[Madelaine Amee]

From time to time I get a document attachment which I cannot open. I use Mozilla Firefox and this person is sending me attachments which read: DocX (16.0KB). This file does not have a program etc. etc.

I have searched the internet and have found something called Free Opener - Open Docx files. Is anyone familiar with this software and is it safe to download?

I know that the sender uses Yahoo and I do not want Yahoo to hi-jack my computer, it did it once before and it took me forever to get rid of it.

Any information would be much appreciated, thanks.

[ajbrown]

If it is what it presents itself as and not malware pretending to be a .docx file then it most likely is a Microsoft Word 2007 (or newer) document.

This article has some suggestions for opening if you do not have Microsoft Word 2007 or newer.

DOCX File (What It Is & How To Open One)

[Blackie]

As noted above .docx is the newer file format of Microsoft Word.

You can use zamzar.com to convert the file to other formats - eg to a .doc file that older versions of Microsoft Word will open, or convert to a .pdf file or probably even a .txt file.

[Madelaine Amee]

My thanks to both posters for your help. So ... if I update my word application will this prevent the problem in the future?

[Blackie]

Originally Posted by Madelaine Amee

My thanks to both posters for your help. So ... if I update my word application will this prevent the problem in the future?

Yes - if you purchase the latest Microsoft Office version - just the package that includes the programs you want - it will open the latest .docx (Word files) and .xlxs (Excel files).

Microsoft Office 2013 ”Home & Student" contains Word, Excel, Power Point and One Note - it retails for about $140.

[memason]

Don't buy something you don't need.

Go here and download the FREE Word Doc viewer from Microsoft.

Download Word Viewer from Official Microsoft Download Center

[Midvale]

Google Docs will open it as well.

[Madelaine Amee]

More great information - thank you all so much.