MS Draw 98

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pdb - 24 Mar 2004 16:21 GMT

Problem: I have word documents created in Office 97
with figures made with the built in draw tool, but I
cannot edit or convert these figures in Word 2002 (Office
XP).

In Word 2002:
If I click on the figure the status bar says:
"Double-click to edit Microsoft Draw 98 Drawing"

But when I double click on it, a pop up says:
"The server application, source file or item cannot be
found. ..."

If I right click and pick "Convert", the only option to
convert to is "Microsoft Draw 98" and again I get
the " ... cannot be found ...".

I downloaded draw98.exe from MS downloads, but it will not
install complaining that it requires at least one Office97
component. Well, duh, I have Office XP that why I have
the problem to begin with.

Help!

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Mike D - 29 Mar 2004 12:55 GMT

Yes - it is very annoying when you use a feature in good
faith, and then MS withdraw the functionality and
apparently offer no migration path. Draw 98 *should not*
check for Office 97 being installed - but it does. Why??
And why was Draw 98 functionality apparently built-in to
Word 2000 only to be completely changed (mostly for the
worse) in Word 2002?

If you have Powerpoint 2002, you could try this: Open the
diagram in Word, and then Cut/Paste it into Powerpoint.
Then right-click and save as a .wmf file. Then import the
diagram into Word 2002. Be prepared for loads of off-grid
and text-size/alignment/rotation problems, but it might be
better than nothing.

The partial compatability and quirky differences (e.g.
angled text) between the various drawing tools in Office
is completely bizarre. Plea to MS: Please can you
re-instate a version of Draw98 which doesn't require Office97?

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