WD97: Comments Lost When Word 2.x File Converted to Word 97

ID: Q177519

The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Word 97 for Windows

SYMPTOMS

When you open a Microsoft Word 2.x document in Microsoft Word 97, file property comments for the document are lost.


RESOLUTION

To correct this problem, obtain Microsoft Word 97 Service Release 2 (SR-2).

To temporarily work around this problem, use one of the following methods.

Method 1: Open the document in Word 7.x

If you have access to both Word 7.x and Word 97, follow these steps:

  1. In Word 7.x, open the Word 2.x document.


  2. Save the document as a Word 7.x document.


  3. Open the Word 7.x document in Word 97.


Method 2: Save from Word 2.x as Rich Text Format (RTF)

  1. In Word 2.x, save the document in Rich Text Format (RTF). To do this, follow these steps:


    1. On the File menu, click Save As.


    2. Change the Save File As Type to Rich Text Format (RTF)


    3. Save the document.


  2. In Word 97, open the RTF file.


The file property comments will be retained.

NOTE: To ease the transition of documents from one format to another, you can use the batch conversion macros that ship with Microsoft Word.

For more information about the batch conversion macros, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Q107439 Word for Windows Batch Conversion Macro


STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. This problem was corrected in Microsoft Office 97 Service Release 2 (SR-2).

For additional information about SR-2, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q151261 OFF97: How to Obtain and Install MS Office 97 SR-2


MORE INFORMATION

File property comments is a feature that allows you to store comments about the document along with the document. You can then search on the text of these comments at a later date using the search feature in Word.

In Microsoft Word 2.x and 6.x, file property comments are added by clicking the File menu, clicking Summary Info, and entering information into the Comments box.

In Microsoft Word 7.x and later, file property comments are added by clicking Properties on the File menu, and entering information into the Comments box.

For additional information, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q177859 WD: Macintosh Word 6.x Comments Missing in File Properties

Q166868 WD97: Properties (Summary Info) Comments in Wrong Format/Missing

Additional query words: file summary info properties

Keywords : kbdta word97
Version : WINDOWS:97
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbbug


Last Reviewed: October 25, 1999
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