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On my previous computer (XP Home) I had a lot of Microsoft Works spreadsheet files. A folder containing these files was transferred to my latest computer (Windows 7), but I can't access the files because the computer doesn't have Works. Is there any way of accessing the files with Microsoft Excel 2010 which is installed?
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Excel can open Works files. You may have to select show all files option in Excel's File open dialog box.
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He he he. You have been well and truly done by MS.
They say
"File formats that are not supported in Excel 2010
The following file formats are no longer supported in Excel 2010. You cannot open or save files in these file formats.
Microsoft Works .wks Microsoft Works file format (all versions)
If a file format that you want to use is not supported in Excel, you can try the following:
Search the Web for a company that makes file format converters for file formats that are not supported in Excel."
Seriously though, why don't you ditch MS and try a free alternative such as LibreOffice? It will apparently - I haven't tried it - convert some Works files, whereas OpenOffice won't?
see
user.services.openoffice.org/en/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=46358
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"He he he. You have been well and truly done by MS."
You can say that again...."He he he. You have been well and truly done by MS."
I've recently got a new computer with Windows 7 and have been surprised about the lack of compatibility with XP. I'm slowly working through various workarounds and downloads (but not from MS !...grrrr).
If I knew then, what I know now, I'd have stayed with XP.
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>> I've recently got a new computer with Windows 7 and have been surprised about the lack of compatibility with XP. >>
Depending on which flavour of Win7 you have, you can
1. either get XP free from Microsoft
2. or use you own copy of XP
to run within Win7.
See
www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?v=e&t=9244&m=205696
www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?v=e&t=9244&m=205721
Last edited by: John H on Sun 12 Feb 12 at 12:16
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Assuming you still have access to the old PC and works, you will need to save them as CSV or Excel, and then copy them to the new Computer, where Excel can then open them.
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The files were copied from my old computer onto my new computer (in a folder on its own) as XLR files by the vendor of the new computer. This morning I did a bit of Googling, and came up with this. tinyurl.com/7dubulc Although I couldn't follow the instructions to the letter in the later stages, I made it work. Note the " BY THE WAY: ........." at the end of the instructions.
Last edited by: L'escargot on Sun 12 Feb 12 at 13:48
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Thanks a bunch for not telling us in your OP that you were talking about .xlr files, and sending me on wild goose chase. ;-)
.xlr files are compatible with Excel 2010.
Re. your >>"Note the " BY THE WAY: ........." at the end of the instructions.">> - so it seems you have the Win7 64bit version OS.
* It always helps when a posting question to state the OS (64 bit or not?), the version of the software you were referring to (Works but which year?) and the file extension (.xlr as opposed to .wps)
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>> * It always helps when a posting question to state the OS (64 bit or
>> not?), the version of the software you were referring to (Works but which year?) and
>> the file extension (.xlr as opposed to .wps)
I'll try to remember that in the future. Us septuagenarian computer duffers are not that au fait with these matters.
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I have Works and Office 2010 on my machine.
I have never used Works, but just now I created a tiny Works spreadsheet, and saved it in Works .xlr format.
I then right-clicked the file, chose "open with" and selected Excel 2010. Opened without a problem. It also allowed me to save it in the normal Excel 2010 .xlsx format
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>> I have Works and Office 2010 on my machine.
As far as I can ascertain, Works is either no longer available or out of stock.
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After a week of using Excel 2010 at work to produce charts from big chunks of data it's done my head in so much with its Mickey Mouse interface I've resorted to using my old laptop with Office 2003 on it - this will quickly produce charts from data that 2010 won't even look at for some bizarre reason.
Sorry just had to get that off my chest.....
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>> After a week of using Excel 2010 at work to produce charts from big chunks
>> of data it's done my head ...........
Tell us the problem and I'm sure someone will be able to help.
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Thanks...I solved my immediate problem by doing the number crunching at home in Office 2003 ;-)
Anyway....I had a big spreadsheet with lots of measurement results - around 6000 rows by 25 columns. I then plotted X-Y graphs of different columns, 8 charts with typically 4 curves on each. When I tried to add the 8th chart it wouldn't appear on the worksheet; no error warnings, no pop -ups, no BSOD.
Took the raw data home and used 2003 to plot the charts, it did it all no problems.
I thought one of the selling points of newer versions of Excel was the ability to handle bigger data arrays than 2003, but my scenario was the exact opposite!
After nearly 2 weeks I think I'm almost at the point where I can do stuff in 2010 as fast as 2003, although I haven't had chance to poke about with pivot tables in 2010 yet....
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aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaggggggggggghhhhhhhhhh
More fun today.
Decide to move some worksheets from one spreadsheet to another, open them both, right click on the relevant worksheet tabs , select copy sheets. Computer says no - 'spreadsheets have different number of rows and columns, can't copy' or words to that effect. Never seen that in 2003.
OK so I decide to copy the data rather than the sheets, select data, CTRL C, switch to target sheet, click cell A1, CTRL V. computer says no ' target cell area is different size to source' ...well that's why I only highlighted 1 cell, like I've always done in 97 and 2003.
manually select target area to be exactly the same cell area as source, same error.
give up, decide to keep two spreadsheets, go and get another coffee.
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I hate Excel, I hate spreadsheets!
I use 2003 and that's complicated enough so I'll never upgrade.
I have to keep a record of all the drivers I train from one firm and there are 96 of them.
I have columns for
Name
Name of course
Date course taken
Depot driver is based at
How many hours of training the driver has accrued.
It all worked fine in 2011 then this week I had to add some 2012 training hours Grrrrr.
After almost three hours of trying to work out how to do it, I finally gave up and changed the name of course, date taken and hours accrued against each driver.
That means I don't have a record of the date last years course was taken though.
When I click on a call to delete and replace the data I automatically use the back button and then I get lost.
It was never this hard to drive a lorry!
Pat
Last edited by: pda on Thu 16 Feb 12 at 04:35
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Pat,
If you would like help to solve the problem, start a thread on this and someone will be able to get to the solution.
re. hating Excel and spreadsheets, you are not alone. Inputting and correcting data fields is a common difficulty - as it requires unlearning word processing skills and using a different "mindset" for inputting data.
Have a look at some templates here www.vertex42.com/ExcelTemplates/
They may give you some ideas on how to design one for your own needs.
Last edited by: John H on Thu 16 Feb 12 at 09:45
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"hating Excel and spreadsheets, you are not alone. Inputting and correcting data fields is a common difficulty - as it requires unlearning word processing skills and using a different "mindset" for inputting data."
Agree with that although I have the problem in reverse. After years in front of a spreadsheet I find Word difficult!
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Thanks John and I will have a look at the links but it's a bit like cooking for me.
I do it because I love eating.
A spreadsheet is part of the job I'm doing now but if I can get by with looking in my diaries for previous years training then, it's a bit like having a take away!
Pat
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Weird. I've yet to find anything I ran under XP that I could not get to run under 7. So much so that I uninstalled "XP mode" after a while. That's on the 64-bit version too!
Ok, some of the really picky stuff was nigh-on ruddy rocket science to get working reliably, but it always seems to be possible. Even the "32 bit application in a 16-bit installer package" can be worked around by unpacking the installer (which is basically a self-extracting archive with some scripted knobs on) and doing it yourself......
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'fill down' doesn't seem to work anymore in 2010 either. Sometimes cells I've dragged formulae into display correctly when I actually save the file, sometimes it doesn't work full stop. What an utterly pointless ballache of an 'upgrade'
OK no more moaning I promise.
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I've just discovered an annoying limitation of Excel which, as far as I remember, didn't apply to Works. When plotting a graph (which I do a lot) Excel only allows 255 points. This confirms it. tinyurl.com/24wyeac Just out of curiosity, what's the limit with Works?
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Are you confusing data series with data points? I've just done a scatter plot with over 500 points in Excel 2007. Why would you want more than 255 data series?
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I'm all confused.
This says that the limit for Excel 2007 is 32,000 points. tinyurl.com/39gkf23
This says that the limit for Excel 2010 is dependent on available memory. tinyurl.com/82ubxkl
In practice, with my Excel 2010, I am limited to 255 points. I'm even more convinced now that my Excel 2010 is corrupted and needs reinstalling.
Last edited by: L'escargot on Sat 18 Feb 12 at 10:52
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Are you sure you haven't confused series and points?
Try clicking the "Switch Row/Column" button.
You can demo this to yourself in reverse. Set up 2 columns of random numbers and highlight them. Click to draw a bar chart. It will draw a chart with 2 series, each with 300 points. Now click the "Switch Row/Column" button and it will tell you that "the maximum number of data series per chart is 255".
What do your data look like? What sort of chart are you drawing?
Last edited by: Manatee on Mon 20 Feb 12 at 16:26
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Microsoft Works question - movilogo
