MSOFF001 – How to Bulk Convert Microsoft Office 2003 files to New Office Format

SYMPTOMS: As of the release of Office 2007, Microsoft Office file formats have changed.  This format change was a compression algorithm that allows the original data to be perfectly reconstructed from the compressed data. This compression reduces the size of files that will allow them to travel through email. 

To accommodate the Microsoft Office community with conversion, Microsoft has provided for bulk conversion.

The following table contains the Microsoft Office file extension changes that occurred as of Microsoft Office 2007.

RESOLUTION: The following steps can be used to convert Microsoft Office files in bulk to the new compression format. 

1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. Download the "Office Planning Migration Manager" from the following link:
                  • https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=21888#filelist
               2. Download "Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack" from the following link:  
                  • https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=3
                  • To install follow these instructions.
                    • Ensure your system is up to date by installing all High-Priority/Required updates on Microsoft Update (required for Microsoft Office XP and 2003 users).
                    • Locate the "Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack" (FileFormatConverters.exe) in the "Download" folder where you saved the file to your hard disk.
                    • Double-click the FileFormatConverters.exe program file on your hard diaddsk to start the setup program.
                    • Follow the instructions on the screen to complete the installation.
               3. Click on the Windows Start  and select "Run" or right click on Windows Start and select "Run"
                  • Type in the following command in the run line: MigrationPlanningManager.exe /extract:c:\<folder> where <folder> is the path you want the files extracted to.
               4. Using the Windows File Explorer open the folder specified in the path of <folder> in step 3. 
               5. Locate the file titled ofc.ini and right click on the file. In the resulting context menu select "Open with" and select Notepad from the programs list. 
                  • Add the following line to the ofc.ini file and save the file using Notepad. "fldr=c:\My Documents" without quotes and where the path is the location where your files are located to be converted.
               6. Return to the folder where you extracted the "Migration Planning Manager" files to and there you will see a file called "ofc.exe". This is the Office File Converter that will convert all old Office files to the new 2007 Office document format in bulk. Double click the ofc.exe file to run the conversion.

                  All the old Office files in that folder (and sub-folders) will be converted to the new format and are saved in a new folder.

                  This utility works with Word (doc to docx), Access databases, PowerPoint (ppt to pptx), Visio diagrams, Excel (xls to xlsx) and Microsoft Project files.