You shouldn't have damaged the wps files by opening them in Word, provided you didn't save them from that program. Word will not open wps files any more than Photoshop will do it; re-install MSWorks if you really must use the ghastly thing. Never use a proprietory file format unless you're prepared to stick with the software you made it with. You're far better off using generic file formats unless you have a good reason for not doing so; it's much safer. If you can't re-istall Works under your new set-up, get someone who runs it to convert your files to something that other programs can use. Even Microsoft products usually have some kind of way of doing that (but don't talk to me about MSPublisher: the next person who sends me a file made in that particular abomination is marked for a spot of serious death).