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"

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 1Message 2Message 3Message 4Message 5

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.

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.



To have us work around this problem for you by using method 2, go to the "Fix it for me" section. If you prefer to fix this problem yourself, go to the "Let me fix it myself" section.

Fix it for me

To fix this problem automatically, click the Fix it button or link. Then click Run in the File Download dialog box, and follow the steps in the Fix it wizard.



Notes

• This wizard may be in English only. However, the automatic fix also works for other language versions of Windows.
• If you are not on the computer that has the problem, save the Fix it solution to a flash drive or a CD and then run it on the computer that has the problem.

Then, go to the "Did this fix the problem?" section.

Let me fix it myself

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.

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:

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
   • Word12BetaFilesFromConverters
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.

Did this fix the problem?

• Check whether the problem is fixed. If the problem is fixed, you are finished with this section. If the problem is not fixed, you can contact support.
• We would appreciate your feedback. To provide feedback or to report any issues with this solution, please leave a comment on the "Fix it for me" blog or send us an email message.

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

PowerPoint

Excel 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:

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: