WinWord 6.0 To Rich Text Format

I have installed XP Home W/ Service Pk 2 Full Edition on my stand by computer. I have my " Daily Driver " computer running Win98, also usable, and running fine, to use while I get a little more familiar with XP. I don`t have access to the internet yet, I`m waiting on my ISP`s Install disk. So I haven`t downloaded any upgrades yet. I don`t know whether they will help my problem or not.
Here`s my question, it may belong under one of the other forums, but this will give me a start.
I have saved quite a lot of documents in Word Pad using Win Word 6.0 and stored them on CD After dragging and dropping from the CD to My Documents in XP I find to my sorrow that XP turns it`s nose up at Win Word 6.0 when I attempt to open any of the documents. " Cannot load Word for Windows 6.0 files ". I found the thread with the cure for a problem like this that entailed going into the registry and doing some things that make me nervous.
I have found by saving a document in Rich Text Fomat on a CD from my Win 98 computer and copying it from the CD to My documents on the XP it opens just fine.
My Question is this. Is there a way of changing all the files from Win Word to RTF at once, either on my `98 computer before iI copy them to CD, or in XP after I`ve transferred them?
Or am I just a dreamer that you wish would go away?
Thanks for your patience.
Moore

 

I really think you will be better off using the 'fix' from
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/870883

Yes, it does involve adding a piece to the registry but the how-to is given in great detail and the likelyhood of messing anything else up on your PC is vanishingly small.

As a precaution, before you start to add the registry piece but after you've opened regedit, click on file, click on export, and send a complete backup of your registry to a .reg file and save that file. Then if something bad should happen, you'll have a good backup of your working registry.

If you'd feel more comfortable with pre-done work, I did the edit on my registry, created a .reg file of the edit, and saved it then tested and it puts that exact key in for you. You can download the attached file to your PC, rename if from .txt to .reg, and then double-click it and it will add that entry to your registry.

 

Thanks Newt.
I`ll bet that`s good advice, I`ll probably do it. I was just so proud of figuring out the way I did that single file I just had to ask. Prompt reply, thanks again.
Moore

 

I think all of us who mess with PCs will come to a point where we actually need to mess with the registry. The first time is always a nervous time but this particular bit of work is about as close to harmless as any reg tweak could possibly be. The worst you would be likely to do if you messed up the spelling of the new key (and they do need to be exact) would be to give wordpad a little grief and editing again to correct would fix that.

 

Hey Newt, call me GEEK

Nothing short of miraculous! I can now read my Wordpad files in XP. Working in the registry is a piece of cake for an old hand like me! That`s when I`ve got someone leading me around by the hand. At least I`m broke to lead.
I really appreciate the assist. I`ll no doubt be back.
Moore

 

LOL - glad to hear it worked.