The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition
SYMPTOMS
When opening or saving files in Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition, the
following problems may occur:
- When saving a file to a floppy disk or a network drive, the file is
not saved to the floppy disk or network drive. Instead, it is saved to
your computer's hard drive.
If a file with the same name already exists on your hard drive, the
existing file is overwritten by the new file. You do not receive an
error message warning that the file is being overwritten.
- When saving a file to a floppy disk or a network drive, you may
receive the following error message:
Microsoft Excel cannot access the file 'Drive Name:Folder Name'.
There are several possible reasons:
- The file name or path name does not exist.
- The file you're trying to open is being used by another program.
Close the document in the other program, and try again.
- The name of the workbook you're trying to save is the same as the
name of another document that is read-only. Try saving the
workbook with a different name.
You receive this error message even though none of the listed reasons
are true.
- When opening a file from a floppy disk or a network drive, you may
receive the following error message:
'<Filename>' could not be found. Check the spelling of the file
name, and verify that the file location is correct.
If you are trying to open the file from your list of most recently
used files on the File menu, make sure that the file has not been
renamed, moved, or deleted.
CAUSE
These problems may occur if the name of the floppy disk or network drive is
the same as the name of your computer's hard drive. For example, if your
computer's hard drive is named "Fred's Disk", these problems will occur if
you have a floppy disk or network drive whose name is also "Fred's Disk".
See the More Information section, below, for a more detailed description of
these problems.
RESOLUTION
To prevent these problems from occurring, make sure that none of your
floppy disks or network drives have the same name as your computer's hard
drive.
You can rename a floppy disk by performing the following steps:
- Insert the floppy disk into your computer's floppy disk drive.
- Click the title below the icon for the floppy disk on the Desktop. The
cursor should turn into an I-beam cursor.
- Type a new name for the floppy disk, and press RETURN.
If a network drive has the same name as your hard drive, you may need to
contact your network administrator to have the network drive renamed. Or,
in some cases, you may have to rename your hard drive.
STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products
listed at the beginning of this article. We are researching this problem
and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it
becomes available.
MORE INFORMATION
These problems occur because of the way in which the Macintosh operating
system converts full pathnames. When you select a file to open or save,
Microsoft Excel sends the pathname of the file to the operating system,
which then searches for the specified pathname. If two drives have the same
name, the operating system may use the incorrect location for the file, and
one of the problems described may occur.
For example, assume the following:
- Your hard drive is named "Fred's Disk".
- You have a floppy disk which is also named "Fred's Disk".
- The floppy disk contains a folder named "Test". The hard drive does
not contain such a folder.
File is not Saved to Floppy Disk, Overwrites Existing File
- In Microsoft Excel, create a new workbook. In cell A1 of Sheet1, type
"first", without quotation marks.
- On the File menu, click Save. Save the workbook as "Test1", without
quotation marks, in the root folder of your hard drive.
- Change the value in Sheet1 to "second", without quotation marks.
- On the File menu, click Save As. Save the workbook as "Test1", without
quotation marks, in the root folder on your floppy disk.
- On the File menu, click Close.
- Open Test1 from the root folder of your hard drive.
Note that cell A1 contains "second", even though the workbook you saved to
the hard drive contained "first". When you attempted to save the workbook
to the floppy disk, the pathname sent to the operating system was:
Fred's Disk:Test1
When the operating system searched for this pathname, the first valid
pathname it found was on your hard drive, and the file was saved to that
location. You do not receive an error message because Microsoft Excel is
unaware that the file is being saved to the incorrect location.
"Cannot Access" Error Saving File
- In Microsoft Excel, create a new workbook.
- On the File menu, click Save As. Save the workbook as "Test2", without
quotation marks, in the Test folder on your floppy disk.
You receive the first error message shown above. The pathname sent to the
operating system was:
Fred's Disk:Test:Test2
When the operating system searched for this pathname, the first valid
pathname it found was on your hard drive. However, since the folder "Test"
does not exist on the hard drive, the pathname cannot be used, and the file
cannot be saved.
"Could Not Be Found" Error Opening File
- In the Finder, copy a workbook to the Test folder on the floppy disk.
- In Microsoft Excel, click Open on the File menu. Select the workbook
in the Test folder on the floppy disk, and click Open.
You receive the second error message shown above. The pathname sent to the
operating system was:
Fred's Disk:Test:Workbook Name
When the operating system searched for this pathname, the first valid
pathname it found was on your hard drive. However, since the folder "Test"
does not exist on the hard drive, the pathname cannot be used, and the file
cannot be opened.
|