Cannot Use Earlier DECOMP.EXE Version with WinWord 6.0 Files

• Microsoft Word for Windows, version 6.0

SYMPTOMS

If you use an earlier version of DECOMP.EXE (such as one supplied with Word version 1.x or 2.x for Windows) to decompress Word 6.0 files, the following error message occurs:

   Error: Unknown compression algorithm

CAUSE

To decompress Word 6.0 files with DECOMP, you must use DECOMP.EXE version 1.2, which is supplied with Word 6.0. This file has a size of 38,926 and is dated 10-27-93.

To determine which version of DECOMP you are running, type "decomp" (without the quotation marks) and press ENTER at the MS-DOS command prompt.

MORE INFORMATION

The following table lists which version of DECOMP.EXE is supplied with each version of Word for Windows:

Word Version    DECOMP Version    File Size      File Date
------------    --------------    ---------      ---------

Word 1.1        1.02              22,604         02-07-91

Word  2.0       1.02              39,121         10-21-91

Word  2.0a      1.02              39,121         02-13-92

Word  2.0b      1.02              39,121         08-31-92

Word  2.0c      1.02              39,121         11-18-92

Word  6.0       1.2               38,926         10-27-93

DECOMP Syntax and Usage

Syntax:

   DECOMP [-afq] [srcArg [destArg]]

or Switch    Description
---------    -----------

-a           Appends to the destination file, if it exists.

-f           Overwrites destination file, if it exists (files
             cannot be decompressed in place).

-q           Calculates and displays size of uncompressed file
             (does not decompress the file).

srcArg       Specific file or wildcard pattern. Either can be
             preceded by a path.

destArg      (optional) Specific file or directory. If destArg is
             a directory or omitted, DECOMP generates the destination
             filename using information in the src file header.
             (If the information is missing from the src file header,
             DECOMP uses the src filename itself).

REFERENCES

"Microsoft Word Quick Results," version 6.0, Chapter 1, "Installing and Starting Word," "Manually Decompressing a File" section