WD97: Properties (Summary Info) Comments in Wrong Format/Missing

• Microsoft Word 97 for Windows
• Microsoft Word for Windows 95, versions 7.0, 7.0a
• Microsoft Word for Windows, versions 6.0, 6.0a, 6.0c

SYMPTOMS

When you open a Word 97 document in an earlier version of Word, the information from the Comments box in the Properties dialog box (on the File menu, click Properties) may be incorrectly formatted or may be missing.

NOTE: In Word 6.x the Comments box is in the Summary Info dialog box (on the File menu, click Summary Info).

Case 1:

When you save the file in "Word 6.0/95 (*.doc)" or "Rich Text Format (*.rtf)" format and then open it in Word 6.x or 7.x, multiple paragraphs in the Comments box are combined into a single paragraph.

Case 2:

The text from the Comments box is lost when you use the Word 97 import converter to open the document.

For more information about the Word 97 import converter, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q162214
   TITLE     : WD: How to Obtain the Word 97 Converter

CAUSE

Case 1

The Microsoft Word 6.0/95 and the Rich Text Format (RTF) file converter of Microsoft Word 97 cannot read linefeeds in the RTF format for the document property.

Case 2

The Word 97 Converter is not identifying the Comments field for conversion to earlier versions.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. We are researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.

MORE INFORMATION

In Word 97, the document information is called Properties. On the file menu, click Properties. In Word 6.0 and 7.0, the document information is called Summary Info. On the File menu, click Summary Info.

REFERENCES

For more information on what formatting is retained when you save in other formats, please see the following resources:

Word Help

Click the Office Assistant, type "Save as Word 7.0," click Search, and then click to view "Results of saving Word 97 documents in other formats."

NOTE: If the Assistant is hidden, click the Office Assistant button on the Standard toolbar. If Word Help is not installed on your computer, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q120802
   TITLE     : Office: How to Add/Remove a Single Office
               Program or Component

Office Resource Kit

Chapter 15 of the "Office Resource Kit" also contains information about formatting that is retained through the conversion process. The ORK is available on the Microsoft Web site at:

   http://www.microsoft.com/office/ork/

Keywords          : word97 kbinterop kbusage
Version           : 6.0 6.0a 6.0c 7.0 7.0a 97
Platform          : WINDOWS
Issue type        : kbprb