Legacy Update: Get back online, activate, and install updates on your legacy Windows PC

The Microsoft Office Binary File Format Validator Beta tool validates .doc, .xls, and .ppt binary file format conformance to the binary file format open specifications. This command-line tool runs without requiring an installation of Word, Excel or PowerPoint on the computer.

• Microsoft Office Binary File Format Validator Beta validates implementations of the following binary file formats:
  
  
  • .doc files for Microsoft Word 97, Microsoft Word 2000, and Microsoft Office Word 2003. These file formats are also understood by Microsoft Office Word 2007 and Microsoft Word 2010.
  • .xls files for Microsoft Excel 97, Microsoft Excel 2000, and Microsoft Office Excel 2003. These file formats are also understood by Microsoft Office Excel 2007 and Microsoft Excel 2010.
  • .ppt files for Microsoft PowerPoint 97, Microsoft PowerPoint 2000, and Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003. These file formats are also understood by Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 and Microsoft PowerPoint 2010.
  
  When you run Microsoft Office Binary File Format Validator Beta, it either validates the complete file or fails at the first point where the scanned file does not comply with the particular binary file format open specification.

Files

Status: Deleted This download is no longer available on microsoft.com. The downloads below are archives provided by the Internet Archive Wayback Machine from the Microsoft Download Center prior to August 2020.

File	Size
BFFValidator-Reference.pdf SHA1: 9b5da1ec25ed783c75b7a997522ffce89c7b0c04	254 KB
BFFValidator-x64.exe SHA1: 8de6f8312a1df32dc7e177f5041338c5614718bc	3.97 MB
BFFValidator-x86.exe SHA1: 34cea6379cf67c9118eb5bd7bbacf671ea975db4	3.57 MB

• This download requires the following:
  
  • Windows Installer 3.1 or later

• 1. On the download page, click on the appropriate Download button for 32-bit or the 64-bit operating system.This starts the installation.
  2. On the Welcome to the Microsoft Office Binary File Format Validator Setup Wizard page, click Next.
  3. On the End-User License Agreement page, read the agreement, and if you agree, select I accept the terms in the License Agreement, and then click Next.
  4. On the Destination Folder page, you can accept the default location for the tool, or click Browse to select a different location, and then click Next to start the installation.
  5. On the Ready to install Microsoft Binary File Format Validator page, click Install to start the installation.
  6. On the Completed the Microsoft Office Binary File Format Validation Tool Setup Wizard page, click Finish to complete the installation.