, just a
shell thing, one of Windows Explorer's entries in the
Registry. (I'm assuming this is on Windows or
something vaguely similar.) There are lots of ways to
fix it without needing the old CD. As ryan suggested,
one might simply run the program explicitly and Open
the document. Or the file association can be restored
using Explorer, or (in a real pinch) Regedit. But it
will be necessary to know what file to run, or to make
the association with.

So what roy cave needs to do is look for Works files
that look like they do the WP job. I've never used
Works, so I can't help with file names or likely
paths. But if anyone here does have (or remember)
Works and can supply such information, that would
probably help a lot. With filename in hand, the
solution is probably not far off, with no copyright
issue, since nothing will be copied. Short of that,
it's a matter of roy cave guessing where to look for
what, but unless there's a ton of other stuff on the
system, it shouldn't be that hard to find.

--- Ryan Pavlik <abiryan@ryand.net> wrote:

>
> Roy Cave wrote:
>
> > Thanx Ryan,
> > I thought about doing that last week but I can't
> locate the CD. Is it
> > possible that I never got one? And, if it really
> is lost, what then?
> > I hate to impose upon your time like this, but I'm
> sure glad you're
> > around!! Thanks again.... Roy
> >
> Well, if you bought the computer new, there should
> either be a CD for it
> or it is loaded on a restore CD. If it is on the
> restore CD (not
> useable unless you remove all your data from your
> computer) or lost, it
> will be something that you have to work out with
> your computer
> manufacturer if it was a bundled piece of software,
> since it's a
> licensing thing that I can't help with. You could
> try starting Works
> from the Start menu and seeing if you can get to the
> word processor there...
>
> You could then re-save your documents as RTF so you
> can use AbiWord and
> not worry about losing a valuable software CD again!
> :D
>
> Ryan
>
> > Ryan Pavlik wrote:
> >
> >> Ahh, I understand now. This is actually a
> Microsoft problem: the
> >> installation of the Office trial took the
> association of Works Word
> >> Processor (abbreviated Works WP) files away.
> However, I can help you
> >> solve it: you will need to find your original
> Works CD's (should have
> >> come with your computer) and install Works again
> to take back the
> >> file association. Once you've done that, if you
> wish to use AbiWord
> >> in place of Works WP (I would, but use whatever
> does what you need),
> >> just save any files from Works into an "RTF"
> format, which AbiWord
> >> can open (Start AbiWord first and click File,
> Open if they start
> >> Works by default).
> >>
> >> Hope this helps!
> >>
> >> Roy Cave wrote:
> >>
> >>> Hi Ryan,
> >>> The program I'm talking about is MS Works Word
> Processor. I can't
> >>> understand why MS Works Data Base and MS Works
> Spreadsheet both
> >>> work, but not MS Works Word Processor. Should I
> do as you suggested
> >>> before or do you have another idea? Many
> thanks! Roy
> >>>
> >>> Ryan Pavlik wrote:
> >>>
> >>>>
> >>>> sum1_lists@yahoo.com wrote:
> >>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Roy Cave wrote:
> >>>>>
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> Hi!
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> I really need some help. I'm an old man with
> a new computer
> >>>>>> about which I know nothing. I removed the 60
> day trial of
> >>>>>> 'Office' and now I can no longer access the
> word processor or
> >>>>>> documents I previously created. I can access
> MS Works spread
> >>>>>> sheet and Data base, but when I click Word
> processor I get the
> >>>>>> following message.
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Hi, I think you're confusing Microsoft Word
> and Microsoft Works,
> >>>>> two distinct products. AbiWord supports
> importing of Word files,
> >>>>> but it doesn't support Works files. I don't
> know the limitations
> >>>>> of the trial version you mention, but I wonder
> if you could
> >>>>> reinstall the word processor portion to access
> your old documents.
> >>>>> If not, maybe someone you know has access to
> that program and can
> >>>>> convert the documents to another format (I'd
> suggest RTF if you're
> >>>>> interested in editing those documents again)?
> >>>>>
> >>>> For reference, you probably had Microsoft Works
> or Works Suite
> >>>> (which combines Works with Word) default on
> your computer, which
> >>>> was over-written by the trial of Microsoft
> Office (a much more
> >>>> expensive application that is almost never
> bundled).
> >>>>
> >>>> In order to get AbiWord to open Word files by
> default, it's easiest
> >>>> to uninstall (Start, Control Panel, Add/Remove
> Programs) AbiWord,
> >>>> then double-click the installer file you
> downloaded. This time,
> >>>> when you are presented with a screen with some
> check boxes, choose
> >>>> "Full (with File Associations)" from the
> drop-down menu above the
> >>>> check boxes. This will give you a full
> installation of AbiWord and
> >>>> make it the default program to open/edit Word
> files, which is what
> >>>> you probably want.
> >>>>
>
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Received on Thu Apr 28 01:23:46 2005