Glad it's working. But just in case anyone is still confused by this, Vista
doesn't "handle" or open .doc files. No version of Windows does. Microsoft
Word opens .doc files. And it can only do that if it's installed on the
Windows Vista computer.


<alamo@nomail> wrote in message
news:s6huu2tlisa757eduu5f1lkutkf12iqrac@4ax.com...[color=blue]
> On Wed, 07 Mar 2007 14:50:52 -0600, Adam Albright <AA@ABC.net> wrote:
>[color=green]
>>On Wed, 07 Mar 2007 19:46:18 GMT, "Xalil" <nolankingston@verizon.net>
>>wrote:
>>[color=darkred]
>>>This is interesting because I have .doc files from W98, W95, and W2003
>>>that
>>>I have pulled up with no problem in WV. I have the option to keep it in
>>>these version formats or to upgrade the documents to Windows 2007. Could
>>>it
>>>be that Dell installed something for me that you would otherwise have to
>>>install yourself? Although Dell customer service has really sucked with
>>>me,
>>>I really am impressed with their customization of my computers.
>>>Regardless,
>>>I believe (if my memory serves me correctly, which is not usually the
>>>case)
>>>there is with WV an option you can download or access to make everything
>>>extremely conversion friendly. Maybe it's a Word 2007 option instead of
>>>MV?
>>>I would also find the answer to you inquiry enlightening.
>>>
>>><alamo@nomail> wrote in message
>>>news:e93uu2l354hj6vv6b5p1m6jfoef9ec3rmd@4ax.com...
>>>>I have thousands of documents created under W98 and saved as .doc
>>>> files that I need to transfer to my new computer running Vista Home
>>>> Premium. Neither WordPad v.6, which came with Vista, nor Word 2007
>>>> recongizes .doc files. I'm looking for suggestions how I can
>>>> convert these files, preferably in large batches, to make them
>>>> readable under Vista.
>>>>
>>>> Thanks,
>>>> Signa[/color]
>>
>>That's curious since .doc is the default file type for Word documents.
>>I would first look in Control Panel, default programs, then pick the
>>associate file types option then scan the list for .doc and see what
>>Vista is currently set to use to open .doc files.
>>
>>I have a REALLY old version of Office, vintage 1997. I just opened it
>>up and wrote a test document. Both it and Notepad open and display it
>>without problems.
>>
>>Try this:
>>
>>Start, Search, then for the search term type .doc and you'll shortly
>>get a list of all the .doc files on your computer. See if you can open
>>any directly from Search, that at least willsee if there are other
>>misconfigurations issues.
>>
>>If all else fails,
>>
>>[url]http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=95E24C87-8732-48D5-8689-AB826E7B8FDF&displaylang=en[/url]
>>
>>or search for a similar viewer or just reinstall word or whatever you
>>used to create them.
>>[/color]
>
> Thanks to all for your suggestions. I had created most, not all, of
> the .doc files in WordPad - whatever version came with Windows 98,
> preferring WordPad to Word for its simplicity and ease of use. (Plain
> laziness, I confess.) The rest I'd created in Word. With those older
> versions I could open individual files in either Word (the default)
> or WordPad, depending how I went about it.
>
> I hadn't done much exploring in Word 2007 until just now. I just
> unpacked and set up the new computer a week ago yesterday and am still
> working at getting things I use frequently, like the Run command,
> available in places where I can find them quickly. The computer is a
> Dell, as Richard's is.
>
> On a quick poke around in Word just now, I found it indeed handles
> .doc files. I copied Adam's reply into Word and saved it as a .doc,
> in fact. So that solves my problem.
>
> Thanks again, to all who responded.
> Signa[/color]