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Message: This file has an older format that isn't supported.

Problem

You try to open a PowerPoint 4 or earlier file in PowerPoint 2000 or PowerPoint 2002 or PowerPoint 2003 and receive a message:

This file has an older format that isn't supported.

This occurs after installing the MS09-017 security update to Office 2000 and 2002.
It also occurs after installing Office 2003 Service Pack 3

To prevent security issues, these updates disable PowerPoint's ability to open older format presentation files. There's more information about the issue here:

You receive an error message when you try to open a PowerPoint 4.0 document after you install MS09-017 on PowerPoint 2000 and PowerPoint 2002

This article also explains how to re-enable these disabled PowerPoint 4 files in PowerPoint 2000 and 2002.

See Information about certain file types that are blocked after you install Office 2003 Service Pack 3 to learn how to re-enable blocked file types in PowerPoint 2003.

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Message: This file has an older format that isn't supported.
http://www.pptfaq.com/FAQ01056_Message-_-This_file_has_an_older_format_that_isn't_supported--.htm
Last update 01 July, 2012
Created: