I recently loaded WordPerfect X6 onto a PC laptop (Lenovo) to be able to process some old WP & QuatroPro files that I thought had been transferred from older PCs.(They had not so I do not need the WPx6 which is good for up to 3 PCs.)
I failed to notice any option to prevent automatic conversion of Word files to WPx6 so now when I open any, they get converted to WP, almost instantly, and apparently get lost as Word files.
Some large Word Table files have lost some columns of data meaning I’m having to rebuild and update them on another PC (HP) from which I had transferred the MS files a year ago.
I haven’t opened any Excel files yet and do not plan to, on that PC
Have I lost the Word files that were converted incompletely to Word Perfect?
If I reload WPx6 onto the same PC will I be able to check a box to prevent automatic conversions and would that possibly restore the MS docs on the hard drive?
If I delete WPx6 from the PC, will that solve it and would I lose the few/all(?) files that have been converted?
Does the conversion occur only when I open a file or have all of them been converted without having been opened?
What version of Windows do you have? Basically you need to go into the Control Panel, select Folder options, look at File types, look at each extension of interest and change what program is the default to open that extension type back to Word (when you installed WordPerfect it apparently changed these defaults).
I don’t have a copy of WP on my own pc. Theres a copy on my moms. Shes got Word too and the two programs don’t mess with each others Docs. But we had to install WP in Windows XP Mode. A pain in the butt. It does work under Win 7.
It would take some kind of start up program to auto convert Word Docs when they are opened.
First use MSConfig to see if any Corel programs are starting automatically.
Next check your file associations My Computer, Tools, Folder Options, File Types
make sure your word docs are associated with Ms Word (as the default program)
btw, when I installed Word Perfect, I did a custom install and unchecked everything except WP. Theres no need to install anything except WP and Quattro Pro (the spreadsheet program) if you need that.
Theres a ton of Corel crap that gets installed otherwise.
I’ve got WP running on a Win7 PC here at work. It works fine. I didn’t do the install, so I can’t say what’s different, or what was done to make it work. But obviously it can be done. Sorry I don’t have any actual useful information, though.
I suspect that you’re a bit confused about what actually happened.
There’s no way that merely installing Word Perfect would actually convert your Word files. But what is possible, is that it changed the icons which appear when you look at those files in My Documents, or in some other folder.
A little background: Every file name has an extension (usually three letters long) which tells the computer what kind of file it is. On some computers these extensions are hidden, and on others it can be seen. The usual extension for a Word file is “doc” (short for Document), and for a Word Perfect file it is “wpd” (Word Perfect Document). The computer looks at the extension to figure out what kind of file it is, and it uses that information to decide which icon to show, and which program to use when you double-click on it.
I suspect that what happened is that when you installed Word Perfect, a message went out to the computer, saying, “From now on, all files with the ‘doc’ extension are going to be WordPerfect files.” - but it doesn’t actually change the file itself yet. The bad part happens later, when you double-click, and then you end up using WordPerfect to open a Word file, and it gets all confused, because Word files and WordPerfect files have a very different format. It tries the bast it can, but that’s not really good enough, and THAT’s when you lose your tables and other stuff.
Actually, the tables aren’t permanently lost at that point yet. What you could do is to exit out from WordPerfect, WITHOUT saving the file, because saving is what really ruins the file. Instead, open the file with Word. There are two ways to do that: (1) Use the ‘start’ button to open Word, and then use “Open File” to find that file and open it. You’ll see a WordPerfect icon, but don’t let that scare you. or, (2) Instead of double-clicking on the file, RIGHT-click on it, and when you see a list of choices, use “Open with: Word”.
I hope you’ll try those ideas on files that have not yet been saved in the WordPerfect format. The ideal solution is to tell the computer, “No! ‘doc’ files are for Word, not for WordPerfect!” but that is a little more complicated than I have time for right now.
Keeping it simple: nearly every software install will ask if you want to associate certain file types with that program. If you have a file on your desktop called mydaughter or mydaughter.jpg and double click then your photo viewer opens that file for you. It saves you the extra step of opening the photo viewer manually and using open to select the file.
You can always change file associations later. Steps were mentioned earlier to use Folder Options, File Types. But that can be tricky for non technical computer users.
It may be easier for the OP to uninstall Ms Office. Then reinstall Ms Office. The reinstall of Ms Office will take back ownership of the file types it uses. Now if you double click resume or resume.doc Word will open it.
But that also means Word Perfect will only open a .doc file if you use Open and select that file. Having two word processors means that they will conflict over the use of shared file types.
Thats the reason I only install Word Perfect. I never let the entire Corel Office Suite install. You’re going to have Software conflicts between Ms Office and Corel Office Suite. Both of them have programs that start every time the computer is restarted. You don’t want those similar programs conflicting.
Only installing WP (in a custom install) is the safest approach.