Microsoft has released an update to the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats. This article describes the following items about the update:

• The issues that the update fixes
• Whether you must make any registry changes

The update to the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats corrects the following general issues:

• When you edit a Microsoft Office Word 2007 document in Word 2003, many in-document items may lose their full functionality after the document is saved. Examples of these in-document items include Equations, Smart Art, and Charts. When you open this document in Word 2007, these in-document items cannot be enabled or modified.
  
  After you install this update, the full functionality of various in-document items with Word 2003 is retained. However, this full functionality is not retained with earlier versions of Word.
• Items that use the new alignment features in Word 2007 might not be positioned correctly when the document is opened in earlier versions of Word.
  
  After you install this update, the layout of items will convert more accurately in all earlier versions of Word.

For more information about how to use the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

How to update the Compatibility Pack

Method 1: Download and install the updated Compatibility Pack

If you have not already done this, install the original Compatibility Pack. For more information about how to install the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Method 2: If you installed the Compatibility Pack before June 19, 2007

In this situation, you have an older version of the Compatibility Pack installed. You must install updates to the older version of the Compatibility Pack. To do this, use one of the following methods:

• Install the update by using the Microsoft Update Web site. To do this, follow these steps, as appropriate for the version of Windows that you are running.
  
  Windows Vista
  1. Visit the following Microsoft Update Web site:
     http://update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdate/v6/default.aspx?ln=en-us (http://update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdate/v6/default.aspx?ln=en-us)
     Microsoft Update will scan the computer to determine whether Microsoft Windows and other Microsoft programs are up to date.
  2. If Windows or other Microsoft programs on the computer are not up to date, or if you do not have the Compatibility Pack update installed, you will be prompted to install the latest updates. Click Install.
     
     
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     You may be prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation. Type the password, or click Continue.
  Windows XP
  1. Visit the following Microsoft Update Web site:
     http://update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdate/v6/default.aspx?ln=en-us (http://update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdate/v6/default.aspx?ln=en-us)
  2. Click Express. Microsoft Update will scan the computer to determine whether Windows and other Microsoft programs are up to date.
  3. If Windows or other Microsoft programs on the computer are not up to date, or if you do not have the Compatibility Pack update installed, you will be prompted to install the latest updates. Click Install Updates.
• Install the update by downloading the update for the 2007 Microsoft Office system. You can download the Compatibility Pack update if you want to install the Compatibility Pack on other computers or if you want to deploy the Compatibility Pack over a network. To download this update and to obtain installation instructions and deployment strategies, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
  http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=2462C6D9-233E-475A-B116-8A243A6DE129 (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=2462C6D9-233E-475A-B116-8A243A6DE129)
  For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
  934393  (http://kbalertz.com/Feedback.aspx?kbNumber=934393/ ) Description of the update for the 2007 Office system: May 8, 2007
  Note We still recommended that you visit the Microsoft Update Web site to obtain additional updates that are available for all Office suites.

List of issues that the update fixes

Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

• You cannot convert a document on an East Asian operating system
  A document that has form fields will not open or save correctly when you use the converter on a computer that is running an East Asian operating system.
• Conversion warning message
  Every time that you use an earlier version of Word to open a 2007 Office OpenXML document, you receive the following message after the converter has modified the document:
  Because this file was created in a newer version of Word, it has been converted to a format that you can work with.
  You can now suppress this message by using the Do Not Show Conversion Message On Open 2007 Office policy setting or by setting the NoShowCnvMsg registry key. To suppress the message, set the value of this registry key to 1. To show the message, set the value of this registry key to 2. To set the NoShowCnvMsg registry key, follow these steps:
  1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
  2. Locate and then click the following key in the registry:
     HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Office/12.0/Word/Options
  3. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
  4. Type NoShowCnvMsg, and then press ENTER.
  5. On the Edit menu, click Modify.
  6. Type 1, and then click OK.
  7. Exit Registry Editor.
• Word Converter leaves .tmp files in Temporary Internet Files
  When you save a Word 2003 document in Word 2007 format, a temporary file is left behind in the Temporary Internet Files location. After you install the Compatibility Pack update, these temporary files are deleted after the file is converted.
• Header moves down in a document when you save a document from Word 2003 to Word 2007 OpenXML format
  If you use Word 2003 to open a Word 2007 OpenXML document that contains a header, and then you save that file in Word 2007 OpenXML format, the header in the document moves down significantly.
• Graphic moves from the margin into the body text
  If you use Word 2003 to open a Word 2007 OpenXML document that contains a graphic that is positioned in the margin, and then you save that file in Word 2007 OpenXML format, the graphic moves into the body text of the document.
• Aspect ratio of a text box changes during conversion
  If you use Word 2003 to open a Word 2007 OpenXML document that contains a floating text box, and then you save that file in Word 2007 OpenXML format, the aspect ratio of the text box changes during the conversion.
• Error message when a document contains charts: There was an error opening the file
  If you use Word 2003 to try to open a Word 2007 OpenXML document that contains many charts, you may receive the following error message:
  There was an error opening the file.
  
  You may also receive this error message if you have a Word 2003 document that contains macros and keyboard shortcuts to the macros, and you save the document in the macro-free DOCX format. In this scenario, keyboard shortcuts point to macros that do not exist.
• Border of a text box is truncated
  If you use Word 2003 to open a Word 2007 OpenXML document that contains a text box that uses a border, and then you save that file in Word 2007 OpenXML format, part of the border is truncated.
• Placement of text boxes changes during conversion
  If you use Word 2003 to open a Word 2007 OpenXML document that contains a floating text box, and then you save that file in Word 2007 OpenXML format, the placement of the text box changes during the conversion.
• SmartArt object becomes a picture when you save from Word 2003 into Word 2007 OpenXML format
  If you use Word 2003 to open a Word 2007 OpenXML document that contains a SmartArt object, and then you save the document in Word 2007 OpenXML format, the SmartArt object becomes a picture when you open the document in Word 2007.
• Documents are only viewable in draft view in Word 2007 after you open and then save them in Word 2003
  If you use Word 2003 to open a Word 2007 OpenXML document, and then you save the document in Word 2007 OpenXML format, the document may appear corrupted. For example, the document may be missing graphics or text or may contain incorrectly wrapped text. If you then open the document in Word 2007, you can only view the document in draft view.
• Graphic that is aligned at the bottom margin moves down after you open and save a document in Word 2003
  If you use Word 2003 to open a Word 2007 OpenXML document that contains a graphic that is aligned at the bottom margin, and then you save the document in Word 2007 OpenXML format, the placement of the graphic moves down on the page during the conversion.
• Document content is truncated after an equation that contains a comment
  If you use Word 2003 to open a Word 2007 OpenXML document that contains an equation that has a comment applied to it, and then you save that file in Word 2007 OpenXML format, the document content that follows the equation may be missing or truncated.
• Some comments in a Word 2007 document are missing when the document is viewed in Word 2003
  If you use Word 2003 to open a Word 2007 OpenXML document that contains several objects that have comments, some comments may be missing.
• Text font in document changes from Times New Roman to Arial
  If you use Word 2003 to open a Word 2007 OpenXML document that contains a table of contents that is formatted by using the Times New Roman font, and then you save that file in Word 2007 OpenXML format, the text in the document changes to the Arial font.
• Several Word 2007 features are not retained after you open the document in Word 2003 and then reopen the document in 2007
  Consider the following scenario:
  • You create a Word 2007 OpenXML document that contains one or more of the following objects:
    • SmartArt
    • OfficeArt 2.0
    • Equations
    • Charts
  • You open the document in Word 2003 and then save the document in Word 2007 OpenXML format.
  • You open the document in Word 2007.
  In this scenario, the objects in the document become pictures instead of remaining objects. Additionally, objects that are formatted by using relative alignment, positioning, and sizing lose their relative alignment.