How do I open converted rich text files?
April 21, 2004 2:07 PM Subscribe
Reading unreadable text files. (More)
I recently had some 15-year-old old text files converted to rich text format from outdated British Amstrad discs. A few of the files appear on my Windows machine as unreadable – they show up with an icon I’ve never seen before: Microsoft Access. When I click on them, this MS Access window comes up, but nothing else – no text and no way I can see to find any text. However, when I search the folder they are in for files with specific words in them, some of these unreadable files appear in the search results list, so I’m figuring there is some way that text is still in there somewhere. (Does this make any sense?) Anyway, I was wondering if there was some way to get at the text I think is being hidden from me. In case you haven’t gathered from this question already, simple words of two syllables or less may be necessary.
I recently had some 15-year-old old text files converted to rich text format from outdated British Amstrad discs. A few of the files appear on my Windows machine as unreadable – they show up with an icon I’ve never seen before: Microsoft Access. When I click on them, this MS Access window comes up, but nothing else – no text and no way I can see to find any text. However, when I search the folder they are in for files with specific words in them, some of these unreadable files appear in the search results list, so I’m figuring there is some way that text is still in there somewhere. (Does this make any sense?) Anyway, I was wondering if there was some way to get at the text I think is being hidden from me. In case you haven’t gathered from this question already, simple words of two syllables or less may be necessary.
Impressive, gd779, that you used no words having more than two syllables.
posted by Kwantsar at 2:12 PM on April 21, 2004
posted by Kwantsar at 2:12 PM on April 21, 2004
Response by poster: I already tried that but for some reason, I don't get that "open with" option. Instead, the menu says: "preview, design, (or) print"
posted by CunningLinguist at 2:14 PM on April 21, 2004
posted by CunningLinguist at 2:14 PM on April 21, 2004
The icon is probably there because the files have a Microsoft Access extension on the files. (.mdb?) If you cange that to, say .txt then they'll show up as textfiles. (You can change the extension by renaming the file. Right-click on it and go to rename. Type in the filename and end it with .txt instead of .mdb.)
posted by callmejay at 2:17 PM on April 21, 2004
posted by callmejay at 2:17 PM on April 21, 2004
try opening the document from inside Word -- "File" -> "Open" -> your file . . . sometimes works for me.
posted by _sirmissalot_ at 2:17 PM on April 21, 2004
posted by _sirmissalot_ at 2:17 PM on April 21, 2004
Try holding down shift while you right-click. I'm curious why your machine thinks Access should open these files, I think Windows usually tries to open .rtf files with Word.
posted by crunchburger at 2:18 PM on April 21, 2004
posted by crunchburger at 2:18 PM on April 21, 2004
Response by poster: Okay, not to be a pain but I alread tried opening from inside word and that didn't work. And for some reason, the file extension does not appear. I even went in and made sure the control panel was not "hiding file extentions of known file types."
On preview - shift/right click doesn't give me a new menu.
Should I start pulling my hair out?
posted by CunningLinguist at 2:25 PM on April 21, 2004
On preview - shift/right click doesn't give me a new menu.
Should I start pulling my hair out?
posted by CunningLinguist at 2:25 PM on April 21, 2004
Response by poster: Ummmm. Dopey me just noticed something that is no doubt crucial: these files appear to think they are shortcuts. But they still must have text in them or why would they appear in searches?
posted by CunningLinguist at 2:31 PM on April 21, 2004
posted by CunningLinguist at 2:31 PM on April 21, 2004
Open a command prompt; mosey over to their containing directory; check their sizes first and then run a "edit file.mdb".
posted by Gyan at 2:50 PM on April 21, 2004
posted by Gyan at 2:50 PM on April 21, 2004
Best answer: right click on the file, and look at properties. if the size of the file is more than a couple of K, then they're unlikely to be shortcuts.
Use Notepad to open them.
[Open notepad, and then drag the file into the text area]
This should give you an exact idea of what is in the files.
.. or ..
rename the files to rtf...
Move the files to your C:\ drive, then
Click Start-->run
Type ...
Cmd [Return]
rename "{filename}" *.rtf
You should be able to double click them to open them in word.
Finally,
Send one of the files to me. I'll have a look at it for you.
posted by seanyboy at 3:10 PM on April 21, 2004
Use Notepad to open them.
[Open notepad, and then drag the file into the text area]
This should give you an exact idea of what is in the files.
.. or ..
rename the files to rtf...
Move the files to your C:\ drive, then
Click Start-->run
Type ...
Cmd [Return]
rename "{filename}" *.rtf
You should be able to double click them to open them in word.
Finally,
Send one of the files to me. I'll have a look at it for you.
posted by seanyboy at 3:10 PM on April 21, 2004
Another thought. The files are probably ".lnk" files. These could be link files created by the Amstrad Assembler Compiler. Does this sound plausible?
posted by seanyboy at 3:13 PM on April 21, 2004
posted by seanyboy at 3:13 PM on April 21, 2004
Response by poster: Holy crap seanyboy - I never knew that Notepad trick - and it worked! There's the text!
Thank you so much!
(Not sure I understand what a link file is but interestingly the text in these files is repeated from other files - maybe it was some sort of Amstrad shortcut thingamibob.)
posted by CunningLinguist at 3:19 PM on April 21, 2004
Thank you so much!
(Not sure I understand what a link file is but interestingly the text in these files is repeated from other files - maybe it was some sort of Amstrad shortcut thingamibob.)
posted by CunningLinguist at 3:19 PM on April 21, 2004
I never knew that Notepad trick
its a windows thing. basic drag and drop. you can pretty much drag any file into any open program, and if the program can, it will open it. many programs are smarter than notepad and will refuse to proceed if they cannot determine what to do (for example, dragging text into paint shop pro will only cause psp to complain, it wont even attempt to display the file)
notepad is fairly cooperative in this respect but beware though - notepad IS willing to give binary even files a go - the problem is, you may not be looking at the whole of the file. notepad will read most files, including most binary chars, which will display as gobbledygook, but some binary chars cause notepad to stop reading. also, you should probably NEVER SAVE such a file from inside notepad, as you are liable to munge its content, making it unusable even to the program that created it.
posted by quonsar at 8:22 PM on April 21, 2004
its a windows thing. basic drag and drop. you can pretty much drag any file into any open program, and if the program can, it will open it. many programs are smarter than notepad and will refuse to proceed if they cannot determine what to do (for example, dragging text into paint shop pro will only cause psp to complain, it wont even attempt to display the file)
notepad is fairly cooperative in this respect but beware though - notepad IS willing to give binary even files a go - the problem is, you may not be looking at the whole of the file. notepad will read most files, including most binary chars, which will display as gobbledygook, but some binary chars cause notepad to stop reading. also, you should probably NEVER SAVE such a file from inside notepad, as you are liable to munge its content, making it unusable even to the program that created it.
posted by quonsar at 8:22 PM on April 21, 2004
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by gd779 at 2:10 PM on April 21, 2004