Opening old Power Point files

Most likely they were saved in the 97-2003 & 95 format. These look just like normal 97-2003 files but they won't open in versions after 2003. The zamzar solution works for us though it's not convenient if you have lots of files.

I hear lots of people telling MSFT their security policy is stupid etc but the the fact is it is not about to change., If you can find someone with a copy of 2003 or earlier it's possible to have a batch code update running which can update the format fairly quickly.

I understand the problem of many users keeping files in archaic versions but I believe we are supposed to keep our files updated. I on the other hand have a different problem since the type file of my files are "Microsoft Powerpoint 97-2003 Presentation" but powerpoint 2013 cannot open it and returns an error that it is 95 version. If you have any clue why that happens please enlighten me.

I inherited some old records from my granddad - do you still remember those old large black disks to be played on a record player at 78 rpm? If I cannot play them in my CD Player or on my mobile phone, should I blame the manufacturers of those devices? Or should I blame Grundig, who manufactured my granddad's old record player, that it stopped working after more than 50 years?

No, it's my responsibility. I should have recorded the songs on more modern media like CDs. Because they are my records. And the old presentations are your files. It's your responsibility to decide whether you want to use them in future and to convert them into newer formats, when technology changes. Don't blame Microsoft or us (your fellow users) for changes in technology. Use the tools which have been recommended to you (Zamzar) to care for your own files.

That is a very poor analogy.  You are talking about physical media. With physical media, you know instantly that there is a change of format and when your player dies and you can't buy another one, you are alerted to a problem and fix it soonest.   (to further show how bad the analogy is, i can say i inherited a paper diary from 50 years old and i can still read it !  see, how good technology companies (ie paper diary manufacturers) manage this ? !  )

when a format dies completely, it is very easy to know it has become obsolete, and you can fix it. but powerpoint has been in use constantly throughout the last 25 years.  it never became obvious that powerpoint files will not be openable by powerpoint itself ! and one would certainly not expect it ... i can expect that wordstar or wordperfect files can't be opened by ms word.   you need to understand the slow process of how files are created and opened ... it is not a one-off event. let me show you how it happens:

i have ppt 2.0 for mac files.  i upgrade to powerpoint 3.  i can open my ppt 2.0 files, and i refer to them regularly.  then i upgrade to powerpoint 4.  by this time, my most current files are in ppt 3.0 version. they can be opened in powerpoint 4.  my reference to earlier ppt 2.0 files become less, but i can still open them.  i upgrade to powerpoint 95. by this time, most of my current files are in ppt 4.0 format. they open easily in powerpoint 95. i occassionally need to refer to older ppt 3.0 files. they can open too. i very rarely open ppt 2.0 files, but they can also open.  i upgrade to powerpoint 97. my current files are in powerpoint 95 and they can open easily. i occassionally refer to ppt 4.0 files and they can open. i very rarely open my ppt 3.0 files but they can open.  i don't refer to my ppt 2.0 files, but i would expect they can open when i want.  and just because i don't open my ppt 2.0 files doesn't mean they are not valuable. it has historical information. it has memories.   (if you feel that documents that are not open in a long time are worthless than we should burn down large number of old books and documents which are never referred to except once in a blue moon for eg by a historian looking for old data.  all those thesis written in universities and hardly referred to should be burned down. i think most people will disagree with your viewpoint as the world keeps large volume of old documents and artifacts that are never referred to, for posterity sake, for future generations who may want to look up how their earlier generations lived etc).   so the process continues ... upgrade to powerpoint 2000,  powerpoint xp, powerpoint 2003, powerpoint 2007  etc.   one day, i hypothesise a unusual long term trend, and want to refer back to data of early 1990s. i try to open my ppt 2.0, ppt 3.0, ppt 4.0 files, and i can't open them. i didnt even realise when they stopped being openable. a reasonable expectation is that powerpoint can open ppt files.  if for any reason the software developer wants to change the software that it is no longer backward compatible, then the least one would expect is a converter. every year, i create 100s of ppt files.  i cannot manually open one by one and save in new format everytime i upgrade - if i have to do that, i would never upgade and microsoft would be that much poorer.

MS Word (xp) can still open and convert my wordperfect files !  this is outstanding and beyond reasonable expectations.  but powerpoint (xp) not being able to open ppt 2.0 files is way below expectation.

if a third party like zamzar can develop a converter, why can't microsoft ?  it should be that much easier and that much valuable for them to keep their long-term customers loyal.   unfortunately, zamzar can't convert ppt 2.0 and ppt 3.0 files, only till ppt 4.0 files. so my problem is not solved.

To the person who said find an old computer ... you were joking, right ?  what you meant to say is, there is no solution ?

I'm curious:  Why assume that Prezi is futureproof?  Or PDF for that matter?  PDF readers will certainly be around for a long long time, but PDF isn't a conveniently editable format.  What will you do when you need to make changes?  Perhaps the software used to create the PDF is futureproof, perhaps not.  Only the future will tell, and it's not telling.  ;-)

I wouldn't count on enough people complaining about this problem to make any waves at Microsoft.  A few people come here with the problem from time to time, but the numbers are quite small.  

Oh, and since this is mainly a user-to-user support venue, MS doesn't appear to pay a lot of attention to what goes on here.  

Small waves, big floodwall.  For people who cannot open their 10 or more year older files, that's unfortunate, I know, but it's how it is.