Opening files that won't!
 

I have received a couple of files that will not open. I am stuck because I know there is a method in XP and I cannot find it. Can anyone point in that direction please.

Are you unable to open them because you don't have the software (e.g someone sent you a Photoshop file, but you don't have Photoshop), or are you unable to open them because Windows thinks the file is corrupt ?

If the former, then what is the file suffix ? If the latter, then perhaps get a fresh copy sent, or make sure your anti-virus has not blocked it.

As a side note, I don't think the feature exists on desktops, but on servers, you often need to right click on the item, go to properties and hit "unblock". But as I said, this is generally on servers that have a more locked down OS.

What sort of files are they, it would help to know what the extension was...

I hope PPP is sorted - spoke today and they were the 'usual' docx and xlsx and he will be downloading the plug-in.

Or get the people sending docX files to change their defaults to .doc. You gotta love MS office uprades

It's a 5-year-old format that follows ISO 29500. Yes, let's all go back to .doc

Alternatively, you could just delete the X after doc. Usually, this will allow you to open the document. This works for most applications, e.g. Excel, PowerPoint, Word etc. Provided, of course, as has already been mentioned, you have the necessary master application (e.g. Photoshop).

Surreal...