Problem opening Excel attachment

[donwb]

I'm using Office2003 on Win XP
I compose an e-mail in Outlook, and add an Excel file, (MyFile.xls) as an
attachment.
MyFile.xls is in the D:\ directory.
Before sending, if I double click the attachment, then click the Open option
in the dialog box,
Excel opens as expected, but with an error message as follows:-

"D:\Documents and Settings\don\local settings\Temporary Internet
Files\OLK8E\MyFile.xls
cannot be found. Check the spelling and verify file location is correct.
If you are trying to open the file from your
list of most recently used files, make sure the file has not been
renamed, moved or deleted."

So this suggested location for the file is clearly wrong as it's at
D:\MyFile.xls.

If I take the option to save the file instead of opening it, and save it to
another location,
where I then double click, Excel opens it OK.

If I send the e-mail to myself and open it, the same problem occurs.

It seems there is some problem in the link between Outlook & Excel.
Can anyone help.

 

[David]

Hi donwb,

Whenever you open an attachement, outlook makes a copy to the OLK foler.
This folder has a random name that differs in every machine. So that's why
outlook says it's opening from that location - it really is.

The problem you're having is most likely caused by the fact that this folder
has a lot of stuff in it.

Please go to the location "D:\Documents and Settings\don\local
settings\Temporary Internet Files\OLK8E\" and delete all the files in there.
This is a hidden folder so you shouldn't have anything in there that you
haven't saved somewhere else.

Afterwards problem should be solved. You may need to reopen the e-mail or
even Outlook.

Let us know if this solves the problem.
David

 

[donwb]

Hi David
Many thanks for the input and apologies for taking a while to reply.
The bottom line seems to be that the "MyFile.xls" attachment, when double
clicked,
does indeed appear in OLK8E, and the reason for the error messages
has to do with the fact that double clicking an XLS file no longer opens it;
it only opens Excel. A second double click then opens "MyFile".
I have scoured the newsgroups for this kind of problem and carried out all
the
suggestions which seem relevant to my problem.
I have re-installed Excel.
I have done a Start/Run "Excel.exe unregserver" then "Excel.exe regserver".
I have checked in Folder Options / File Types under XLS and the "open"
information
appears to be correct.
I have now run out of ideas.
I realise the "redefined" problem would now be more appropriately posted in
a Windows XP or Excel Newsgroup, but I'm just letting you know where I'm at.
donwb

 

[David]

Hello again,

Thank you for clarifying. So the problem is not strictly related to the OLK
folder/attachment but general to xls files.

At first i thought of the "Ignore other applications" option in Excel, but
this wouldn't cause the behaviour you're experiencing.
Have you had a look at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/207574?

Let me know if this helps.

Cheers,
David

 

[donwb]

Hi David
1. Many thanks for the reply.
2. I don't now think the problem is related to OLK.
3. When I try to open attachment "MyFile.xls", it does save ok to OLK8E,
even though it doesn't open in Excel.
4. All that happens is that Excel opens as before, but with the error
message.
5. If I double click again on the attachment, it then opens OK.
6. However, double clicking ***.xls files in Windows Explorer opens them
first time.
7. Now, under file types I do have "%1" at the end of "Application used to
perform action",
8. I went to the MS site you suggested and removed it in the Registry, as
suggested.
Strangely, the result is that the files in 6 above don't now open first
time,
only after a second double click. There is no associated error message.
9. The results in Outlook are unchanged - the error message still appears.
and the second double click is still required.
I'm quite happy to take this problem to another user group if you don't
think it's in your area;
though I'm not sure which one might be the best?
Cheers
donwb

 

[David]

Hi donwb
Ok, it really seems to be a tricky one. This actually is my area, so it's
getting embarassing for me
From your previous post i had gotten the impression that opening xls files
from Windows Explorer was also causing problems, hence my suggestion of the
MS article.
I don't mean to go around in circles, but this is what I'd do:
- delete everything in the olk folder (from previous posts i'm not sure if
you actually did it);
- delete everything in the %temp% folder;
- use diskcleanup to get rid of all the remaining temp stuff;
- repair MS Office using the option in Add/Remove programs;
- using the command prompt, navigate to the office, system and system32
directories, and in each of them run the following command "for %m in (*.dll)
do regsvr32 /s %m". This will reregister all dll's in the location you're
running the command. In theory, when you do a repair it also registers dll's,
but based on my experience, running the command manually has helped me solve
a lot of not-so-common issues.

Feel free to post in XP newsgroups, etc, to see if more people give their
input... anyway, if you come back to this one, I'll try to help as best as i
can.

Cheers,
David

 

[donwb]

Hi David
Many thanks for the reply.
This will take me some time to do, but rest assured I'll eventually report
the results.
To clarify, opening files from windows explorer was not showing problems,
because the problem was "masked".
How, because for a long period I was opening Excel at PC boot up,
so Excel was already open. When it's not, the problem is there.
donwb

 

[donwb]

Hi David
I have now done everything you suggested.
During the re-registering of the system32 dlls, I did get an error message
dialog box
headed RegSvr32.exe This application failed to initialise properly
(0x0000142). Click OK to terminate the application.
I didn't click and the reregistration process appeared to continue
successfully to completion.
Unfortunately it appears to have made no difference.
The behaviour is just the same as before.
The only thing I do notice is under Folder Options/File
Types/XLS/advanced/open/edit,
if the application used to perform action is:-
"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE11\EXCEL.EXE" /e %1
then one double click opens *.xls files from Windows Explorer (WE) OK,
but not from an Outlook e-mail attachment.
If the application used to perform action is:-
"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE11\EXCEL.EXE" /e
then the files from WE are not opened with the first double click,
nor in the Outlook case.
It feels as if a link somewhere is missing.

 

[donwb]

Hi Again
I think I have solved the problem.
With reference to my last message, if the %1 is itself put in quotes,
so the whole line reads:-
"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE11\EXCEL.EXE" /e "%1"
then ALL *.xls files, including attachments, open OK.
Thanks for your help.
If I can give any further insight into this problem, please let me know.
Regards
donwb