Question

How can I convert a wks spreadsheet file to open in ms office / open office i can find text convertors but not for this!

Asked by: auraorange

This question i have already posted......but read below please

**************************
I have a client with a windows 95 computer and works Version 4 installed

They have a spreadsheet on the desktop will a whole years sales data on it,  usually by double-clicking it will open in spreadsheet using works 4.

However, when it is double clicked the computer starts to load works 4 then asks;

do you want to open this document using
1) wordprocessor
2) spreadsheet
3) database

so they select spreadsheet

then it says which format do you want to open using;

1) DOS
2) Windows

they select Windows format

the file then loads but presents loads of rubbish ..... computer type language..

now the only thing I can think is, was there a power failure while this file was open or a system crash.  Or has the file extension changed.

Finally,  can you install Office 97 on a win 95 pc or could I transfer this file to my up to date pc and try opening it eg using win 2000 or xp?

my knowledge doesnt really take me back this far so can anyone help me please?

thanks

Mat
*******************************

I probably have come to the conclusion that the file is corrupt BUT

I have come across TEXT convertors on MS website etc and seen more evidence opf ths on google, however, I need to try and locate the convertor to this WKS spreadsheet file to a readable format on open office or MS office.  Someone has told me he was has in the past had a few works / MS spreadsheets corrupt on him in the past but was able to open it using star/open office

cheers

Mat

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Asked On
2004-11-08 at 08:40:20ID21198656
Tags

wks

,

convert

,

open

,

file

Topic

Miscellaneous Software

Participating Experts
4
Points
500
Comments
6

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Answers

 

by: byundtPosted on 2004-11-08 at 10:06:20ID: 12525624

Hi auraorange,
The wks file format is for Lotus123. Microsoft Excel should be able to import it using File...Open menu item. I suggest transferring the file to a machine that has Office on it, then opening it and saving as an Excel file format.

Cheers!

Brad

 

by: byundtPosted on 2004-11-08 at 10:23:08ID: 12525798

Mat,
StarOffice used to be a free download, but now appears to be commercial software ($79.95 at www.StarOffice.com ). It does have a reputation for being able to open files that Microsoft Office cannot--but the Open and Repair tool in Excel XP and Excel 2003 has been able to meet my needs in that respect. If your file is corrupt because you have lost one or more file segments (lost clusters), then you'll need to resort to disk repair tools (like Norton DiskDoctor)--or else locate an older copy of the file that hasn't been damaged.
Brad

 

by: DouglasfurPosted on 2004-11-08 at 10:39:30ID: 12525967

Hi  auraorange,

Yes, you can definitely install Office 97 on a Windows 95 box. As to transferring it to a 2000 or XP machine, you can do that too. They would need some form of MS Office on them. Excel would be my choice for opening your spread sheet. It seems to be able to deal with most spreadsheets quite well.

df

 

by: WileECoyote45305Posted on 2004-11-08 at 13:11:27ID: 12527509

Can it be opened as Database? If so, then save it to CSV (option may be called "Text and Commas"). You should then be able to open the file in Excel, and possibly even in the Spreadsheet part of Works.

Note: You can choose to save the file in DBF format out of Works Database (instead of CSV) but it will truncate field names to 10 characters, so you would need to be sure that the 1st 10 characters of each field name are unique. Then of course in Excel you would change the Open type to DBF.

 

by: WileECoyote45305Posted on 2004-11-08 at 13:13:46ID: 12527539

I mean, when presented with the option to open it with Word Processor, Spreadsheet, or Database, will it open with Database?

 

by: moorhouselondonPosted on 2004-11-08 at 13:23:25ID: 12527635

byundt:

www.openoffice.org is still available for Free.  Except if you are running Linux.

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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