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Is there any application to view .doc files created by Microsoft Word? I don't need to edit the file, I want to view it (with the ability to copy the selected text to clipboard).

The application should be portable (that is, providing a separate portable installation option or just distributed in a zip archive, so that I would unpack the archive and run the executable immediately, without any installation procedure).

I tried to use AbiWord and LibreOffice, but was not satisfied. They take incredibly long time to open even relatively small files (a few megabytes in size), and sometimes show unreadable garbage instead of the original content. Maybe it's because they are editors, not viewers? But I only need to view the file, not edit it.

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  • Can you define "old versions of Microsoft Word"? Do you mean pre-verision X please state X), or do you mean .doc, rather than .docx?
    – Mawg
    Commented Jan 5, 2018 at 7:55
  • My first thought was LibreOffice. I can't understand the problems that you had. Maybe you can try opening in read-only mode? Slow to open? That sounds strange; are you opening them from a generally slow medium, like older USB, rather than a harddisk or SSD?
    – Mawg
    Commented Jan 5, 2018 at 8:00
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    @Mawg: I mean any file that has a ".doc" extension. The file may be created by any old version of Word (97, 2003, 2007...). Actually, I was shocked to observe such slow performance myself (no, I am not opening files from a generally slow medium).
    – lyrically wicked
    Commented Jan 5, 2018 at 8:25
  • Maybe better update the question? Can't even the newest versions of Word still save/export .doc? In which case, it is a question of file format, and not of MS Word version. As to slowness, I never experienced it with Libre Office. Try a second PC, and see if it is also slow there; if not, waht's wrong with yours. If so, what's wrong with those files?
    – Mawg
    Commented Jan 5, 2018 at 8:41

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