"Word cannot start the converter mswrd632.wpc" or "Cannot load Word for Windows 6.0 files" when opening an old .doc file — typically one dug out of a 2000s-era backup CD, ZIP disk, or old hard drive

What's actually wrong

This usually isn't corruption. Microsoft disabled the ancient Word 6.0/95 converters for security, so modern Word simply refuses files it thinks are in those formats — and it throws the same error when a ".doc" extension is hiding a different format entirely (plain text, WordPerfect, or a renamed file). Documents from old backups are usually intact; you just need software that still speaks their language. Genuine damage does happen when the backup medium itself decayed (old CD-Rs and floppies rot), and that's a different problem.

Free fixes — try these first

1. Open it in LibreOffice (free). LibreOffice Writer still reads Word 6.0/95/97 and even WordPerfect files natively. Open the file, then save as .docx. This solves most cases in one step.
2. Loosen Word's File Block settings. Word: File → Options → Trust Center → Trust Center Settings → File Block Settings → untick the old Word/Excel format boxes (or set them to "Open selected file types in Protected View"). Excel has the identical setting for old .xls files.
3. Use "Recover Text from Any File". In Word: File → Open → Browse, change the file-type dropdown to Recover Text from Any File (*.*), and open the document — you lose formatting but keep the words.
4. Upload to Google Docs. Google's importer handles many legacy formats that desktop Word rejects; download the result as .docx.
5. Only if you're comfortable in the registry: Microsoft's documented fix is deleting HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared Tools\Text Converters\Import\MSWord6.wpc so Word uses its own converters — back up the key first.

If the free fixes fail

If every converter refuses the file, the bytes themselves may have decayed on the old media, or the extension may be lying about the format — our analyzer identifies what the file really is (relabeling a mislabeled file is free) and reads the legacy binary directly to show what portion of the document still exists.