WD6X: Converted WordPerfect 5.x File Becomes Password Protected

• Microsoft Word for Windows, versions 6.0, 6.0a, 6.0c
• Microsoft Word for the Macintosh, versions 6.0, 6.0.1

SYMPTOMS

When you save a document from Word 6.x for Windows or Word 6.x for the Macintosh in WordPerfect 5.x format, the document may in rare instances become corrupt, and you will not be able to reopen the document in Word or WordPerfect.

• If you try to reopen the document in Word, the following error message results:

        File cannot be converted because of password protection
  

• If you try to reopen the document into WordPerfect 5.x or 6.x for DOS or Windows, a dialog box appears indicating the file is password protected, and WordPerfect prompts you to enter a password.

CAUSE

In some instances, Word's WordPerfect converter incorrectly sets the Encryption Key in a WordPerfect document when exporting as WordPerfect 5.x format.

The Encryption Key is composed of 2 bytes: the thirteenth and fourteenth bytes in a WordPerfect file. If a document has not actually been password protected, these bytes should always be set to 0 (zero). In reported cases where a document saved from Word can no longer be opened, the thirteenth byte has been incorrectly set to a value of 78.

RESOLUTION

If you have access to a hexadecimal editor, such as Norton Commander, change the value of the thirteenth byte in affected WordPerfect documents to 0 (zero). Resave the document with a new name, and attempt to open the document in Word or WordPerfect.

If after making this change the document opens successfully, the file was indeed incorrectly exported from Word. If Word and WordPerfect still prompt for a password, the document was at some point opened in WordPerfect and is actually password protected. In such case, you will not be able to open the document into Word (by design), and you will only be able to reopen the document in WordPerfect if you have access to the document password.

STATUS

The only known cause of this problem has been corrected in Word 6.0 for Windows NT, Word 7.0 for Windows 95 and Windows NT, and in the kit release of the WordPerfect 5.x converter for use with Word 6.x for Windows.