WD: How to Obtain Word Viewer for Windows 95


The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Word Viewer for Windows 95, version 7.0
  • Microsoft Windows 95, on platform(s):
    • The Microsoft Windows NT operating system, version 3.51


SUMMARY

Word Viewer for Windows 95, version 7.0, is available for download from the Microsoft Download Center as Wd95vw71.exe.


MORE INFORMATION

Microsoft(R) Word Viewer for Windows(R) 95

Microsoft announces the release of Microsoft Word Viewer for Windows 95, a small program that enables users who do not own Microsoft Word for Windows to view and print Word documents exactly as they appear in Word. Word Viewer gives users the flexibility to view page layout, zoom, outline, headers and footers, footnotes, and annotations. Word Viewer allows users to read and print Word documents, but it does not allow them to edit such files. However, users can copy information from the document and activate OLE objects from within Word Viewer.

Thanks to Word Viewer, people who own any version of Microsoft Word for Windows or Word for the Macintosh(R), versions 4.0 and later, can now share their documents with users who do not own Microsoft Word. We encourage users to copy Word Viewer freely and distribute it to friends and co- workers along with documents they have created in Word format. Instructions for distribution can be found later in this document.

Use Word Viewer to View Word Documents Posted on the Internet

This product also allows users who want to post richly formatted Word documents on the Internet to share such documents with people who do not own Microsoft Word. To use this product for viewing Word documents on the Internet, users must configure their Internet browsing tool to recognize Word Viewer as a helper application. Please consult the user's manual of your browsing software to learn how to achieve this. Documents with the extension ".doc" will be recognized by Word Viewer as Word files.

Microsoft Word Viewer Is Freeware!

This product is "freeware." Users are encouraged to copy and distribute Word Viewer to friends and co-workers, or post it on public electronic bulletin boards.

While Word Viewer allows you to view and print Word documents using the look and feel of Microsoft Word, the retail version of Microsoft Word contains all the award- winning document creation and editing features that make everyday word processing tasks easier.

For information about how to purchase Word, see the Microsoft Word site on the World Wide Web at:
http://www.microsoft.com/word

System Requirements for Using Word Viewer

  • A personal computer with a 386DX or higher processor


  • Microsoft Windows 95 operating system or Microsoft Windows NT(TM) Workstation operating system 3.51 or later


  • 4 MB of memory for Windows 95 (6 MB recommended)


  • 12 MB of memory for Windows NT Workstation


  • 3 MB of hard disk space (6 MB free for installation only)


  • VGA or higher resolution graphics card


  • Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device


Installing Microsoft Word Viewer

Word Viewer for Windows 95 is available on the CD-ROM version of Windows 95. (It is not distributed on the Windows 95 floppy disks.) On the CD-ROM, Word Viewer is located in the Other\Wordview folder.

Word Viewer is also available for download from several online information services, listed below under "Sources for Word Viewer." To obtain Word Viewer, download Wd95vw71.exe and place it in an empty folder on your hard disk. Wd95vw71.exe is a compressed, self-extracting file. After you download Wd95vw71.exe, run it to extract the files it contains.

Read the Install.txt file, then run Setup.exe to install Word Viewer. Note that Setup must install Word Viewer into a different folder than the one where you extracted the files. Setup will propose "Program Files\Wordview" as the default location on Windows 95 (C:\WordView on Windows NT 3.51).

If Word Viewer Setup detects Word for Windows (version 6.0 or later) on your computer, it will prompt you to determine which application should open Word documents by default. For example, the default program is used to open files with .doc or .dot file extensions when they are double-clicked in the Windows 95 shell or Windows 95 Explorer. If you choose Open With Word, Word for Windows will be used by default to open Word files. If you choose Open With Viewer, Word Viewer will be used by default to open Word files.

NOTE: If you choose Open With Viewer and you later want to restore Word for Windows as the default program for Word documents, you must run the Word for Windows (or Office for Windows) Setup program again and choose Reinstall.

After Word Viewer is installed, you can delete the folder you ran Setup from. However, if you plan to distribute Word Viewer, either online or on floppy disks, you will need the files in the original folder. See "Distributing Word Viewer" below for more information.

To run Word Viewer, click the Start button on the Windows 95 Taskbar and point to Programs. Microsoft Word Viewer should be located there. Alternatively, you can run Word Viewer by double-clicking the Wordview.exe file in your "Program Files\Wordview" folder. (On Windows NT 3.51, Setup will create an icon for Microsoft Word Viewer, with the proposed location being the Microsoft Office group.)

For additional information on using Word Viewer, see Readme.doc, located in the same directory as Word Viewer. To view this file, run Word Viewer, click Open on the File menu, open your Word Viewer folder, click Readme.doc, and click OK.

Distributing Word Viewer

If you are posting Word Viewer to a Word Wide Web (WWW) home page, please post both the Wd95vw71.exe and the HTML equivalent of this document.

If you choose to distribute Word Viewer on floppy disks, you will need the individual files that were extracted when you double-clicked Wd95vw71.exe. Copy these files (not including Wd95vw71.exe) onto two formatted high-density floppy disks for further distribution. (You will need two disks because all the files will not fit on one disk.)

NOTE: Setup for Word Viewer can NOT be run directly from these floppy disks. To install Word Viewer from these disks, all the files from the two disks must be copied into one empty folder on the hard disk. The user must then run Setup from that folder. Please label the disks with these instructions when distributing them to other users.

IMPORTANT: Merely copying the product files from your installation of Word Viewer to another computer will not install Word Viewer properly. Word Viewer must be installed using Setup.exe to properly configure its settings in the Registry.

Word Viewer Technical Support

The Readme.doc in the Word Viewer folder contains an extensive list of online sources for additional technical support information.

Microsoft also offers Word Viewer support on the standard Microsoft Word for Windows Microsoft Technical Support phone line, at (425) 462-9673.

Sources for Word Viewer

The following file is available for download from the Microsoft Download Center. Click the file name below to download the file:
Wd95vw71.exe
Microsoft used the most current virus detection software available on the date of posting to scan this file for viruses. Once posted, the file is housed on secure servers that prevent any unauthorized changes to the file.



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Last Reviewed: November 4, 2000
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