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Message when you try to use an earlier version of an Office program to open a file that was saved in a 2007 Office program: "This file was created in a previous beta version"

Article ID:926054
Last Review:October 15, 2007
Revision:5.2
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SYMPTOMS

You have installed the Compatibility Pack for the 2007 Office system. You then try to use one of the following Microsoft Office programs to open a file that was saved in a 2007 Microsoft Office program:
Microsoft Office 2003
Microsoft Office Excel 2003
Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003
Microsoft Office Word 2003
Microsoft Office XP
Microsoft Excel 2002
Microsoft PowerPoint 2002
Microsoft Word 2002
Microsoft Office 2000
Microsoft Excel 2000
Microsoft PowerPoint 2000
Microsoft Word 2000
If the file was saved in a prerelease version of one of the programs that are listed in the "Applies to" section, you may receive one of the following messages.

Message 1
This file was created in a previous beta version of program 2007 and cannot be opened in this version.
Message 2
This file was created in a previous beta version of program 2007. program will convert it to the most recent version of the program 2007 file format when you save the file. Before opening this file, verify that it is from a trusted source.
Message 3
This workbook was created in an earlier beta version of Excel 2007, and it cannot be opened in the current version of Excel. To open the workbook, you must first open and save it in Excel 2007 Beta 2, and then you can open it in the current version of Excel.
Message 4
This workbook was created in an earlier beta version of Excel 2007. Excel will convert the workbook to the most recent version of the Excel 2007 file format when you save it. Before opening this workbook, verify that it is from a trusted source.
Message 5
This is a pre-release version of the Compatibility Pack and can open pre-release Office 2007 files only. Do you want to check for a newer version of the Compatibility Pack?

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CAUSE

By default, some Open XML files that were saved in the prerelease versions of the 2007 Office programs cannot be opened by the Compatibility Pack for the 2007 Office system.

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WORKAROUND

To work around this issue, an administrator can disable a policy by using one of the following methods, as appropriate for the situation.

Notes
These methods will enable you to open an Open XML file that was saved in the Beta 2 version of PowerPoint 2007. In these situations, you will receive message 2 in the "Symptoms" section. Additionally, the file will open.
These methods will enable you to open an Open XML file that was saved in the Beta 2 version of Excel 2007 or in the Beta 2 Technical Refresh version of Excel 2007. In these situations, you will receive message 4 in the "Symptoms" section. Additionally, the file will open.
These methods will not enable you to open an Open XML file that was saved in the Beta 2 version of Word 2007. The only workaround is to open the file in the original release version of Word 2007 and then resave the file. When you do this, the file will be saved in the newest file format. The recipient of the document can then use an earlier version of Word with the Compatibility Pack to open the file.
Note Because there are several versions of Microsoft Windows, the following steps may be different on your computer. If they are, see your product documentation to complete these steps.

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Method 1: Use the Administrative Templates for the Compatibility Pack


Note This method is specific to Excel, PowerPoint, and Word.

To use a template, follow these steps:
1.Exit the Office programs.
2.Click Start, click Run, type gpedit.msc in the Open box, and then click OK.
3.In the Local Computer Policy window in the left-side pane, right-click Administrative Templates under the User Configuration node, and then click Add/Remove Templates.
4.Click Add.
5.Select the Office2007Converters.adm file, and then click Open.
6.Click Close.
7.Expand Administrative Templates under User Configuration in the Local Computer Policy window in the left-side pane.
8.Click Office 2007 Converters.
9.Double-click the Blocks opening of prerelease versions of file formats new to Excel 2007 policy.
10.Click Disabled, and then click OK.
11.Repeat steps 7 to 10 for the PowerPoint 2007 policy.
12.Restart the Office programs.

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Method 2: Manually edit the registry

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:
322756 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322756/) How to back up and restore the registry in Windows


Note This method is specific to Excel, PowerPoint, and Word.

To manually edit the registry, follow these steps:
1.Exit the Office programs.
2.Click Start, click Run, type regedit in the Open box, and then click OK.
3.Select the appropriate registry key:
Excel 2007
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Excel\Security\FileOpenBlock
PowerPoint 2007
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\12.0\PowerPoint\Security\FileOpenBlock
Word 2007
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Word\Security\FileOpenBlock
4.After you select the appropriate key that is specified in step 3, point to New on the Edit menu, and then click DWORD Value.
5.Type one of the following DWORD values for the appropriate program, and then press ENTER:
Excel12BetaFilesFromConverters
PowerPoint12BetaFilesFromConverters
6.Right-click the DWORD value that you typed in step 5, and then click Modify.
7.In the Value data box, type 0, and then click OK.
8.On the File menu, click Exit to exit Registry Editor.
9.Start the Office program, and then open the file.
10.Save the file again in the Office program. After the file has been saved, the file should now open in the earlier Office programs that are listed in the "Symptoms" section.

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MORE INFORMATION

By default, the versions of Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, and Microsoft Word that are listed in the "Symptoms" section do not open the Open XML files that are saved in the prerelease versions of 2007 Office programs.

The following tables summarize the symptoms that you may experience when you open a file that was saved in one of the 2007 Office programs.

Word
2007 Office versionPolicy enabled (default)Policy disabled
Pre-Beta 2 release versionMessage 5Message 5
Beta 2 release versionMessage 5Message 5
Beta 2 Technical Refresh versionNo message. File opens.No message. File opens.
Release (RTM) versionNo message. File opens.No message. File opens.


PowerPoint
2007 Office versionPolicy enabled (default)Policy disabled
Pre-Beta 2 release versionMessage 1Message 1
Beta 2 release versionMessage 1Message 2
Beta 2 Technical Refresh versionNo message. File opens.No message. File opens.
Release (RTM) versionNo message. File opens.No message. File opens.


Excel
2007 Office versionPolicy enabled (default)Policy disabled
Pre-Beta 2 release versionMessage 3Message 3
Beta 2 release versionMessage 3Message 4
Beta 2 Technical Refresh versionMessage 3Message 4
Release (RTM) versionNo message. File opens.No message. File opens.
For more information about why you may be unable to open or to save an Excel workbook, a PowerPoint presentation, or a Word document in the 2007 Office programs, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
922850 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922850/) You receive an error message when you try to open or to save a file in one of the 2007 Office programs or in one of the Office 2003 programs

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REFERENCES

For more information about the Open XML file format and about a message that you receive to download a compatibility pack, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
919026 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/919026/) Error message when you try to open or to save a 2007 Office document: "Do you want to download a compatibility pack so that you can work with this file"

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APPLIES TO
Microsoft Office Excel 2007
Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007
Microsoft Office Word 2007

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Keywords: 
kberrmsg kbopenfile kbconversion kbappcompatibility kbtshoot kbexpertisebeginner kbprb KB926054

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