Question:

Jean asks: Can i open a power point with open office??

Answer:

Thanks for your question, Jean. Sure you can, it’s pretty easy. At OpenOffice make a File>>Open, then select Powerpoint as the type of file you would want to open. Once opened you will be able to keep your file as an Impress or Powerpoint file. That’s pretty much it. Similarly, you can open doc (Word) and xls (xcel) files.

Dorothy sent me the following question:

I use Google Docs,Spreadsheets and Presentations. From time to time i delete documents from my documents list. Is there a way to recover those documents i have deleted?

Thanks for asking Dorothy. Like in GMail, documents (including spreadsheets, presentations and forms) you delete in Google Docs are actually kept in a specific bin named Trash.

In order to recover those to your Google Docs home, you’ll need to navigate to the Trash folder, check the box at the left side of your document name and click on Undelete. Recovered documents are automatically transferred to your Google docs list. Be aware that you can multi select several documents and recover them all at once.

How to view and open pps files

Question:

Nadia asks: Hey, i just received a file with extension .pps as an attachment to an email. What program will i need to use in order to view the pps file (please bear in mind that i don’t have Office installed on my Windows XP SP2 PC)?

Answer:

Thanks for your question, Nadia. *.pps is the extension used for Microsoft Powerpoint Shows. These are actually Power point presentations that automatically launch when started. If you want to view a pps file, and you don’t have Office installed, you can download the free Powerpoint viewer from Microsoft. Once installed the viewer will automatically recognize the file as as a Powerpoint Show and you’ll be able to easily launch it.

Opening an Excel 2007 document using Excel 2003

Question:

Dave, who read my post on how to open a pptx file approached me with a similar question, this time on how to open a xslx file.

Answer:

.xslx is the suffix for Microsoft Excel 2007 files. If someone sends you such a spreadsheet and you don’t run Excel 2007 but you do have previous versions of Excel installed in your PC, your best shot is to head towards the Microsoft web site and download the Microsoft Compatibility pack. This neat software package will allow you to open and edit your Excel 2007 file as well as its Word 2007 and Powerpoint 2007 counterparts.

In case of any issues with this, please leave a comment.

Open a Power point 2007 file using a Microsoft Office Powerpoint 2003 software

Question:

I just received a .pptx (Microsoft Office Power point 2007) file from a colleague here at work, but i don’t seem to be able to open it with Office 2003. Any clues on how i can open a pptx file with powerpoint 2003?

Answer:

In my opinion, the easiest way to solve this problem is to install the Office 2007 compatibility pack available from Microsoft. This handy utility allows you to open and edit Office 2007 documents (docx, xlsx and pptx) using previous versions of Microsoft office (2000 and newer). Oh, and there is a bonus… after installing the Compatibility pack, you’ll also install the new Vista fonts for Windows XP, which became my favorites since i installed them.

If you are looking for a one-time conversion of pptx (or other Office 2007 files), don’t run Microsoft Office, or can’t install any software on your PC, you might want to look into Zamzar.com, a free online file conversion service.