what am i doing wrong and what do i do to make it right

[jbay]

i stick my floppy disk in my a: drive to access the info there in...instead i get a warning window saying 'a:\rgslist.xls not a valid Win32 application' and gives me an ok button...what does this mean and what steps do i take in order to get to the info i seek on the floppy, if possible and lastly how do i avoid this sort of situation in the future:does this have anything to do with fila association and what is that all about...yes i am new to computers totally but would love some insight and aide with this and anything else you have to offer...and thank you very much for your time and help...james<br>
<p>james bay<br><a href=mailto:rgscom@aol.com>rgscom@aol.com</a><br><a href= > </a><br>please bare with me with regard to my questions...i'm trying to comprehend the vast concepts as they apply to computers in general and at times forget the KISS philosophy!

 

[Alt255]

You probably need Microsoft Excel on your computer (or another spreadsheet app associated with the XLS extention).<br>
<br>
I can't restrain myself. Just what is the KISS philosophy? &quot;If ya can't lick 'em, go ahead and lick something anyway&quot;???

 

[jbay]

the KISS philosophy says to &lt;Keep It Simple Stupid&gt;, got it alt255...i often to my misfortune look to deep into something when the obvious is so clear...as with your reply...i have win2000 on my system which includes excel and the floppy came from someone elses system that runs win95/98 excel...but still how do i get to the info on the floppy on my drive...await your response ...thank you <p>james bay<br><a href=mailto:rgscom@aol.com>rgscom@aol.com</a><br><a href= > </a><br>please bare with me with regard to my questions...i'm trying to comprehend the vast concepts as they apply to computers in general and at times forget the KISS philosophy!

 

[Dreamboat]

Different operating system should make no difference here, though I haven't even seen Win2000. Are you sure you don't mean Office 2000? Anyway, what happens if you move the file to your C:\ and open it? What happens if you create a new Excel file, close Excel, and then double-click the new Excel file through Windows Explorer? Same thing?

 

[jbay]

dreamboat...i see why you are no shipwreck, its office 2000 not win 2000...this is exactly what happens...i got a floppy disk from an associate that has an inventory list on it...the extension on that file is 'xls'...i put the disk in my a:\ drive, open the a:\, display contents of the disk and then go to open the only file listed and window pops up saying that '...a:\tellist.xls is not a win32 application'...it says something alongs those lines and i cannot get to the info on the disk...i'd like to know what this means and of course get/open/access the list on the disk in order to continue my work...whats the problem i'm facing here and how do i step by step resolve it...thank you so much for your time and help... <p>james bay<br><a href=mailto:rgscom@aol.com>rgscom@aol.com</a><br><a href= > </a><br>please bare with me with regard to my questions...i'm trying to comprehend the vast concepts as they apply to computers in general and at times forget the KISS philosophy!

 

[Dreamboat]

I'll repeat the more important part of my question:<br>
<br>
Anyway, what happens if you move the file to your C:\ and open it? What happens if you create a new Excel file, close Excel, and then double-click the new Excel file through Windows Explorer? Same thing?<br>
<br>
The answers to these will tell us if it's Excel or your operating system. Please answer...

 

[jbay]

hi dreamboat...mahalos for your assitance 1st and foremost...i moved the troublesome file from a:\ to c:\ and tried there to open it but to no avail as the same window pops up '...the c:\tellist is not a valid win32 app..'...as for your other suggestions i tried and was able to retrieve the file that i created as per your steps...what steps do i follow in order to get to the file on the floppy...mahalos <p>james bay<br><a href=mailto:rgscom@aol.com>rgscom@aol.com</a><br><a href= > </a><br>please bare with me with regard to my questions...i'm trying to comprehend the vast concepts as they apply to computers in general and at times forget the KISS philosophy and i do so appreciate your insights/step by step guidance and overall your generosi

 

[Alt255]

Try one more thing. Start Excel, click File, Open and then type *.* in the dialog box. Browse for the *.XLS file and double-click it.<br>
It's a pretty safe bet that the spreadsheet will open.

 

[jbay]

and a pretty safe bet that you know what you are doing when it comes to this stuff...it worked and i know have access to my file on c:\ and on a:...thank you alt255 and dreamboat for you help...what had happened and what in essence did i do to correct it?...thanks again...james <p>james bay<br><a href=mailto:rgscom@aol.com>rgscom@aol.com</a><br><a href= > </a><br>please bare with me with regard to my questions...i'm trying to comprehend the vast concepts as they apply to computers in general and at times forget the KISS philosophy and i do so appreciate your insights/step by step guidance and overall your generosi

 

[Dreamboat]

Alright. Here we go. Go to Excel. Hit Tools-Options. On the General tab, make sure &quot;ignore other applications&quot; is NOT selected.<br>
<br>
If that doesn't work, I'll get into the harder fix.

 

[Alt255]

My guess is that the speadsheet was created using a &quot;slightly&quot; incompatible version of Excel. Excel and the rest of the Office family are strange... they will open &quot;any file&quot; with *.* but they sometimes ignore files created by apps only one or two versions more primitive. Once you have them open you can save them in your current version and double-click to your heart's content. But don't try to send them back to the original user - his version of Excel won't know what they are!<br>
Sorry I can't give you the details of this despicable software behavior (I try to avoid Office whenever possible) but Dreamboat sounds like she's on a fast-track to a more workable solution. Something tells me the best is yet to come.<br>
<br>