Troubleshooting Ideas

♦Don't have Microsoft Word at home? Don't worry!
Download OpenOffice for free at: www.openoffice.org This free program has all the software that the Microsoft Office Suite has (word processing, PowerPoint, Excel, etc.), but it's freeware, so you'll never have to pay for it. It's also compatible with Microsoft Word (and other programs) so you can open files you create at home from school and vice versa. It's a very good thing.

♦Do have Microsoft Word at home but having issues opening your files at school? Read on for tips from Janet in the computer lab.

File Types, Students Working at Home and Printing at School

It’s that time again, the student papers have started. Students working from home may have Vista running or not have Microsoft Word at home. Please remind them to save their work files as follows:

Running Newer Computer With Vista	Students should save one copy as the extension .doc. If they have Vista running on a newer computer at home, they will need to save: FILE>SAVE AS> Word 2000-2003.doc And they should also save as above with a Rich Text Format. This way when they attach files to their email or bring in files on a flash drive, one of the files will open to get the assignment printed out.
Running XP at home	Rich Text Format (RTF) FILE>SAVE AS> select Rich Text Format from drop down menu. This format allows us to open the document here 99% of the time.
On Apple MAC running Word or Works, iWork	Rich Text Format (RTF) FILE>SAVE AS> select Rich Text Format from drop down menu. This format allows us to open the document here 99% of the time. And save as a text file as backup. .txt
Word Perfect, Works, Corel	Rich Text Format (RTF) FILE>SAVE AS> select Rich Text Format from drop down menu. This format allows us to open the document here 99% of the time.