WD: Cannot Edit Equations and Graphs in Earlier Versions of Word

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This article was previously published under Q115150

SYMPTOMS

If you have a Word document that contains a graph or equation and you try to edit that object, you may receive one of the following error messages:

Word cannot edit the MSGraph.Chart.8

-or-

Word cannot edit the MSGraph.Chart.5

-or-

Word cannot edit the Equation.3

-or-

Word cannot edit the Equation.2

-or-

Word cannot edit the object

-or-

Word cannot edit the unknown

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Equation and graph objects that are created with later versions of Microsoft Word (for example, Microsoft Word 97 for Windows or Microsoft Word 2000) cannot be edited in an earlier version of Microsoft Word.

This problem may occur when either of the following conditions is true:

The equation or graph was created in an earlier version of Word on a computer that has both the earlier version and a later version of Word installed.

-or-
The document that contains the object or graph is opened on another computer that has only the earlier version of Word.

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WORKAROUND

There is no workaround for this situation. The equations and graphs must be edited in the program that was used to create them.

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MORE INFORMATION

The following table describes which version of Microsoft Graph and Microsoft Equation Editor was installed by each Word version.

   Microsoft          Microsoft           Microsoft
   Word               Graph               Equation Editor
   ---------------------------------------------------------

   6.0                3.0                 2.0

   95 (7.0)           5.0                 2.1

   97 (8.0)           97                  3.0

   2000               2000 (9.0.2720)     3.01

When you install a newer version of Microsoft Word, Setup replaces the current versions of the Microsoft Equation Editor and Microsoft Graph with the newer versions.

If you have both an earlier version of Microsoft Word and a later version on the same computer, equations and graphs that you create in the earlier version are automatically created with the newer versions of Equation Editor and Microsoft Graph. When you try to work on these on a computer that has only the earlier version of Word, the equations and graphs cannot be edited.

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Examples:

Computer 1 has both Word 7.0 and Word 97 installed. Therefore, it uses the newest version of the Equation Editor and Microsoft Graph available: Equation Editor 3.0 and Microsoft Graph 97. A document created on this computer in Microsoft Word 7.0 contains Equation Editor 3.0 and Microsoft Graph 97 objects, even though these programs were installed by Word 97.
Computer 2 has only Microsoft Word 7.0 installed. Therefore, it has Equation Editor 2.0 and Microsoft Graph 5.0 available. If you take the document created in Microsoft Word 7.0 on computer 1 and open it in Microsoft Word 7.0 on computer 2, you receive the error messages described in this article when you double-click an equation or graph object to edit it.

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APPLIES TO

Microsoft Word 6.0 Standard Edition
Microsoft Word 6.0a
Microsoft Word 6.0c
Microsoft Word 95 Standard Edition
Microsoft Word 95a

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kbenv kbfield kbprb KB115150

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Retired KB Content Disclaimer

This article was written about products for which Microsoft no longer offers support. Therefore, this article is offered "as is" and will no longer be updated.

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