A 17 year stretch will require more than one intermediate upgrade, maybe as many as there are votesxagainst any plan the PM presents for Brexit (lol). Seriously you may need to upgrade in 3 -5 year increments. Between 2002 and now the underlying database has changed at least once maybe twice. If you can get upgraded to at least 2014 the 2019 program will probably open it just fine. This means you need to find a local pro advisor with 2010 and 2014 versions at least.
Or contact Intuit directly and ask if they will upgrade your file for you. It has been reported that if you buy the new software direct that they will provide sometimes free updating of the data file but even for Intuit it is a multi step procesd
