Have you tried using the Recover Text from Any File setting?

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
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"Roger Rabbit" wrote in message
...

I am trying to extract data from a data file that was part of a Win 3.1
application. The application seems unusable as it crashes on my Win XP.

This file appears to be a document and was bundled with what appears to be
a
Visual Basic 3.0 application (Microsoft Jet 300 Dll's). The document file
has no extension and is about 13Mb in size. I thought possibly that this
file could have been created in Microsoft Word 6.0 format however when I
open it in this format the letters are mostly symbols (garbled.) I have
also
tried opening it in Word 2002 using different encoding formats, however
its
always garbled.

where to from here ?

Roger Rabbit