When you attempt to open a WordPerfect file in Microsoft Word, and the file has an extension other than "doc" or "wpd," Word may unexpectedly open the file in text-only format.

NOTE: When the file is opened as text, the document may contain strange or incorrect (garbage) characters or otherwise be displayed incorrectly.

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When the WordPerfect file that you are opening has an extension other than .doc or .wpd, Word may not recognize the file as a WordPerfect document and may, therefore, use the wrong file converter to open the file.

When Word cannot determine which file converter to use, it uses the Text Only converter.

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To resolve this issue, use one of the following methods as appropriate to your situation.

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Method 1: Specify Which File Converter to Use When You Open a File

To specify which file converter to use when Word opens a WordPerfect file, follow these steps:

1.	Start Word and open a new, blank document. Do not try to open your WordPerfect file.
2.	On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the General tab.
3.	On the General tab, click to select the Confirm conversion at Open check box, and then click OK.
4.	On the File menu, click Open.
5.	Select the WordPerfect document that you want to open, and then click Open.
6.	In the Convert File dialog box, click WordPerfect 6.x, and then click OK.

Word now opens your WordPerfect document correctly using the WordPerfect 6.x converter.

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Method 2: Set Word to Open a WordPerfect File with a Different Extension

Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
To set Word to open a WordPerfect file with a different extension, follow these steps:

1.	Quit Word and all other Microsoft Windows programs.
2.	Click Start, and then click Run.
3.	In the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK.
4.	In the Registry Editor, open the following Import registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Shared Tools\Text Converters\Import
5.	In the left pane, click WordPerfect6x. In the right pane, click Extensions.
6.	On the Edit menu, click Modify.
7.	In the Value Data box, you may see some extensions similar to the following: doc wpd Add your specific extension to this list. For example, if you have saved files in WordPerfect with a "wp7" extension, add the wp7 extension to the Value Data box. The contents of the Value Data box should now resemble the following: doc wpd wp7 NOTE: You can add all the different extensions that you use for saving your WordPerfect files to this list.
8.	Repeat step 7 for each extension that you want to add, and then click OK.
9.	On the Registry menu, click Exit.

After you restart Word, it uses the WordPerfect 6.x file converter to open your WordPerfect files with the different extensions.

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Starting with WordPerfect version 6.x, the default file extension when you save files from WordPerfect is "wpd." Word automatically recognizes and opens files created in WordPerfect 6.x and later that have the .wpd file extension.

The following is the default file location for Word file converters:

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For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: The third-party products that are discussed in this article are manufactured by companies that are independent of Microsoft. Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding the performance or reliability of these products.

For information about how to contact the companies mentioned in this article, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

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