[Fatebringer]

Hello,

I just recently did a full reboot of my computer, and had to reinstall Microsoft office as a result. I was wondering, because I had it like this before, how do you tell it NOT to read Rich Text documents as Word documents?

I forget how I got it to do it right last time, and could really used some help.

Thanks.

[Surreal2]

Do you mean the rich text doc is converted to Word format when you open it; or that you don't want Word to be the program in which the rich text doc opens when you click on the document icon?

(If the latter, you change the default viewer by opening Windows Explorer, navigating to View/Folder Options/File Types, finding the rich text doc entry in the list and removing or changing the associated program).

[Fatebringer]

It was the latter, and thanks a ton for the help.

Problem solved.

[Surreal2]

You're welcome. If you consider the problem has been sorted, please mark the thread 'solved' using the thread tools at the top.

[sarainelkins]

Surreal2: Why would I NOT want word to be my default program for .rtf files? I'm not at all familiar with how .rtf files are used. For my own work I type in Word Perfect (just because I understand it completely), save the document as an .rtf file and then my client opens the rtf in Word and ALL the specifications are there neat as a pin. Is there any reason NOT to be doing it this way? Thanks. SARA

[Jack1000]

Originally Posted by sarainelkins

Surreal2: Why would I NOT want word to be my default program for .rtf files? I'm not at all familiar with how .rtf files are used. For my own work I type in Word Perfect (just because I understand it completely), save the document as an .rtf file and then my client opens the rtf in Word and ALL the specifications are there neat as a pin. Is there any reason NOT to be doing it this way? Thanks. SARA

Let me shed some light on this topic with some answers and questions of my own about RTF (Rich Text Formats.) I also use Word 2003 (but have worked with all versions except 2007) and WordPerfect 12. (Trained originally in WordPerfect 8, but most of the menus and functions are similar for this discussion.)

My understanding is that RTF is helpful for text documents that you want to be read by other Word Processor programs, not just Word. If you have WordPerfect, Open Office, Star Office, or even Word, you can save in Rich Text Formats. The documents will take up less storage and can be read a lot of times without MS Word's little specialty formatting features getting in the way. MS Word sizes for the same documents appear to have doubled from the work that I was doing in Word 97 to when I got a Word 2003 upgrade disk. In Word 97 format, a 34KB letter can go up to 55KB in Word 2003. Now, that is saving in Word 2003 doc. format.

Rich Text Format reduces file size down to almost 50% of what you would get in Word 2003. In fact, saving in RTF Format for Word, (any version) brings the size of the file down to about what you get when you save a WordPerfect document with the default wpd. extension.

But here is the little problem. If you have things like graphics, charts, or complex formats, Word sometimes will have trouble reading those types of documents in RTF format. Sometimes graphics will not show up at all in RTF files because the files are text based. If you keep everything text-based, Word, WordPerfect, Open Office, Google Docs, should be able to read RTF files fine. RTF eliminates (or tries to) a lot of Word's proprietary format features that drive people up the wall. You know, M$ way of auto formatting things that come out looking like crap most of the time, when WordPerfect and Open Office let you be more in control about how you want documents to look.

So I will just reopen this question. If you are working with conventional text based documents, could you save them as such in Word (as RTF files) and correspond school and work papers and reports using RTF as a main save option? Are their any reasons, stated by the user above why you would need to save in doc format, rather than RTF? I like saving Word files better in RTF format when I can, rather than DOC format. The reasons are smaller file size and better formatting control if a user does not have Word, but a different word processing program on their computer.

Jack

[ngershman]

Originally Posted by Jack1000

Let me shed some light on this topic with some answers and questions of my own about RTF (Rich Text Formats.) I also use Word 2003 (but have worked with all versions except 2007) and WordPerfect 12. (Trained originally in WordPerfect 8, but most of the menus and functions are similar for this discussion.)

My understanding is that RTF is helpful for text documents that you want to be read by other Word Processor programs, not just Word. If you have WordPerfect, Open Office, Star Office, or even Word, you can save in Rich Text Formats. The documents will take up less storage and can be read a lot of times without MS Word's little specialty formatting features getting in the way. MS Word sizes for the same documents appear to have doubled from the work that I was doing in Word 97 to when I got a Word 2003 upgrade disk. In Word 97 format, a 34KB letter can go up to 55KB in Word 2003. Now, that is saving in Word 2003 doc. format.

Rich Text Format reduces file size down to almost 50% of what you would get in Word 2003. In fact, saving in RTF Format for Word, (any version) brings the size of the file down to about what you get when you save a WordPerfect document with the default wpd. extension.

But here is the little problem. If you have things like graphics, charts, or complex formats, Word sometimes will have trouble reading those types of documents in RTF format. Sometimes graphics will not show up at all in RTF files because the files are text based. If you keep everything text-based, Word, WordPerfect, Open Office, Google Docs, should be able to read RTF files fine. RTF eliminates (or tries to) a lot of Word's proprietary format features that drive people up the wall. You know, M$ way of auto formatting things that come out looking like crap most of the time, when WordPerfect and Open Office let you be more in control about how you want documents to look.

So I will just reopen this question. If you are working with conventional text based documents, could you save them as such in Word (as RTF files) and correspond school and work papers and reports using RTF as a main save option? Are their any reasons, stated by the user above why you would need to save in doc format, rather than RTF? I like saving Word files better in RTF format when I can, rather than DOC format. The reasons are smaller file size and better formatting control if a user does not have Word, but a different word processing program on their computer.

Jack

Jack, I just saved several .rtf files to my PC / Word 2007. Suddenly, I can't bring up these files or any other word doc period! The screen is blank and I am absolutely in a panic. I notice that below the blank screen it says "downloading such and such" which I never seemed to notice before, and that it never completely downloads. What can I do?

- Nancy Gershman, 773-255-4677

[Jack1000]

Originally Posted by ngershman

Jack, I just saved several .rtf files to my PC / Word 2007. Suddenly, I can't bring up these files or any other word doc period! The screen is blank and I am absolutely in a panic. I notice that below the blank screen it says "downloading such and such" which I never seemed to notice before, and that it never completely downloads. What can I do?

- Nancy Gershman, 773-255-4677

Nancy,

When you said you saved the RTF Files to your computer, how did you get them? Where did they come from? Was this a transfer from one hard drive to the next? A CD Rom or DVD Rom to the hard drive, from one computer to another, or an e-mail transfer of files?

What is your OS? (Vista? XP? or a different version.) Do you keep up with Windows Updates and are you running Anti-Virus and malware removal protection programs on a regular basis? We need to know more about the origins of those files.

It sounds like you may have a computer virus. At the very least, you should update your Anti-Virus program with the latest definitions and run a complete scan of your system.

I do not have Word 2007 and would need a more accurate description of the issue. This sounds more like a security issue than just a simple RTF issue.

You should post as much information as this pertains to your problem in the security forum and a qualified malware removal specialist can provide further recommendations.

Mods or Admins may want to consider removing the "Solved" from this thread, as it may aid in this discussion.

Jack