"The file is not in a recognizable format"

[jmt356]

Why is it that I sometimes get the message "The file is not in a recognizable format" when opening Excel 2007 spreadsheets on Excel 2003? When I click "finish" in the File export wizard, I get a spreadsheet filled with undecipherable characters.

[HansV]

I don't understand why you use the "File export wizard" to open workbooks.

I assume that you have installed the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint File Formats, otherwise you won't be able to open Excel 2007 workbooks in Excel 2003 at all.

The extension of the Excel 2007 workbooks hasn't been changed manually to .xls by any chance?

[jmt356]

Sorry, I didn't mean the "File Export Wizard", but rather, teh file "Text Import Wizard." The file I am trying to open is an XLSX file. When I try to open it in Excel 2003, I get the attached message. I go for the third option: "If you still want to see what text is contained in the file, click OK. Then click Finish in the Text Import Wizard." So after I click OK, I get the Text Import Wizard (see attached), and when I get to Finish, I get gibberish.

I don't recall having installed the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint File Formats. If that's really necessary, why can I open Word 2007 documents in Word 2003 without a problem? In any case, I assume that will fix my Excel problem?

[HansV]

Apparently you do have the compatibility pack, but it's not working for Excel. I'd uninstall it from the Programs control panel, then reinstall it - if you don't have the download any more, you can get it from the link in my previous reply.

[jmt356]

Hans, the website you referenced points me to a file called FileFormatConverters.exe, which is 37.0MB. But in my Add or Remove programs window, my file is called Compatibility Pack for the 2007 Office system, at 62.7 MB. Are you sure the former correctly replaces the latter?

[HansV]

FileFormatConverters.exe is the installation package, containing zipped files plus an installer. The installer extracts the zipped files, causing the larger size reported by the Add or Remove Programs control panel. (Besides, Add or Remove Programs is notoriously inaccurate)

[jmt356]

I uninstalled Compatibility Pack for the 2007 Office system and downloaded and installed FileFormatConverters.exe as suggested, but the 2007 spreadsheet is still displaying gibberish. And Word 2003 can't display Word 2007 documents either.

[HansV]

Did you get any error messages during the installation process?

[jmt356]

No.

[HansV]

Perhaps something in Excel 2003 is interfering. You could try Jan Karel Pieterse's Startup Problems.

[Goshute]

This is a very "left field" possibility (pardon the Americanism) but I went through a thankfully brief period where I had unthinkingly backloaded an Excel 2007 formatted Personal.xls into my Excel 2003 installation Startup folder - the gibberish file and warning I was getting occurred whenever I started Excel up, and since I often do that by choosing the File from Explorer, I did not initially realize the problem was not with the file I was choosing to open, it was with other files Excel was also trying to open. Could you have placed a 2007 formatted file into your Excel 2003 add-in or startup locations?

[jmt356]

I think I might just uninstall both Office 2003 and Office 2007 and reinstall only 2003. If I do that, Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack has to be reinstalled, no? It doesn't install automatically with 2003, right?

[HansV]

You do have to reinstall the compatibility pack too. It's not part of Office 2003, but an additional download.

[jmt356]

How can I check if I have the compatibility pack installed?

[HansV]

In the Add or Remove Programs (Windows XP) or Programs and Features (Windows 7) control panel.

[jmt356]

"Compatibility Pack for the 2007 Office system" is available. I have version 12.0.6514.5001.

Yet when I open a file with a .xlsx extension, it's gibberish. Should I repair the installation? Could it be that the file is in Excel 2010 format, but my Compatibility Pack only works for 2007 files being read on Excel 2003?

When I open up the gibberish document and select Save As ..., the default type is Text (Tab delimited), though a variety of other formats such as XML Spreadsheet and Microsoft Office Excel Workbook, are available. The fact that Text (Tab delimited) is the default format may say something about the file's format.

[HansV]

Excel 2007 and 2010 share the same file formats. I'd uninstall then reinstall the compatibility pack.

[stuck]

It's not that the problem .xlsx files are encrypted in some way is it?

My question is prompted by reading this thread on the XP board

Ken

[PJ_in_FL]

I had a similar problem that was apparently caused by having two computers on my desk with two different Office versions, 2003 and 2007, and exchanging files between them. I did solve one case of the "...not in a recognizable format" error by renaming the .xlsx file to a .xls extension. Then Excel could open the file.

YMMV

Just checked again and in this case the "unrecognizible file" was recovered by renaming .xls to .xlsm and opening with Excel 2007. Again YMMV.

[jmt356]

The files remain unrecognizable by Excel 2003 even after uninstalling and reinstalling the Compatibility Pack.

How could I change the extension from XLSX to XLS? When I right click and choose Rename, I only get the option to change the file name, not the extension. And if I add “.XLS” to the end, it only adds that to the file name.

I’m thinking of downloading the Office 2010 trial and leaving it on my computer even after the 60 day trial expires. This way, every time I get an Excel 2007 or 2010 file, I can open it in Excel 2010 and convert it manually to Office 2003. But last time I had two versions of Office on my system (Office 2003 and Office 2007), my computer kept on getting confused and I repeatedly received installation prompts from Outlook. Although StuartR informed that these problems can be reduced if the later version of Office is installed later, he never says that the problems fully cease even if the later version of Office is installed later. So installing Office 2010 is a solution I am hesitant to implement.