WordPerfect 5.1 Conversion problems

["Tahmaseb, Charity (C) (STP)" <charity -dot- tahmaseb -at- GUIDANT -dot- COM>]

Background:  We have several old documents that were originally written
in WordPerfect 5.1.  We currently use Word 97 and Interleaf 6.1 (for
UNIX) for our documentation.

Problem:  When the WP 5.1 documents are too large (+6 MB is not uncommon
around here), we can't open them in either Word or Interleaf.  Many of
these documents have graphics that we do not want to recreate.

What we've tried:  We tried installing WP 5.1 on both a networked PC
(Windows NT) and a stand-alone PC (Win '95) with disastrous results.
The networked PC had to be baselined and the tech writer lost an entire
day of work. And we couldn't install to the stand-alone PC.

What we're considering:  Purchasing a copy of WordPerfect 8 to open and
convert these documents.

My question is, has anyone had experience opening WP 5.1 documents in WP
8 and then converting them so they will work with Word 97?  (I realize
converting them to Interleaf for UNIX is a bit of a stretch).
According to Corel's web site:  "Compatibility is ensured thanks to the
Corel WordPerfect 8 file format, which is consistent with previous
versions."  How well does this work?  And once we open the document, how
painful is the conversion into Word 97 (or a format we can open in Word
97 without losing the graphics)?

Please reply directly to me, as I'm sure this is a low interest topic.
If anyone would like a summary of responses, please let me know (I'll
gladly summarize to the list if there's enough interest).

Thanks!

Charity

Charity Tahmaseb, Technical Writer
Guidant Corporation/CPI
(612) 582-2687
mailto:charity -dot- tahmaseb -at- guidant -dot- com