[engrByDayPianstByNight (OP)]

Hi,

    I wrote a paper using MSWord 2003 on my office computer, in which I defined some figure, equation, and table labels (from Insert-->Caption-->New Label). I then transferred the word file to a different computer, and opened it to expect these defined labels to be there (Insert-->Cross Reference -->(user-defined labels)). But they are not. As a result, I had to re-define all these labels on the new computer.

    Granted that the second computer has MSWord 2000, I don't think different versions of MS Word is the culprit. Does anybody know what I should do in the computer where I defined these figure/table/equation labels so that when I work on a different computer, these user-defined labels would come along?

     Thanks a lot for your help.

[Chemistry4me]

My friend has MSWord 2007 and there was a file with some Asian characters and when I tried opening them on MSWord 2003 the characters didn't come up. But if I type the characters on MSWord 2003, it can be read in MSWord 2007. So perhaps there is something in different versions being the culprit. Have you tried it the other way around, type it up on MSWord 2000 then move it to 2003?

[engrByDayPianstByNight (OP)]

Chemistry4me, what you're describing sounds to me like backward compatibility (i.e., newer products have all the features older products do, but not vice versa. As a result, you can open a MSWord2003 file on a MSWord 2007 application, but not the other way around).

Your suggestion's good, and I'll give it a try. But I'm not certain it'll work. Anyways, I'm giving it a try. Thanks.

[engrByDayPianstByNight (OP)]

No, it didn't work. MSWord2003 doesn't recognize the labels defined in MSWord2000 either.

[DoctorBeaver]

There are compatibility issues with a number of MS programs. Where I used to work, we had 4 PCs on the network with mine being the only 1 running Vista (the other 3 were XP). I could not open Excel spreadsheets created on the other PCs without converting them. Nor was I able to save them in a format that could be read by the other PCs. It was the same with Access databases. We therefore had to choose between dumping the Vista PC or the XP PCs.

I have a suspicion that this is a deliberate ploy to ensure everyone upgrades to the latest OS and programs, thus ensuring continued revenue. (I know I'm very cynical about MS anyway, but I can't think of another reason why later Office programs shoulbn't be able to directly read older versions of files or save in older formats)

[RD]

I don't know if this will do what you require, but it's from microsoft and it's free ...

Word Viewer

Brief Description
View, print and copy Word documents, even if you don't have Word installed. This download is a replacement for Word Viewer 2003 and all previous Word Viewer versions.

With Word Viewer and the Compatibility Pack, you can view, print, and copy document contents to another program. However, you cannot edit an open document, save a document, or create a new document. This download is a replacement for Word Viewer 2003 and all previous Word Viewer versions.

This download applies to the following Microsoft Office programs:

Microsoft Office Word 2007
Microsoft Office Word 2003
Microsoft Word 2002
Microsoft Word 2000

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=3657ce88-7cfa-457a-9aec-f4f827f20cac&displaylang=en

[engrByDayPianstByNight (OP)]

Thanks for the replies.

I probably didn't explain the problem I have clearly. When I opened my Word file on a different computer, I didn't have any problem viewing the whole document. That is, I could still read the figure/equation/table numbers that were already there in the paper. However, when I was revising the paper and tried to insert new figures/equations/tables and use my user-defined labels, those labels do not exist on the new computer (i.e., when I went to Insert-->Reference-->Caption, they were not there).

I would imagine that if you user-defined some labels in the Word file, it should be treated like a macro that goes along with the file no matter what other computer you open the file on. However, that's not the case with these labels. They are simply not imported into the document when it's open on a different machine.

I appreciate the link to the Word Viewer. However, I suspect it doesn't address my problem.