How to open Microsoft Office 2007-09 documents with earlier Microsoft Office versions

Someone sent you a word document that was created using Microsoft Office 2007-09 but you cannot open the file because you have an earlier Microsoft Office version. This can very very frustrating especially if the document needs to printed or edited right away.

Microsoft Office versions from 2007 to present uses the .docx extension by default, and earlier versions uses .doc extension. Though you have the option to save or open the document as .doc format, earlier versions cannot open .docx format.

But don't worry, here are solutions to your problem.

1. You can download and install the free Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack. This will help you open, print edit, and save .docx files in Office 2000, Office XP, or Office 2003 (much like an advanced Word 2007 File Viewer).

If you are on Mac, you can get the Microsoft Office Open XML File Format Converter for Mac - this converts .docx to rtf (rich text format) files which can be viewed in Office for Mac and other Mac word processors.

It is also possible to open and edit a .docx file in OpenOffice or StarOffice using the free Open XML Translator from SourceForge which converts .docx Word documents to .odf and vice versa.

2. There are also free online tools that you can use. Unlike the Microsoft Compatibility Pack, these docx to doc conversion services do not require copy of Microsoft Office.

Some of these sites are:

Docx2Doc is a web service which offers free conversion of docx documents to doc format.
Zamzar is another service which offers document conversions. The advantage of Zamzar is its capability to convert not only office documents, but also images, music, archives and videos as well.
TDS Converter offers free conversion of docx to doc.

In fact, there are a lot of free online conversion tools available in the net. All you have to do is google your desired keyword for the file you wanted to convert.

How to backup drivers in Windows

There are many situation when you need to backup drivers in your Windows installation. Since you are able to backup your drivers directly from the Windows installation, you can forget to installation media shipped with your hardware. Backup the drivers and feel free to reinstall your system.

DriverMax is one of the many tools you can find, which do the drivers backup in Windows operating system. Moreover DriverMax is able to find updates for your drivers currently installed.

How to backup drivers

So here is a simple tutorial for backup and restore your drivers using the freeware utility DriverMax from Innovative Solutions:

1. Install the DriverMax, run it and click the Driver Operations group.


2. Click Export drivers and the wizard will appear.
3. Select one or all founded drivers:

4. Continue with the Next button.
5. DriverMax will save your drivers to the selected folder or create the ZIP file with all the drivers.

After you reinstall, you can import these drivers using standard Windows procedure or the Import Drivers function in the DriverMax. You can also put these drivers to your Windows installation CD/DVD using tools like nLite or vLite.

You can also use this software to update drivers.

DriverMax is very useful as an updating tool. If you will use its Update function, you will see a web page with the list of updated drivers. These are downloaded from the other DriverMax users. So be careful and note that using this function you can download non-official drivers which can harm you system.



I have found DriverMax very useful. It is free, works perfectly as a backup tool and adds the update functionality. You can use it to view how much space occupied your drivers files in your system. Just export the drivers and check the folder size.

You can download Drivermax here

How to optimize Internet Explorer

Configuration settings in Windows Internet Explorer 7 may cause one or more of the following issues:

* You experience performance problems in Internet Explorer 7.
* You receive an error message in Internet Explorer 7. For example, you receive an "Internet Explorer cannot display the Web page" error message.
* Internet Explorer 7 stops responding.

This article describes how to optimize or reset Internet Explorer 7 in Windows Vista to resolve these issues.

To resolve these issues, use the following methods in the order in which they are presented.

Method 1: Clear cached data in Internet Explorer 7
To determine whether a performance issue or an error message is caused by corruption in the temporary Internet files or in other cached information that is used by Internet Explorer 7, you must clear cached data. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Open Internet Explorer 7.
2. Click Tools, and then click Delete Browsing History.
3. In Delete Browsing History, click Delete All.
4. Click to select the Also delete files and settings stored by add-ons check box, and then click OK.

A progress bar is displayed to indicate that the browsing history is being cleared. After this process is complete, test Internet Explorer to verify that it works correctly. If issues still occur, try Method 2.

Method 2: Reset security settings for Internet Explorer 7
If you configure security settings to be too restrictive, you may prevent Internet Explorer 7 from displaying certain Web sites. To determine whether an issue is caused by overly restrictive security settings, revert to default security settings. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Open Internet Explorer 7.
2. Click Tools, and then click Internet Options.
3. Click the Security tab.
4. Click Reset all zones to default level, and then click OK.

After you do this, test Internet Explorer to verify that it works correctly. If issues still occur, try Method 3.

Note If this method does not resolve the issue, you can restore Internet Explorer 7 to its previous security level.
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Method 3: Run Internet Explorer 7 in "No Add-Ons" mode
Internet Explorer 7 add-ons, such as ActiveX controls and browser toolbars, are used by some Web sites to provide an enhanced browsing experience. An error may occur if an add-on is damaged or if an add-on conflicts with Internet Explorer 7. To determine whether the error is caused by an add-on, run Internet Explorer 7 in "No Add-Ons" mode. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, and then type Internet Explorer in the Start Search box.
2. Click Internet Explorer (No Add-Ons). Internet Explorer 7 opens without add-ons, toolbars, or plug-ins.
3. Test Internet Explorer to verify that it works correctly. If issues still occur, try Method 4.

If no errors occur, the problem is caused by one of the add-ons that typically load together with Internet Explorer 7. In this case, use one of the following options.
Option 1: Reset Internet Explorer 7
Reset Internet Explorer 7 to its default configuration. This step will also disable any add-ons, plug-ins, or toolbars that are installed. Although this solution is quick, it also means that, if you want to use any of those add-ons in the future, they must be reinstalled. To reset Internet Explorer 7 settings, use Method 4.
Option 2: Use the Manage Add-ons tool to determine which add-on is causing the issue
Use the Manage Add-ons tool in Internet Explorer 7 to individually disable each add-on to determine which add-on is causing errors. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Open Internet Explorer 7.
2. Click Tools, point to Manage Add-ons, and then click Enable or Disable Add-ons.
3. In the Show box, select Add-ons that have been used by Internet Explorer to display all add-ons that are installed on the computer.
4. For each item in this list, select the add-on, and then click Disable under Settings.
5. When you have disabled all the items in this list, click OK.
6. Exit and then restart Internet Explorer 7.
7. If issues do not occur, repeat steps 1 through 3.
8. Click Enable for a single add-on.
9. Repeat steps 6 through 8 until you determine which add-on causes errors to occur.

After you have used this process to determine which add-on is causing errors, you can disable that add-on. Or, you can uninstall the software that installs the add-on. We also recommend that you contact the software vendor that provided the add-on for additional troubleshooting and support.

For more information about add-ons in Internet Explorer 7, see the following article in Windows Help:
Internet Explorer add-ons: frequently asked questions (http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/Help/e85a03aa-c7c6-428e-9891-67ea76df9b7e1033.mspx)

Method 4: Reset Internet Explorer 7 settings
To determine whether a performance issue or an error message is caused by configuration settings, reset Internet Explorer 7 to its default configuration. This was its state when Windows Vista was originally installed. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Open Internet Explorer 7.
2. Click Tools, and then click Internet Options.
3. Click the Advanced tab.
4. Under Reset Internet Explorer Settings, click Reset.

Source:
support.microsoft.com