Word File Converter Dialog Shows Garbage

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Word 2003 (and earlier) shows a dialog box containing garbage when attempting to open documents

 

A growing number of users has complained that on attempting to open a Word document in Word 2003/2002/2000, they are presented with a converter dialog box which appears to show garbage - as below.

 

Note that the dialog title bar refers to the template name - here letter.dotm - which is a Word 2007 format template. The earlier Word versions, even with the converter installed, cannot handle Word 2007 templates. However, the document should still open normally, if you click OK. What happens next will depend on the type of document. If the document is a Word 2007 format document with the extension DOCX then you will get an the informative message below:

 

and the document will then open on clicking OK.

If the document is a Word 97-2003 format document, with the extension DOC then you don't get the informative message, but the document should simply open.

 

 

If the document was created in Word 2007 using a 'compatibility' format template (i.e. a template created in an earlier version of Word) then whether the document type is DOCX or DOC the document should open normally without the converter dialog.

To avoid the dialog on opening a document created from a Word 2007 template in future, open the tools > templates and add-ins dialog

 

and attach the normal template

OR

Save the document as a template. Close the template then re-open the document, click through the converter dialog and attach the new template you have just created.

Note:

If you are using Word 2007 to create documents that will be opened by users who are using Word 2000-2003 and who have the 2007 compatibility pack, or are creating Word 97-2003 format documents for use by users with Word 97-2003, then it will save a lot of confusion for the recipients if you base the document either on the default normal template or on a compatibility format DOT template.