The new version of Microsoft Word, 2007 saves files with a .docx file extension.  But older versions of Word (97-2003) have a hard time opening this file type.  To solve this issue you need to “save it back” to an older file type using following steps:

1. Go to “Save As” instead of “Save” then
2. Click the drop down for “Save as Type” and choose “Word 97-2003 Document”