Converting Access back to Excel

[sue Laidlaw]

Please Help
I was attempting to convert one excel file into an access table. I was
having difficulties even though I followed the wizard's instructions. When I
finished, I ended up not being able to locate the information I transferred -
100 hrs of work...lost in the system. It gets worst from there. While
attempting to locate this file, I accidently (I do not know how) converted
every excel file I had on my desktop to an access file. I have all my
business files for the whole year MIA. I cannot open any of them, I seem to
be missing programming that would enable me to convert these access files
back to their original excel state. Please Help in Lament Terms Sue

 

[Nikos Yannacopoulos]

Sue,

How did you "convert" the the Excel files to Access? I don't know of a way
to do that that would result in loss of the original .xls. What did you do?
What did you end up with? Please clarify so people can help you.

Nikos

 

[John Nurick]

Hi Sue,

1) This is why people say you should always have backup copies of all
important files. You won't make that mistake again.

2) It's not really possible to *convert* an Excel file into an Access
table. Just as an Excel workbook (xls file) is a container for
worksheets (and some other less conspicuous objects), an Access mdb file
is a container for tables, forms, reports (and many other objects). So
it's not a mere "conversion" but a multi-step process of
-opening or creating an mdb database file
-creating a new table
-importing (or exporting, depending which end you look
from) the data from the Excel worksheet to the table.
This is what actually happens, whether it's done by a wizard or a
program or manually. And normally the Excel file remains intact at the
end.

Can you remember how you started the process? Were you in Excel or
Access? What menu command(s) did you use to get started?

3) One thing to do (if you haven't already) is to open My Computer, go
to Tools|Folder Options|View, and in the Advanced Settings list make
sure that "Hide extensions for known file types" is unchecked. Then use
the Windows Search system (on the start menu) to search for files named
*.mdb
on your hard drive. This will find all the Access database files on the
drive. If the "modified" date of any of them fits the time when you were
working, open it; with luck your table will be inside.

4) Similarly, search for files named
*.xls
and you may find your Excel workbooks.

5) You have looked in the Recycle Bin, haven't you<g>.



On Mon, 25 Oct 2004 06:19:05 -0700, "sue Laidlaw" <sue