Mac Forum / Applications / Excel / May 2008

On 4/30/08 1:27 PM, in article ee9a227.-1@webcrossing.caR9absDaxw,
"Patricio_Elizondo@officeformac.com" <Patricio_Elizondo@officeformac.com>
wrote:

I'm not sure about the current document, but for future ones, you should
make sure that you have checked always make backup when the file is saved.

I am having the exact same problem --- I'm using Excel on a mac, and yesterday the spreadsheet was fine. Today it won't open because it's been "damaged or modified from its original content." How can I get it back?! --christine.

I just had this problem for the first time yesterday. [After it happened once, I thought it was because Excel itself had crashed, so I redid everything and saved to NEW files every few steps. Unfortunately only the first file is still readable; rest have the error message listed by the original poster.] Started googling and digging around on the forums about this and found I'm not the only one.

My question is: does anyone know if this problem has been resolved in Service Pack 1? I've installed it on one of the three macs I use (all Leopard now) but not the one I was using at home when the problem occurred. I know I read of at least one person actually having problems with SP1, so am a little hesitant to just go install it, especially if this problem isn't solved. I looked on the page listing what had been fixed, but didn't find anything that looked like this problem (could have missed it, of course).

FWIW, (sounds similar to what others have seen) the problem appears to have occurred after adding a pivot table to a file that already had >100K lines (and many columns) of data (the pivot table references all 100+K lines and all columns). I really don't want to go back to the previous Excel, because it will be much more difficult to deal with the data in pieces. (I was so excited to get the new Office/Excel because it could go over 65someoddK lines!) My 100K line file before pivot table still seems ok.

Also FWIW, I do have access at work tomorrow to Excel on Windows (via Parallels on work mac), which I believe is 2007; I think I read in a different thread that the files can be repaired there, so I may try that (unless it can't do 100+K lines?). But I create these pivot tables (and do a bunch of further things with the results) very frequently in this stage of my project, so I really need to be able to save the files, and don't want to use the Windows version (don't have it at home, anyway).

If it's NOT fixed yet: Pat McMillan, I've seen you ask others for files; I won't bother you with one unless you need a new example but I've got plenty to share if you need one. (They *are* 24M and above in size, so not sure *how* I'd send it, even zipped...) (I'll try to watch here for an answer)

Thanks! Carolyn

Thanks for replying, JE, but I have bad news.

I tried to see if things were any better this morning on my computer at work, which I believe does have SP1 (12.1.0 (080409)). I first tried to open the first of the files that my home computer Excel couldn't open, and got the same error message.

(For the record, and just to be clear, it goes about 33%, stops for awhile, then displays the following error message: "Excel cannot open this file. The file might have been damaged or modified from its original format.")

I wasn't surprised that it wouldn't open the file, but wanted to try just in case the SP1 fixes actually included being able to read the files that claimed to have problems.

I then opened the one file that didn't have problems. I did autofilter on the data, saved to a new file, closed, and reopened that new file with no problem. I then renamed the tab and sorted by column (left to right sort), saved to the same new file, closed, and now I cannot open the new file. I get the same error message. So it doesn't even take doing the pivot table to cause a problem. (I did try to do a pivot table, but realized the data columns weren't in the right order, so I quit doing the pivot table to do the sort.)

Most of the time, and as far as I can remember when actually saving the file, I only had the one file open. For a couple minutes I also had a second file (also huge) open, just to check which variables I needed in the pivot table. (I recall reading that some folks had similar problems when more than one file was open.)

[Last week I was working with a file with 2/3 the number of data lines (71692 in the file, to be precise), created 2 pivot tables based on the entire data set, then added lots of equations and graphs, and that file saved and opens fine. Its size is 27.6 MB. ]

Also, I was mistaken about which version of Excel I have on the Windows side of my work computer; it is only 2003, which I'm assuming is not recent enough to do any kind of file recovery/repair on files written by 2008. I will shortly go and find out from my IT folks if I can or should upgrade to 2007 (that is, if it will run on XP -- I have no idea -- and if our department has a site licence).

In the meantime, I am dead in the water in working with my data. I would surmise that this problem indeed has NOT been fixed in SP1 (and if it has, I would like some guidance as to what I should be doing differently).

I'm ready and willing to send files if it'll help. Each file is about 23.3 MB, however.

I really appreciate the fact that folks who can do something about this are reading this forum and trying to resolve these problems.

Thanks,
Carolyn

I tried that with mine (that solution was suggested in a different, related thread) but that didn't work with my files.

An update: I have been retracing my steps from the beginning, saving to a new file EVERY step along the way. For my data, at least, the problem actually occurs BEFORE doing the pivot table, namely when I tried to sort the data by columns (left to right). The data are 33 columns by >107K lines long. I haven't tried to do the more normal sort to see if that also causes problems, but will after I get back to Excel (it's giving me a totally different problem right at the moment). (I haven't recreated everything I did yet, like lots of graphs, so maybe the problem will recur with other things too.)

Pat, as soon as I'm able I'll give you a more detailed account of what I've been trying and what's been working and not, and as soon as I hear back from the army guy (assuming it's ok) I'll send you the files (our department maintains a file server with a public access location). But you might want to see if the others reporting this error message had also tried just sorting their data at some point along the way in addition to making pivot tables. Is this enough of a pointer to help this, or would files still be useful?

(And I'm no longer dead in the water; sorting was helpful but not necessary to my work :-). )

Thanks,
Carolyn

One more update. I just tried a more normal sort (using the values of one of the columns), saved to a new file, closed, then opened that file. That worked. So the ONLY thing so far that I've done that today results in a file that then cannot be opened is to sort by the column names (left to right sort).

I would have thought sorting left to right to be a bit rarer of an action, so I bet there's still something else out there that also causes the error message, but who knows? -- Carolyn