How to convert MS Offfice .docx .xlsx into .doc .xls?

My MS Office version is old (2000). When people send me Word or Excel files, they are all of the file type .docx or .xlsx, which I can't open. Is there a simply way to convert them to .doc and .xls, or directly open them? Thanks in advance!

 

I know there is an add-on for office 2003 to allows it to read docx, etc. file types. Otherwise, ask those persons to save their files in compatibility mode and send you those files instead.

Saying office 2000 is old is an understatement at this point, not sure there is actually something you can do about this in 2000.

EDIT: As for a file converter type utility, as far as i know, there isn't one.

 

You could also open them in Office Web Apps if you have a LiveID or Hotmail email account....

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/web-apps

 

That's what I sometimes do, but on certain occasions it is not very appropriate to ask the sender to do this or that

Thanks, I'll keep this info. For present purpose, however, I need to edit the file for the sender, so I have to be able to do it in Word (not just to be able to read it).

 

Office Web Apps allows editing...

 

Here you go. Just download and install and you are ready to go. It says it works with Office 2000 but I have never tried it. I still use Office 2003 and the compatibility pack works for me. I actually have a copy of 2007 and 2010 but I don't like the ribbon interface and don't want to mess with a third party work around. I am happy with 2003.

Download: Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint File Formats - Microsoft Download Center - Download Details

 

The Compatibility Pack is compatible with Office 2000.

https://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=3

 

Thanks. I had just downloaded that and was coming back to report and found you were pointing at the same place. After I downloaded it, I was able to open the Word file, but still not able to open .xlsx file. I'll continue to try and report here.

 

Go this URL and read down toward the bottom about Excel, Powerpoint, etc.
Issues that you may encounter if the computer is not fully updated to be compatible with the Office Open XML formats. This is now the Compatibility pack works for Office 2000.

Per the URL referenced above:

Excel 2000
In Excel 2000, you must use Windows Explorer to open and save Excel 2007 documents. To open an Excel 2007 file in Excel 2000, follow these steps:
Locate the file in Windows Explorer.
Double-click the file.
Note Excel 2000 must be installed on the computer. If other versions of Microsoft Excel are also installed, the file may open in a different version of Excel than expected.

To save a file opened in Excel 2000 file as an Excel 2007 file, follow these steps:
Locate the file in Windows Explorer.
Right-click the file, and then click Save As.
In the Save As dialog box, click one of the following Excel 2007 file formats in the Save as type box, and then click Save:
Microsoft Office Excel 2007 Workbook (*.xlsx)
Microsoft Office Excel 2007 Macro-Enabled Workbook (*.xlsm)
Microsoft Office Excel 2007 Binary Workbook (*.xlsb)
When the save is complete, click OK.
Note When you Save As and specify the Excel 2007 format, you can then open the document in Excel 2010 too.

 

Thanks for the link and the instructions. However, it still doesn't work . I always open from Windows Explorer. When I tried to open it, the message box says it not in recognizable format. If I go ahead and press "OK" to open anyway, it's all in strange symbols.

 

DOCX to DOC Converter Online FREE | www.docx2doc.com

Try this site mate. I converted my docx file 2 days ago and it worked.

 

Thanks. .docx is ok now, but not .xlsx (Excel).

 

I haven't tried to convert excel documents but try this:

Convert Files - Free XLSX to XLS converter. Free online document converter.

Free File Converter | Online file conversion - pdf docx odt flac xlsx jpg xls ods rar ppt odp mp3 wpd xlsx txt rtf bmp epub gif png zip lit tga mobi tiff wbmp 3gp ac3 avi flac mov mp3 mp4 mpeg wav wmv rm swf flv aac ac3 m4a mp4 rmvb

Just ask Mr. Google.

 

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but is it strange symbols in Excel or does it open the file in Wordpad or Notepad or something like that? Maybe right-click on the file and use 'open with' just to be sure.

Also, are you sure the file isn't just messed up, maybe an incomplete download or something?

 

It worked! File converted in good format. Thanks a bunch!

To trwrt: No, couldn't open with Wordpad or Notepad. Did try 'open with'.[/QUOTE]