XL: "Cannot find <filename>" Error Opening File from Floppy

ID: Q139664

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh, version 5.0a
Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition

SYMPTOMS

When you use Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh to open a file that was created and saved in Microsoft Excel 7.0 for Windows or Microsoft Excel 97, you cannot open the file, and the following error message appears:

Cannot find '<filename>'

CAUSE

If you save a file from a program that runs under Microsoft Windows 95 to an unlabeled disk, a disk label (volume label) is created on that disk. This label is visible on the Macintosh when you insert the disk in the Macintosh disk drive.

The disk label consists of the drive letter (for example "A") followed by the first five characters of the file name. This disk label prevents you from opening the file when you attempt to open it from the disk by clicking Open on the File menu in Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh.

NOTE: A Macintosh computer can automatically read an MS-DOS disk (a PC disk) if AccessPC or PCExchange is installed and running.

WORKAROUNDS

To work around this problem, do either of the following:

Rename the disk on the Macintosh. To do this, click the name of the disk on the desktop, press DELETE, and type a new name for the disk.

-or-

Copy the file that you want to open from the MS-DOS disk to the hard disk on the Macintosh, and then open the file from the hard disk.

NOTE: If the disk is formatted in Windows 95 so that it already has a disk label when you save the file to it, the Save As command does not create a disk label and this problem does not occur.

STATUS

This problem has been fixed by Apple with PC Exchange 2.2 that ships with Macintosh OS 8.1.

MORE INFORMATION

Programs that run under Windows 95 (including Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, WordPad, and Notepad) create a volume name, or label, on a floppy disk if the disk doesn't have a volume name when you save a file to it. This name is not apparent in Microsoft Windows Explorer (which displays the volume name as blank). However, when you use the disk on a Macintosh computer, the floppy drive letter, for example "A," plus the first five characters in the file name are used as the disk name (instead of the "Untitled" disk label).

Microsoft Excel Version 5.0c

This problem does not occur when you open files that were saved in Microsoft Excel 5.0c running under Windows 95.

Microsoft Excel Version 7.0

If a file is saved in Microsoft Excel 7.0 with a file type of "Microsoft Excel 4.0 Worksheet," you can open the file in Microsoft Excel 4.0 for the Macintosh. However, you cannot open the file in Microsoft Excel 5.0 for the Macintosh. Note that files saved after the first file on the floppy disk do not affect the volume name. However, you cannot open these files.

Microsoft Excel 97

If you save a file in Microsoft Excel 97 in the Microsoft Excel 97 file format to an untitled floppy disk, the disk label is created as described earlier in this article. However, the workarounds in this article do not allow you to open the file because Microsoft Excel 5.0 for the Macintosh cannot read the Microsoft Excel 97 file format. To open a file created in Microsoft Excel 97 in Microsoft Excel 5.0 for the Macintosh, follow these steps in Microsoft Excel 97:

On the File menu, click Save As.

In the Save As dialog box, click "Microsoft Excel 5.0/95 Workbook (*.xls)" in the Save As Type list, and then click Save.

When you try to open this file in Microsoft Excel 5.0 for the Macintosh, you may receive the error message mentioned in the "Symptoms" section, but the workarounds listed in this article allow you to open the file.

Additional query words: 5.00a 98 XL98 XL5


Keywords          : kberrmsg xlloadsave 
Version           : MACINTOSH:5.0a,98
Platform          : MACINTOSH 
Issue type        :

Last Reviewed: April 22, 1999