Compatibility packs? http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=3 =========== Or download LibreOffice, open the file and save as the MSWord file format of your choice. You will mess up some formatting, but it's no worse than the usual problems of having multiple Word versions used on a single document.

Now even I had to look up an acronym - SIL. ;-) Ok, so you have MS Works XLR & WPS files. The problems you are having - or going to have - is that Works is old, and the Office XP Pro your SIL gave you is also old, being actually Office 2002, version 10 of Office. If you don't have too many files, I think your best bet is to try an online file converter. Zamzar claims to be able to open and convert Works files. http://www.zamzar.com/ Save : XLR (spreadsheet) files to xlsx WPS (word) files to docx If you don't want to buy a new version of MS Office, try installing LibreOffice - the newer version of OpenOffice - and it will open xlsx and docx files [ If you want to stick with your SIL's MS Office XP Pro, then convert those files to xls & doc files, respectively. That version of Office is very old though. ] There are other ways of handling this, but probably if you you're going to try anything else, your best bet would be buy MS Works off Ebay or Amazon for $10 or so, open and convert all the files. Btw, you can't even open a .doc file in Office XP Pro ?? That's not a good sign - probably a sign of corruption. Btw #2 - When you say you can't open files, I take it they are on your current hard drive, and not within some compressed backup folder. That is, not within a zip file or the like. Re your backup cds : Can you load one of them, then rummage around in their files and tell us what you find ? (as in, names of files and extensions ?) Most likely they are proprietary formats, but if we know what they are, we could perhaps tell you how to retrieve them. Last, anyway you can get the hard drive back from the repair service ? Probably not, but it would be a second source of backup files. Let us know how it all works out.

my3dogs Here is the quote from dell using your recommendation. Can you scan this and see if I have everything I need and nothing that I do not need. Thanks Quote Number: 698889561 Item Number Quantity Item Description Unit Price Extended Price 210-ABNB 1 Inspiron 3847 $528.11 $528.11 370-ABEK 1 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 1600MHz (4GBx2) 580-ABNK 1 Dell KB113 Wired Keyboard 480-AACF 1 Monitor not included 490-BBPC 1 Intel HD Graphics 658-BBVN 1 Dell SRV Software 1705 400-ABVB 1 1TB 7200 rpm Hard Drive 321-BBFF 1 Inspiron 3847 Chassiss, MT, NPFC Black w/8:1 media card reader 421-5693 1 Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit, English, No Media 570-AAAS 1 Dell MS111 USB 3-Button Optical Mouse 429-AAKY 1 Tray load DVD Drive (Reads and Writes to DVD/CD) 520-AAAO 1 No Speaker Requested 555-BBOU 1 DW 1705 802.11bgn + Bluetooth 4.0, 2.4 GHz, 1x1 450-AAGO 1 US Power Cord 340-AGLV 1 English French Documentation Safety/Environmental and Regulatory Information 939-0103 1 Dell Limited Hardware Warranty, Initial Year 939-0733 1 Dell Limited Hardware Warranty Plus In-Home Service After Remote Diagnosis, Initial Year 939-1363 1 Premium Phone Support, 90 days 950-3337 1 1 Year Limited Warranty 950-9797 1 No Warranty, Year 2 and 3 983-3680 1 Warranty Support, Initial Year 340-ACBR 1 Placemat Inspiron 3847 510-BBBR 1 HD Audio tuned with MaxxAudio by Waves 332-1286 1 US Order 404-BBBL 1 Black Bezel 387-BBCE 1 No Energy Star 332-1530 1 Dell.com Order 340-ABWX 1 Shipping Material, Direct 421-7997 1 No PDVD 658-BBXI 1 Item Included (for Window OS only) WIN7 658-BCID 1 Additional Software 340-ACQQ 1 No Option Included 338-BEWY 1 4th Generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4460 Processor (6M Cache, up to 3.4 GHz) 630-AAAV 1 Software: Microsoft Office 2013 Trial, MUI 525-0033 1 McAfee LiveSafe Consumer 12 Month Subscription 658-BCCO 1 McAfee(R) Live Safe Image (Trial Version) 332-1530 1 Dell.com Order 389-BDOS 1 Regulatory Label 469-2486 1 CFI Not Included 330-7464 1 Windows 7 OS Label 525-0016 1 Dropbox, Digital Delivery, 20GB for 1 year Promotion 998-BHEI 1 Fixed Hardware Configuration 463-0742 1 Special Pricing Applied 463-0742 1 Special Pricing Applied * -DISCOUNT/COUPON APPL 320-9802 1 Dell 22 Monitor - S2240L $146.99 $146.99 992-2309 1 1-Year Advanced Exchange Service $0.00 $0.00 A5750525 1 Dell Advantage Rewards $0.10 $0.10 Subtotal: $675.20 Shipping & Handling: $0.00 Tax: $41.09 State Environmental Fee: $0.00 Total Price w/Discounts: $716.29

I have observed the same thing. All the hydrangea standards at plant nurseries are single trunks, not multiple trunks (think Crape Myrtles). I guess the advantage of multi-trunks may be that if one trunk dies, the shrub remains, you still get foliage/blooms from the rest of the trunks (might look weird aesthetically for a few years). Of course, it would be rare for this problem to happen.