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ChrisDepew · Jul 28, 2008, 05:10 PM

Why won't my files saved on Mac Office 04 not open on PC Office 2003? Is there a plug in that I need? Please let me know. Thanks.

ghporter · Jul 28, 2008, 05:28 PM

Which app are you talking about? Office 2003 (Windows) should be able to open everything from Office 2004 (Mac). I haven't had any problem using a PC to open Word, PowerPoint or Excel documents created on my Macs.

ChrisDepew · Jul 28, 2008, 08:04 PM

Office 2003 (windows) will not open my Office 2004 (Mac) documents. When I tried to open it in my office it told me that it needed to download a translator and I did that and then it just put one line of dots and dashes on the page. Any ideas?

TheoCryst · Jul 28, 2008, 08:15 PM

That's very strange. Are you sure that your document ends with .doc, .xls, or .ppt? A common problem when passing documents between OSs is that while OS X doesn't require the suffix to open a file, Windows does. Beyond that, you've got me stumped.

pcryan5 · Jul 28, 2008, 08:43 PM

Same here - no issues between MAC 2004 / 2008 and Office 2003

ghporter · Jul 28, 2008, 09:18 PM

Originally Posted by TheoCryst

That's very strange. Are you sure that your document ends with .doc, .xls, or .ppt? A common problem when passing documents between OSs is that while OS X doesn't require the suffix to open a file, Windows does. Beyond that, you've got me stumped.

Windows DEMANDS the appropriate extension, or it gets lost. If your Mac-created files don't have the proper, default extension for each app, lots of ugliness can happen. That means you can't use your own extension, or any "dot" in the file name at all.

ChrisDepew · Jul 29, 2008, 07:23 AM

Okay I will check and see if my mac is putting another default extension or putting one at all for that matter. That might be the problem. Thanks. I will let yall know.

ChrisDepew · Jul 29, 2008, 07:26 AM

It appears that my Office 2004 (mac) is saving the files as ._insertfilename.doc. I am not sure why it has the ._ Any ideas. I am not with my mac right now so I guess this will have to wait.

ghporter · Jul 29, 2008, 09:01 AM

That's NOT typical. Those file names should be something like Windows Office's "autosave" files. Are the "insertfilename.doc" files (without the dot-underscore) ANYWHERE on your Mac?

JKT · Jul 29, 2008, 02:10 PM

That is typical, it's just that you don't see them on a Mac - they're the resource forks and are normally invisible.

Chris - you should see two versions of each file if you are e.g. transferring them via a USB stick. The dot underscore versions (i.e. the ._ versions) can be ignored - just open the versions which have the proper name and an icon that isn't faded out which is the real file.

Windows is too stupid to hide those ._ files from you (or, alternatively, Mac OS is stupid for creating them, depending on your POV).

ChrisDepew · Jul 29, 2008, 03:11 PM

hummmm...I didn't even realize there were two different files on there. I guess that is my bad. Thanks for the heads up. If you delete the non working files will it effect the correct file? I am going to try it.

JKT · Aug 1, 2008, 08:57 AM

Sorry for delayed reply - it will have no effect at all. Go ahead and delete them if you wish, but be aware that the Mac will recreate them whenever you modify the files on your Mac again.

TheoCryst · Aug 2, 2008, 01:37 PM

Normally on Mac OS X (and any other *NIX, for that matter), any file that starts with a . is hidden to the user. Windows, on the other hand, doesn't hide files that start with a dot. If I had to guess what's happening, you've been saving to a flash drive or something on your Mac, and then trying to open the file in Windows. Just keep in mind that any time you see a file that starts with a dot in Windows, you can safely ignore it.