Cant open files in Excel 2

[confusedtekguy]

I cant open files in Excel when I double click on them directly, I can, however, go in Excel file>open and then the file opens just fine.

If I try double clicking on the file and opening it that way it comes up with an error saying something like "cant open file c:\blahblah The file might be missing or one of its libraries.

I used to have Office 97, had the same problem, I upgraded it to 2k - still same problem! Tried reinstalling the software, always the same problem, has anyone else had this problem? Thanks for your help.

 

[mscallisto]

There is usually more than way to fix this but try this first.

Right Mouse click the file then click "Open With" then pick Excel and check the box labeled always open with.

 

[confusedtekguy]

No, unfortunately that didnt work... it always tried to opene Excel documents with Excell, just never successfuly
Here the error that it comes up with:

Cannot find the file 'C:\***\My Documents\**.xls' (or one of its components) Make sure that path and filename are correct and that all the required libraries are available.

 

[confusedtekguy]

bump

 

[KLee14]

I also have this same problem and have yet to fix it! Have you had any joy with this?

 

[confusedtekguy]

No, still same problem!

 

[mscallisto]

Do you have the same problem with MS Word?

 

[mscallisto]

Oops...didn't finish

What paths do you have set?

Start > Run > type SYSEDIT > OK

in the autoexec.bat window, what does the path(s) statements say?

Can you cut and paste them in this thread?

 

[KLee14]

I have managed to fix my problem although my software versions are slightly different - I have W2K pro and Office XP. I re-registered Excel and this seems to have worked (for the time being!).

Follow this link for details of what to do

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;296055

Hope this solves your problem also.

 

[confusedtekguy]

Klee14, unfortunately that did not work for me, although it seemed like a logical solution.

mscallisto, here's the contents of my autoexec.bat - which is basicaly nothing.

@ECHO OFF

REM ==AUTOEXEC END USER IN DOS MODE==
REM
REM == END AUTOEXEC

 

[mscallisto]

OK Forget my last post.

I know that you said excel tries to open .xls files but
can you humor me and try the following:?

For W2K
In Explorer
Tools > Folder Options
File Types Tab
choose XLS
you should see that type XLS is opened by Excel
If not click Change and assign Excel
click OK

click Advanced
click Edit
the Applications Used field should say something like:
"c:\program files\microsoft office\office\excel.exe" /E

the Application should say Excel

Is this true?

 

[confusedtekguy]

yes, it says exactly that

 

[KenWright]

Tools / Options / General tab / If 'Ignore Other Applications' is checked, then uncheck it.

Regards
Ken...............

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Attitude - A little thing that makes a BIG difference
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[confusedtekguy]

That fixed it ken, thanks! Here's a star for you

 

[mscallisto]

Nice catch KenWright..worth a five-pointer!

The (Help) for 'Ignore Other Applications' says it prevents exchange of data with other applications that use DDE.

While I'm happy to know it fixes confusedtekguy's problem, I really don't know why.

Essentially I'm not certain what this checkbox does, can you explain?

 

[KenWright]

Straight from help as you rightly said:-

If this option is selected, Excel ignores requests from programs that link to Excel data by means of DDE (Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE): An established protocol for exchanging data between Microsoft Windows-based programs.) rather than OLE (OLE: A program-integration technology that you can use to share information between programs. All Office programs support OLE, so you can share information through linked and embedded objects.).

I'm assuming it's as it says, in that it will simply refuse to allow to any linking unless it is specifically done using OLE.

Regards
Ken..............


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Attitude - A little thing that makes a BIG difference
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[mscallisto]

OK That makes sense...thanks