I found your advice on adding a new file converter to MS Word most helpful - and a lot easier than Microsoft's method which involves editing Registry.
When I tried to reinstall the current version of OCONVPCK.EXE to my Word 2000 I was disppointed by the absence of ANY Wordstar conversion filters. Because I could not find the earlier version of that program, I copied the WRDSTR32.CNV file from my Win98SE standby PC (in sub-directory C:\Programs\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Text Conv) and pasted it to Word 2000 (same sub-directory) in my XP PC using your method. Attempting to open a file with a .ws7 extension added the Wordstar series to the Word filelist. Bingo!
If anyone would like a copy of WRDSTR32.CNV just e-mail me at wallace-yg@dsl.pipex.com.
Thanks for the enthusiastic post Wallace.
You're correct that the WordStar converter, along with many others, was removed from the Office Converter Pack some time ago. Microsoft said this was due to security issues - maybe, but I think that this may have been a convenient excuse to weed out a lot of old stuff.
For anyone still needing the WordStar file conversion filter for Word, 95 and later, it is still availabe from Microsoft's ftp site (ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/softlib/mslfiles/wdsupcnv.exe) and from the WordStar Resource Site (http://www.wordstar.org/wordstar/downloads/WDSUPCNV.EXE).
Full details for obtaining and installing the converter in Word 95 and all subsequent versions are in the WordStar File Conversion FAQ (http://www.wordstar.org/wordstar/pages/convert_faq.htm#Q3).
Regards
Mike