Recovering a word file in Office 2007

[fipsey]

I accidently saved a document as .docx instead of .doc.. I then attempted to
save the .docx to .doc Word 97-2003 (fully compatible)...Now I have 2 files
(a.docx & a .doc)but now I cannot open either file. Is there anyway that I
can recover the file. It doesn't matter which one. Oh I do hope so
Thanks kindly

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I accidently saved a document as .docx instead of .doc.. I then attempted to
save the .docx to .doc Word 97-2003 (fully compatible)...Now I have 2 files
(a.docx & a .doc)but now I cannot open either file. Is there anyway that I
can recover the file. It doesn't matter which one. Oh I do hope so

Please ask your question in a Word or Office newsgroup, not here in a
Windows one. Since those are where the Word experts hang out, you are
much more likely to get the help you need there.

 

[philo]

I accidently saved a document as .docx instead of .doc.. I then attempted to
save the .docx to .doc Word 97-2003 (fully compatible)...Now I have 2 files
(a.docx & a .doc)but now I cannot open either file. Is there anyway that I
can recover the file. It doesn't matter which one. Oh I do hope so
Thanks kindly

Simply name the file that ends on .docx to a file that ends in .doc

(if it's in the same folder as your other file, also change the prefix )

Now, the file should be re-associated with Word

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Simply name the file that ends on .docx to a file that ends in .doc

A .docx file and a .doc file are two very different formats. Changing
the file extension doesn't change the format, and results in the file
being misidentified as to what format it has.

 

[Leonard Grey]

The Office Open XML format (.docx) is an XML file format, while the
Office 97 - 2003 format (.doc) is a binary file format. You can't change
one into another by removing or adding an 'x'.

Since the OP has Word 2007, s/he can open the .docx file and 'Save as"
in Word 97-2003 format (.doc). Word 2007 can open either file format.
Earlier versions of Word can only open the .doc file. (A free Word 2007
file viewer is available from Microsoft.)

 

[The Real Truth MVP]

Open word to a blank document, then go to file open, select the corrupted
file by single clicking on it. Then on the bottom right of the window expand
the "open" menu and choose open and repair. That can be done in both 2003
and 2007.

 

[philo]

A .docx file and a .doc file are two very different formats. Changing
the file extension doesn't change the format, and results in the file
being misidentified as to what format it has.

Ooops sorry!...I thought the OP just made a typo and had mistakenly changed
the name of a .doc to a .docx


If the file is corrupted, software such as this *might* help

http://www.jufsoft.com/docrepair/?rid=google&kid=gd0804

 

[Andrew Murray]

What comes up in the "recent documents" list (on the 2007 Orb thing-menu)?

If there's no recent documents, it might mean word is not set to list them
so to change the number of files under "Recent Documents":

- Click the Microsoft Office Button, and then click Word Options.
- Click Advanced.
- Under "Display", in the Show this number of Recent Documents list, click
the number of files that you want to display.


Also you can change the format that Word 2007 saves in e.g. you can set the
default to be *.doc rather than *.docx to save accidental saving as docx.
This might solve your problem of accidentally saving as docx too: (the text
is from the Help files):


If you frequently save Microsoft Office Word 2007 documents as Word 2003-97
(.doc) files, you can change the settings so that Word saves documents in
that file format by default.

- Click the Microsoft Office Button , and then click Word Options.
- Click Save.
- der Save documents, next to Save files in this format, select Word 2003-97
Document (*.doc).

 

[Andrew Murray]

The OP also states he can't find the *.docx file to re-save it, or the
original *.doc file.

 

[The Real Truth MVP]

He said he cannot open the .docx file.

 

[Mick Murphy]

"..Now I have 2 files (a.docx & a .doc)but now I cannot open either file."