XL: Cannot Rename to '<File name>' Saving to Network Drive

ID: Q113600

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Excel for Windows 95, versions 7.0, 7.0a
Microsoft Excel for Windows, versions 5.0, 5.0c
Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh, versions 5.0, 5.0a
Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows

SYMPTOMS

In Microsoft Excel, when you save a workbook file on a network drive, if you do not have both Modify and Delete rights for the directory to which you are saving the file, one of the following occurs:

When you save a new workbook file to the network drive, you receive one of the following error messages

Microsoft Excel Versions 5.0, 7.0

Document saved as '4CCA4100'. Cannot rename to 'BOOK1.XLS'. You must close this document.

Microsoft Excel 97

Your changes could not be saved to 'BOOK1.XLS', but were saved to '4CCA4100'. Close the existing document, then open the temporary document and save it under a new name.

where 4CCA4100 is an eight-character alphanumeric string, and BOOK1.XLS is the name of the file being saved.

-or-

When you save an existing workbook file to the network drive, the file appears to be saved with the name you entered in the Save dialog box. However, when you open this file again from the network, your changes do not appear in the file. The file is actually saved to the network drive with a file name that contains numbers and letters, such as 4CCA4100.

CAUSE

This error message occurs because Microsoft Excel first writes a temporary file, and then renames the temporary file to the name of the file being saved, such as Book1.xls.

When you save a workbook file, Microsoft Excel creates a backup copy of the original file, that contains the changes you made to the file. It saves this file over the original file. If Excel cannot delete the original file or rename the backup file, it saves the backup copy (the file that contains your changes) with a file name that contains a combination of numbers and letters, such as CEDD4100. Note that the file name does not have an extension.

You only receive an error message that contains this file name if you are saving a workbook that has not been saved before. This is only a problem when you save a file to the Microsoft Excel Workbook or Template format.

RESOLUTION

If you are saving your files to a network drive and you are using Microsoft Windows NT client, IntranetWare Client version 4.11, or version 4.11a, this problem has been corrected in the patch NT411i1.exe, which is available from Novell at the following location:

http://support.novell.com/search/kb_index.htm

Novell has documented this issue in their KnowledgeBase in technical document number 2933237, entitled "'Cannot rename to BOOK1.XLS' with NT Client." To get the latest information and the most current update from Novell to correct this issue, connect to the Novell Knowledgebase at:

http://support.novell.com/search/kb_index.htm

type 2933237 and click Search Now.

The third-party contact information included in this article is provided to help you find the technical support you need. This contact information is subject to change without notice. Microsoft in no way guarantees the accuracy of this third-party contact information.

For information about how to contact Novell, query in the Knowledge Base for one of the following articles:

Q65416 Hardware and Software Third-Party Vendor Contact List, A-K

Q60781 Hardware and Software Third-Party Vendor Contact List, L-P

Q60782 Hardware and Software Third-Party Vendor Contact List, Q-Z

WORKAROUND

To avoid this behavior, do one or more of the following:

Notify your network administrator that you do not have Delete rights for this directory on the network drive. You must have Modify and Delete rights in order to save a Microsoft Excel workbook file with the correct file name to this directory.

-or-

Save your workbook files to your local hard disk, or to a directory for which you do have Modify and Delete rights. You may then be able to copy the file to the network drive on which you do not have Modify or Delete rights.

-or-

If you have an anti-virus program installed either on your computer or on the network server, uninstall the anti-virus program, and see if the problem still occurs. Some anti-virus programs may interfere with the save process in Microsoft Excel.

In some cases, it may only be necessary to disable the anti-virus program. If disabling the anti-virus program does not work, you may need to actually uninstall the anti-virus program.

NOTE: You may want to check with the maker of your anti-virus program to see if there is an updated version that is compatible with the save process in Microsoft Excel.

MORE INFORMATION

To verify that you do not have the rights on the network to modify or delete a file, try renaming or deleting the file on the network drive from Windows Explorer. If you cannot rename or delete the file from Windows Explorer, you are not able to save a file to this drive from Microsoft Excel.

The third-party products discussed here are manufactured by vendors independent of Microsoft; we make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding these products' performance or reliability.

Additional query words: 97 XL97 XL7 XL5 err msg novell novel privilege macafee f-prot ibm norton fprot hard drive temp file name filename save temporary


Keywords          : kbinterop kbnetwork kbdta 
Version           : MACINTOSH:5.0,5.0a; WINDOWS:5.0,5.0c,7.0,7.0a,97
Platform          : MACINTOSH WINDOWS 
Issue type        : kbbug

Last Reviewed: July 19, 1999