Trouble Opening .FM3 Files

[Jonny T]

Hello,

I recently was given a some .fm3 files that I need to open. FM8 told me that I needed to open them with version 4.01. I didn't have that version but was able to get a hold of FM 4.1. However, on both the Mac & PC I get the following message:

"This is FileMaker Pro Release 4.1 "(name of my file)" was created by version 4.01 of FileMaker and cannot be opened by this version. Please call FileMaker, Inc. Technical Support."

I looked through FM's Knowledge Base and found something suggesting I use the "Recover" option. This yielded another error message (again on both Mac & PC):

"The file "(name of my file)" does not appear to be a FileMaker Pro 3.0 - 4.1 file. If this is a FileMaker file, it must be recovered using the corresponding version of FileMaker."

Now, I'm not a FileMaker Pro guru by any means, just a novice, though I'm pretty computer savvy. Any suggestions on how I can open these files or get the data out of them?

Thanks in Advance,

Jon

[Lee Smith]

The two files are mile apart, even though they sound almost the same.

FileMaker [color:blue]4 is a product that was released in 1988 by Nashoba Systems, the previous owners of the Application. Whereas, FileMaker [color:blue]Pro 4.1 was released in 1998 by FileMaker Inc.

FileMaker [color:blue]4 would require FileMaker [color:blue]II if I remember correctly, which was released by Claris, the predecessor to FileMaker Inc.

HTH

Lee

[Vaughan]

You probably need to get a hold of FileMaker Pro 2.1 to convert the file, but that's just a guess.

Finding a copy of FMP 2.1 will be a challenge: so will finding a computer to run it on. ;(

[Lee Smith]

I have both. However, I'm not the one with the files, Jonny is. Usually though, when you explain the problem to the posters about conversion, they suddenly discover how unimportant the files are, and recreate them.

However, if Jonny still wants them converted, Jonny should contact me by email to discuss the details.

Lee