Can't Open File Errors !!!

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Stefan_Eb - 21 Dec 2006 14:18 GMT

Since switching from a PowerMac G5 & PowerBook G4 with Office 2004 to
an iMac and a MacBook (German OSX all Software freshly installed) I
have problems with Excel files that won't open any more. Only files I
created after the switch show this behavior. Especially files with
Pivot Tables seem to be affected. It does not happen to every file and
no, i did not find any pattern. An Excel viewer in Parallels with OSX
shows the content of some of the files, but not of every file. So I
have the feeling that Excel & Rosetta are the problem. Any insights?

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Jim Gordon MVP - 22 Dec 2006 04:24 GMT

Hi,

My hunch is that permissions might not be set properly. Have you run Apple's
Disk Utility to repair permissions? If not, please try it.

Thanks.

-Jim Gordon
Mac MVP

Quoting from "Stefan_Eb" <ebersberger@googlemail.com>, in article
1166710725.998636.126130@a3g2000cwd.googlegroups.com, on [DATE:

> Since switching from a PowerMac G5 & PowerBook G4 with Office 2004 to
> an iMac and a MacBook (German OSX all Software freshly installed) I
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> shows the content of some of the files, but not of every file. So I
> have the feeling that Excel & Rosetta are the problem. Any insights?

Signature

Jim Gordon
Mac MVP

MVPs are not Microsoft Employees
MVP info http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/

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Stefan_Eb - 22 Dec 2006 09:53 GMT

I repaired permissions, but thisseems not to be the problem. You can
see that there is a Excel progress bar window (bar stops after the
first segment) behind the window that says it cannot read the file
"Kann Datei nicht lesen". So it seems that the file is corrupted.

Reply to this Message

Jim Gordon MVP - 23 Dec 2006 03:04 GMT

Hi again,

Here are two possible file rescue options:

If you can find someone with Windows Office 2003 you could try using the
"Open and Repair" feature.

Another thought would be to try opening a troubled document in OpenOffice
and see what happens.

The real question is, "how did the files get damaged in the first place?" It
sounds quite mysterious to me and the corruption problem may still exist on
your machine.

-Jim

Quoting from "Stefan_Eb" <ebersberger@googlemail.com>, in article
1166781235.540090.60550@80g2000cwy.googlegroups.com, on [DATE:

> I repaired permissions, but thisseems not to be the problem. You can
> see that there is a Excel progress bar window (bar stops after the
> first segment) behind the window that says it cannot read the file
> "Kann Datei nicht lesen". So it seems that the file is corrupted.

Signature

Jim Gordon
Mac MVP

MVPs are not Microsoft Employees
MVP info http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/

Reply to this Message

Geoff Lilley - 29 Dec 2006 08:46 GMT

I don't know if my two cents will help any. I've had that problem with
"file cannot be opened" multiple times. The only two commonalities
that I can point to are files with multiple PivotTables, and files that
I saved to my Desktop. That's not a sure-fire recipe for failure, but
it's pretty reliable.

The best solution that I've come up with to date is to re-create the
file using hte tried and true external reference. If the name of the
file is "corrupt.xls" and the sheet name is "sheet1," I would put my
"new" file in the same directory as the old, and, then, in the "new"
file, go to sheet1, and enter the following reference in A1:

=corrupt.xls:sheet1!A1

Then, I would AutoFill across and down.

I've gotten that to work before, even if it's not the prettiest method
around. Jim, I'm glad you took the time to address this issue; I
thought I was the only one out there with this problem.

PS - I can usually open the file on a PC pretty reliably, but not
100%, if it helps anything.

Geoff

> Hi again,
>
[quoted text clipped - 26 lines]
> MVPs are not Microsoft Employees
> MVP info http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/

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Mac Forum / Applications / Excel / December 2006

Can't Open File Errors !!!