[TriLUG] Old Mac files: any ideas how to open them?

[Glenn Hennessee]

Mac Plus (introduced 1986, discontinued 1990) and 1991: it probably is a 
MacWrite or MacWrite II document. Word certainly existed then and had a 
~50% market share. Try this (from 
http://emperor.tidbits.com/webx?14@733.RawlbmAqnOu@.3c71323e/28):

Re: Opening old MacWrite files

To open old WriteNow files (mine are from 85-86): I discovered that MS 
Word for Mac (10.1.4) will do it. Drop the WriteNow file on the Word 
icon in the Dock, a "Convert File" dialog appears, scroll to "Recover 
Text from Any File". The file will have some garbage with the text - but 
it is not difficult to clean up.

Using the Open.. command on the file menu doesn't work, the WriteNow 
document icons remain dimmed. I don't have any of my old MacWrite files 
left to try.

May be the only time MS was ever useful for me.

Jack Corliss

and

Re: Opening old MacWrite files

I open MacWrite files with Word 5.1. They open fine, except you have to 
use the Open dialogue. You can't drag them onto the icon. I then save 
them as Word 5.1 files and open in Word 2004.

Since the MacIntel machines will not run OS 9, I was planning to do a 
final conversion of my thousands of MacWrite files through some 
automated process, with Quickeys, Applescript, HyperCard, Revolution or 
something else.

There must be lots of people in this position. Does anyone know of a 
posted script or other solution for this?

Bruce


Try dropping the files on the Word icon in the dock. This may work no 
matter what the document format since it seems word for mac knows how to 
deal with a lot of old format files but just not as a File, Open operation.
glenn


Andrew Perrin wrote:
> Greetings, folks.
> 
> My wife has a folder of old (circa 1991) files created on her Macintosh 
> Plus during medical school. Neither of us can remember what word 
> processor she used to write these.
> 
> They now reside in a folder on her computer, and we would like to be 
> able to open them. However, just opening them in emacs, Word, etc., 
> produces gibberish. I get the following output from file:
> 
> aperrin at joehill:/mnt/elianasdocs/OLDMAC$ file 3RDLAB~1
> 3RDLAB~1: TTComp archive data
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Does this ring a bell to anyone? Any ideas where to go with it?
> 
> Thanks.
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> Andrew J Perrin - andrew_perrin (at) unc.edu - http://perrin.socsci.unc.edu
> Assistant Professor of Sociology; Book Review Editor, _Social Forces_
> University of North Carolina - CB#3210, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3210 USA
> New Book: http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/hfs.cgi/00/178592.ctl
> 
> 


-- 
Glenn Hennessee
Department of Chemistry
NC State University
Raleigh, NC 27606
Voice: (919) 515-2947 FAX: (919) 515-8909
Email: Glenn_Hennessee at ncsu.edu