Description of the Microsoft Word Viewer 97-2000 (165908)

SUMMARY

Microsoft Word Viewer 97-2000 is a download that lets users who do not own Microsoft Word view and print documents that were created in Word. Word 97-2000 Viewer can open documents that were created with all earlier versions of Word for Windows and with version 4.x and later versions of Microsoft Word for Macintosh.

Before December 15, 2004, there were two versions of Microsoft Word Viewer 97-2000 available for download: a 16-bit Windows version and a 32-bit Windows version. Both of these downloads are replaced by a newer version of the Microsoft Word Viewer. For additional information about how to obtain the latest version of Microsoft Word Viewer, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

891090 How to obtain the latest Microsoft Word Viewer

MORE INFORMATION

Features of Microsoft Word Viewer 97-2000

Microsoft Word Viewer 97-2000 is optimized for displaying Word documents in Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.x and later versions. Word Viewer 97-2000 includes the following features:

Online layout view for easy reading of online documents, including those with background colors and textures.
Document Map for point-and-click navigation through longer documents.
Hyperlink navigation to open any hyperlink in a document by using your default browser.
You cannot run macros in any version of Word Viewer. This means that you cannot receive a Word macro virus by reading a document with Word Viewer.
You cannot edit an open document in Word Viewer. However, you can copy text to the Clipboard to paste it to other applications. Microsoft encourages you to distribute Word Viewer together with your Word documents to people who do not have Microsoft Word.

Note You can use Microsoft Word Viewer 97-2000 to view documents that were created in Microsoft Word 97, in Microsoft Word 2000, in Microsoft Word 2002, and in Microsoft Office Word 2003. However, advanced features that are available in Word 2000, in Word 2002, and in Word 2003 may not appear correctly in Word Viewer 97-2000. Some examples include nested tables, text wrapping around tables, Web frame pages, and advanced Web formatting.

Troubleshooting

If you installed Microsoft Word Viewer and are observing unusual behavior, reinstall it by using the appropriate method for your operating system.

Windows 95 or Windows NT 4.0 or a later version:

Click Start, point to Control Panel, and then double-click Add/Remove Programs.
Click the Install/Uninstall tab.
Double-click Microsoft Word Viewer, and then follow the directions that appear.

Windows 3.1 or Windows NT 3.51:

Go to directory where Word Viewer is installed.
Run the Setup.exe file.

Setup always displays a dialog box with a Reinstall button to restore any missing files or settings. Click this button to start the reinstallation.

Uninstalling Word Viewer

To remove Word Viewer from your system, start Word Viewer Setup as described earlier in this article, and then click Remove All. After the uninstall is complete, start Word to restore its settings.