Office 13 and Office XP file transfer

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I just got a new computer with Windows 8.1 and Office Student & Home 13. I have been running Windows XP and Office XP. When opening the XP files I get that they are running in Compatibility Mode. I spent 2 hours with what I thought was MS Tech and found out it was OmniTech. They started this PC program which always shows 1000s of errors and then said they would fix them all for $199. They had control of my PC, but I said I wasn’t paying that so they said $99.99. I finally let them run the process but they never really answered the compatibility question other then saying it wasn’t a problem. Has anyone else got hung up with these people? And if so what did you do about it? I have already had more trouble with Windows 8.1 than in the last 3 years of XP. Thanks for any thoughts on this.

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OmniTech sounds rather OminOus. Do you know this is a legitimate company? On the surface of things it sounds to me like you were just taken for a huni and there may be no way of know what they planted on your computer. Why in heck would they start the event viewer or whatever it was that they could use to show you a bunch of errors unrelated to your problem??? Unless you’re sure of the company I’d back up the data and run a refresh or maybe even a reset on your computer.

Oh, and if you paid by credit card, see if you can reverse the charges and cancel it as well.

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There’s a number of “companies” on the Internet that do the same and most times you have to pay many dollars before things can be fixed, usually $200 or more.

Compatibility usually means Office 2013 is opening the older 97-2003 files, only downside I’ve seen is some formatting issues may exist but generally the more obscure things that people don’t use much.

If sharing Word or Excel files with others it may work better to use the 97-2003 formats of .doc and .xls in File, Save As if the recipients don’t have Office 2007, 2010 or 2013 or have not installed the Compatibility Pack from Microsoft on their 2003 version. They should be aware that support for Office 2003 stopped at the same time as for Windows XP, last week.

Before you wonder "Am I doing things right," ask "Am I doing the right things?"

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There’s a number of “companies” on the Internet that do the same and most times you have to pay many dollars before things can be fixed, usually $200 or more.

Compatibility usually means Office 2013 is opening the older 97-2003 files, only downside I’ve seen is some formatting issues may exist but generally the more obscure things that people don’t use much.

If sharing Word or Excel files with others it may work better to use the 97-2003 formats of .doc and .xls in File, Save As if the recipients don’t have Office 2007, 2010 or 2013 or have not installed the Compatibility Pack from Microsoft on their 2003 version. They should be aware that support for Office 2003 stopped at the same time as for Windows XP, last week.

There is one important benefit you gain when using the newer file format for Word and Excel — the files are smaller. When your files are small to begin with, it doesn’t really matter. But on occasion I deal with huge files, and they store at about half the size with docx as compared to doc. Not only does docx take up less space on my drive, but also searches are faster than with doc.

Other than that, it really makes no difference which format you use to store your Word or Excel files.

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server

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You should really not give control of your computer to someone you are not sure about. These people are not be trusted,as you discovered and now I wouldn’t bet on them not leaving something to have control of your pc, so I second FUN’s suggestion.

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Thanks for all that posted. I did not intentionally open to an unknown company. I went to MS tech and they referred me off to this company which I thought at first was another level of MS Tech. I did get the charge reversed. I have run Malwarebytes several times since and backed up. Everything seems to be working OK I went to BestBuy online support a couple of days later from some issues and he played with it for awhile and said Windows was corrupted and I would have to reinstall. So I got an appointment at the store and took it in. The tech there said the password was locked but otherwise there was nothing wrong. I have learned about trying to get anyone on line to do any kind of service work. I will just take it to the store.

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Thanks for all that posted. I did not intentionally open to an unknown company. I went to MS tech and they referred me off to this company which I thought at first was another level of MS Tech. I did get the charge reversed. I have run Malwarebytes several times since and backed up. Everything seems to be working OK I went to BestBuy online support a couple of days later from some issues and he played with it for awhile and said Windows was corrupted and I would have to reinstall. So I got an appointment at the store and took it in. The tech there said the password was locked but otherwise there was nothing wrong. I have learned about trying to get anyone on line to do any kind of service work. I will just take it to the store.

Glad you got it fixed.

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