Upgrading to Microsoft Office XP from a previous version of Office is a straightforward process. The file formats for Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft PowerPoint have not changed since Office 97, and users upgrading from these versions do not need to convert any files. Microsoft Outlook 2002 users can continue to use data files and address books created in Outlook 2000. Microsoft Access 2002 users can work with databases in two file formats — Access 2000 and an enhanced Access 2002 format.

For organizations upgrading from Office 4.x or Office 95, Office XP Setup includes converters that automatically open and save Word documents, Excel workbooks, and PowerPoint presentations in the current format. In addition, Setup includes converters that allow users to import files from other applications, such as Lotus 1-2-3 and WordPerfect, and save those files in the appropriate Office XP file format.

If you do not have a converter that you need, or if you are switching to Office from a competitive product for which there is no installed converter, additional text converters and graphics filters are available separately in the Office Converter Pack.

 Note    Because the file formats for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint have remained unchanged since Office 97, several Office 97 text converters can convert legacy files to the Office 97–2002 format. These tools are available from the Office 2003 Resource Kit Web site Toolbox.

Converting Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents

If your organization upgrades in stages, then users might need to share files across versions until all users have installed Office XP. Even after the upgrade, Office XP users might need to open files from outside contacts that use another version of Office or another application.

In mixed environments, converters make it more efficient to manage files in the following ways:

• Users of an older version of Office can open documents created in Office XP without losing data.
• Office XP users can open and save documents in other file formats and continue to exchange information with all their colleagues.
• Office XP users can import images into their documents or export images to other file formats.

Install the Microsoft Office Converter Pack

The Office Converter Pack includes text converters and add-ins for the following Office applications:

• Word 2000, 97, 95, and 6.0
• Excel 2000, 97, 95, and 5.0
• PowerPoint 2000, 97, 95, and 4.0

These converters and filters are already installed with Office XP. Users of applications from Office 95 and Office 4.x, however, must install them from the Office Converter Pack before they can open documents saved in the Office 97–2002 file format. In addition, the Office Converter Pack includes converters and filters for a variety of other applications, including WordPerfect, Lotus 1-2-3, and Freelance Graphics.

You deploy the Office Converter Pack separately from both the Office XP installation and the Office XP Resource Kit core Setup program. The converters install on the following versions of Microsoft Windows:

• Microsoft Windows 3.1
• Microsoft Windows 95
• Microsoft Windows NT 4.0
• Microsoft Windows 95 and 98
• Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition
• Microsoft Windows 2000

You can install the Office Converter Pack with a full user interface and allow users to select the converters they want. Or you can customize the Convpack.ini and select the converters you want to install without user interaction. Converters are installed only for applications that Setup detects on the user's computer.

Toolbox   The Office XP Resource Kit includes two versions of the Office Converter Pack. Use the self-extracting Convpack.exe to start Setup directly from the Office Resource Kit Web site or CD. If you are installing on a 16-bit version of Windows or if you want to customize the INI file, use Cnvpck16.exe to copy the files to your hard disk. If you do not have the CD, you must use the Office File Converter pack created for Office 2003. See Office Converter Pack for more information.

Locate converters and graphics filters

The following text converters and graphics filters are available for importing or exporting files in other file formats.

Word converters

Excel converters

PowerPoint converters

The Office Converter Pack also includes the following graphics filters for importing or exporting images:

• Bitmap (BMP)
• CorelDRAW (CDR)
• Computer Graphics Metafile (CGM)
• Micrografx Designer and Draw (DRW)
• AutoCAD (DXF)
• Windows Enhanced Metafile (EMF)
• Encapsulated Postscript (EPS)
• Flash Pix® (FPX)
• Graphics Interchange Format (GIF)
• Hewlett Packard Graphics Language (HPGL)
• JPEG File Interchange Format (JPEG)
• Kodak® Photo CD (PCD)
• PC Paintbrush (PCX)
• Macintosh PICT (PICT)
• Portable Network Graphics (PNG)
• Truevision Targa (TGA)
• Tag Image File Format (TIFF)
• Windows Metafile (WMF)
• WordPerfect Graphics (WPG)

Upgrading to Outlook 2002

The Outlook 2000 file format has not changed in Outlook 2002; users' PST files are automatically converted with no loss of data when you upgrade to Outlook 2002. However, Outlook 2002 does offer users some optional upgrades. For more information about upgrading to Outlook 2002, see Upgrading to Outlook 2002.

Upgrading to Access 2002

When your organization upgrades to Microsoft Access 2002, you do not need to convert Access 2000 databases to Access 2002; users of Access 2002 can continue to use the existing databases with no loss of functionality. The converse is not true: Access 2000 users cannot use a database saved in the new Access 2002 format.

If you are upgrading to Access 2002 in stages, Access 2000 provides a common file format for all users and an easier upgrade path from Access 97. You can convert Access 97 databases to Access 2000 or split them into front-end and back-end databases, which are accessible to all users.

If all the users in your organization have upgraded to Access 2002, then you can take advantage of the faster performance, better forward compatibility, and new features of Access 2002. You can also use Access 2002 to design a database and then save it in the Access 2000 file format; however, some functionality is lost when the database is opened in Access 2000.

 Important    After you convert a database to the Access 2002 file format, the database is no longer accessible to users of any previous version, including Access 2000. Do not begin using the new file format until you are certain that all users have upgraded to Access 2002.

For more information about upgrading to Access 2002, see the topic Upgrading to Access 2002.

Additional upgrading resources

The following sources provide additional information and tips for managing an upgrade to Office XP.