If you like me and have an old version of Office installed on your computer, then the problem of opening .xlsx files and .docx files will become more regular.

I recently got sent a .xlsx file and my current version of office did not support this type.

.xlsx file formats gear more towards the standard Open XML format, so Open Office can access them. This will be the same with Word and Excel.

If like me, you have an old version of Office, then you don't have to go and get the latest version of Microsofts Office suit, or download Open Office.

The simple solution is to head on over to this Microsoft page and download the update depending on your version.

I use Office 2000, so I had to download the File Format Converters Pack, which once installed, allowed me to open my Excel File.