Conversion PRogram

[Rosie]

I have an easy conversion program for those
who want to take Wordstar and convert it to
Windows-usable files.

I can sell this--with mailing--for $25.  Contact
rhythm-king@att.net

For those who don't want (or can't) search out conversion filters offered by Windows, this is a real
time-saving device.

[Forum Admin]

Hi Rosie,

What is the program called?

[Rosie]

  It's called, as far as I know just "Convert."
  I acquired it more than 12 years ago from a computer whiz.
  I find--surprisingly--that it still works, either WORDSTAR
to WORD, or vice-versa...
   Recently, I went nuts when I found I needed an old
Wordstar file.  I had forgotten I had this program...
and went on line. Found a site where they charged $10 to convert just ONE file...also found free software download (which didn't work!)...also found instructions which involved time-consuming effort of digging out old windows prgrams...  Then I looked through my old box of discs and found this program.  It worked like a charm... so it seemed it would be worth something to people in my situation.

[tobysmom]

Dear Rosie--

I seemed to have trouble with the email address you post here for the conversion program. I'm a poet who would love to liberate some old poems from their unreadable floppies, and would appreciate a copy of this or other wordstar conversion software.
Do you have a new address?

Thanks--

Tobysmom

[Forum Admin]

Which version of WordStar do you want to convert from and what program do you now use for word processing?

There are free DOS WordStar converters in the downloads section of the Web site, and a link to the WordStar converter for Microsoft Word 95 or later in the Converters FAQ page (link to this in the Home page).

Unless you have WordStar 2000 or a large  number of files you need to convert in one go, you shouldn't need to spend any money to get your files converted.

For DOS WordStar see WS-CON, and for very early versions also see WSUTILS to get rid of the pre-WS4 high bit on each word. For WS 2000 see View. Do a search for any of these from the Home page search box, or look at the conversions FAQ and DOS WordStar downloads page. For WSWin, your choices are more limited, but loo at the Conversion FAQ for ideas.

[tobysmom]

Dear Administrator--

Thanks for your reply. I can't be sure which version Wordstar it is, but the dates of the files are 1994-1996, so it would be whatever was fairly current then. My guess is that was WS- DOS, as that sounds mighty familiar.

I am just beginnning to work on XP, but still have my old computer with WIndows 98 on it. I guess I can set the whole thing up again and put it on line, but is there anyway to know what to download?

I so appreciate your help--

Tobysmom

[Forum Admin]

Hi,

WS-CON will convert all DOS versions of WordStar except WordStar 2000. You can download this DOS program from: http://www.wordstar.org/wsdos/pages/downloads.htm#WSCONEN. Create a new folder C:\WSCON and unzip the files into that. Run the program by typing WS-CON, which will give you the help screen.

If your WordStar files were created by an early version of WordStar you may see strange characters at the ends of words. If this is the case, you'll first need to use a program like WSBIT, then use WS-CON to get the text. WSBIT is available from the WSUTILS download, which you'll find at: http://www.wordstar.org/wsdos/pages/downloads.htm#WSUTILS. You can save these in the same folder as WS-CON, or create a C:\WSUTILS folder for them.

If you use Microsoft Word 95 or later, you can download the WordStar converter for it from the ftp link listed at: http://www.wordstar.org/wordstar/pages/convert_faq.htm#Q3. Read the instructions here, and then click the "ftp site" link to download the converter. This link often times out, so you may need to try it several times, or at different times of day. This also doesn't cover WordStar 2000 files.

If you find that your files aren't converted by any of these methods, you may have WordStar 2000 files. For these you can try the DOS View File program. Details of this are at: http://www.wordstar.org/wordstar/pages/convert_faq.htm#Q18. There's a download  link in the article.