HOW TO: Auto-Register a Converter in Word 2000 (211681)

SUMMARY

This article discusses how to automatically install (register) a converter in Microsoft Word 2000.

Automatically Install a Converter

To automatically install a converter in Word 2000, follow these steps:

1. Copy the converter file that you want to install to the following location:

   Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Textconv

2. Start Word.
3. On the File menu, click Open.
4. Select a file that Word cannot recognize (for example, a plain text file or a document in the format supported by the converter that you installed).

Word detects and automatically registers the converter.

NOTE: If your initial file of the session is already open in Word, it is not necessary to complete steps 1 and 2. Also, you do not need to select the Confirm Conversion at Open option (located on the General tab of the Options command on the Tools menu) during this process. One of the following behaviors occurs when you open a foreign file in Word 2000:

• If the Confirm Conversion at Open option (on the General tab of the Options command on the Tools menu) is not selected, Word immediately opens your document by using the matching supported and installed converter.
• If the file is a text file, Word immediately opens the file in Text Only format.
• If the file is of some other format not recognized by Word, and the Confirm Conversion at Open option is not selected, the Convert File From dialog box appears anyway, proposing to open the document as Text Only. Click Cancel, and then open only those documents supported by the available converters.
  
  NOTE: If the FileOpen command has been modified in some way, the Convert File From dialog box may be bypassed. The macro intercepts the Convert File From dialog box and then, by default, opens the file as Text Only, resulting in garbage characters. To display the Convert File From dialog box, click the Confirm Conversion at Open option.
• If you select the Confirm Conversion at Open option (or it is already selected), Word prompts you to open the document in the format supported by one of the installed converters, or it prompts you to open the file as Text Only if the file is plain text or if it is another format not recognized by any of the installed converters or internally by Winword.exe.
  
  NOTE: All converters that are made available for use with Word 2000, with the exception of the AmiPro and Enable converters, are included with Word 2000 and Microsoft Office 2000. Use Setup to add and remove converters that are supplied with the product.

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