Convert .WRI files from WIN98 to RTF

[inter naughtfull]

Hi,

I have a few important files written in .WRI on a Win98 system
that has since disintegrated, and when I try to open them with

Microsoft Works/XP
Windows 10
Windows XP Wordpad

The file corrupts near the end into gibberish characters.
I would like to recover the files in completion.

Is buying an Ebay Notebook with WIN98 the only way?

Thanks,

itchy

[R.Wieser]

Post by inter naughtfull
Is buying an Ebay Notebook with WIN98 the only way?

A quick-ish search using DDG returns the below :

https://www.winsite.com/convert/convert+wri+to+txt/index3.html

You might be able to find others too.

Post by inter naughtfull
The file corrupts near the end into gibberish characters.

Not corruption. Mind you, you are looking at a *binary* file with a text
editor.

Notepad and its ilk just seem to do a "best effort" (read: stripping most
all non-readable characters) into displaying the contained text. What you
see as "gibberish (at the top, bottom and possibly thruout the rest of the
file) is either configuration data for the old editor as well as blocks of
image data.

IOW, Some carefull removing of that "garbage" could well leave you with the
full origional text (but without any included images).

Regards,
Rudy Wieser

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

On Wed, 15 Dec 2021 at 23:59:55, inter naughtfull

Post by inter naughtfull
Hi,
I have a few important files written in .WRI on a Win98 system

Are you sure? I thought .wri was created by Write on Windows 3.1, and
'9x onwards came with Wordpad (though I think the earlier versions -
'95, and possibly '98 - could _read_ the files). I think '95 and
possibly even '98 did _have_ a file _called_ write.exe (or similar), but
it was actually just a shortcut to Wordpad.

I remember - just out of pig-headedness! - copying write.exe (or
whatever it was) from a 3.1 system to a later one (I might have had to
rename it), and it actually ran as before. (Probably won't run on XP or
later [16-bit? or even 8-bit? software?].)

Post by inter naughtfull
that has since disintegrated, and when I try to open them with
Microsoft Works/XP
Windows 10
Windows XP Wordpad

No, I think XP Wordpad is different to '95 Wordpad.

Post by inter naughtfull
The file corrupts near the end into gibberish characters.
I would like to recover the files in completion.
Is buying an Ebay Notebook with WIN98 the only way?
Thanks,
itchy

[Ralph Fox]

Post by J. P. Gilliver (John)
On Wed, 15 Dec 2021 at 23:59:55, inter naughtfull

Post by inter naughtfull
Hi,
I have a few important files written in .WRI on a Win98 system

Are you sure? I thought .wri was created by Write on Windows 3.1, and
'9x onwards came with Wordpad (though I think the earlier versions -
'95, and possibly '98 - could _read_ the files). I think '95 and
possibly even '98 did _have_ a file _called_ write.exe (or similar), but
it was actually just a shortcut to Wordpad.
I remember - just out of pig-headedness! - copying write.exe (or
whatever it was) from a 3.1 system to a later one (I might have had to
rename it), and it actually ran as before. (Probably won't run on XP or
later [16-bit? or even 8-bit? software?].)

Windows 98's WORDPAD.EXE is 32-bit, runs on Windows 10 64-bit, and
can read old .WRI files. (It will not write files in .WRI format).

Post by J. P. Gilliver (John)

Post by inter naughtfull
that has since disintegrated, and when I try to open them with
Microsoft Works/XP
Windows 10
Windows XP Wordpad

No, I think XP Wordpad is different to '95 Wordpad.

Post by inter naughtfull
The file corrupts near the end into gibberish characters.
I would like to recover the files in completion.
Is buying an Ebay Notebook with WIN98 the only way?

Win98 can be installed and run in a WMware Player VM.

Post by J. P. Gilliver (John)

Post by inter naughtfull
Thanks,
itchy

[inter naughtfull]

Post by Ralph Fox

Post by J. P. Gilliver (John)
On Wed, 15 Dec 2021 at 23:59:55, inter naughtfull

Post by inter naughtfull
Hi,
I have a few important files written in .WRI on a Win98 system

Are you sure? I thought .wri was created by Write on Windows 3.1, and
'9x onwards came with Wordpad (though I think the earlier versions -
'95, and possibly '98 - could _read_ the files). I think '95 and
possibly even '98 did _have_ a file _called_ write.exe (or similar), but
it was actually just a shortcut to Wordpad.
I remember - just out of pig-headedness! - copying write.exe (or
whatever it was) from a 3.1 system to a later one (I might have had to
rename it), and it actually ran as before. (Probably won't run on XP or
later [16-bit? or even 8-bit? software?].)

Windows 98's WORDPAD.EXE is 32-bit, runs on Windows 10 64-bit, and
can read old .WRI files. (It will not write files in .WRI format).

Post by J. P. Gilliver (John)

Post by inter naughtfull
that has since disintegrated, and when I try to open them with
Microsoft Works/XP
Windows 10
Windows XP Wordpad

No, I think XP Wordpad is different to '95 Wordpad.

Post by inter naughtfull
The file corrupts near the end into gibberish characters.
I would like to recover the files in completion.
Is buying an Ebay Notebook with WIN98 the only way?

Win98 can be installed and run in a WMware Player VM.

Post by J. P. Gilliver (John)

Post by inter naughtfull
Thanks,
itchy

--
Kind regards
Ralph
🦊

It *was a win 3.1 system I now realize. Write.exe in Win 10 in Windows directory also loses some of the
text. It seems that near the end of the file some of the text is truncated.
However, a website suggested LibreOffice, and I did download it ['free'] and
Libre Writer will convert .WRI to just about anything else.
You have to download the whole thing though. Thanks for the feedback.

[Michael Trew]

Post by inter naughtfull
Hi,
I have a few important files written in .WRI on a Win98 system
that has since disintegrated, and when I try to open them with
Microsoft Works/XP
Windows 10
Windows XP Wordpad
The file corrupts near the end into gibberish characters.
I would like to recover the files in completion.
Is buying an Ebay Notebook with WIN98 the only way?
Thanks,
itchy

I have a bunch of old Win 98 and older machines here. Shame, I'd lend
you one if I could.