Solution found to error when saving to windows network

D

David Meldrum

Earlier this year I posted a message about Excel giving an error when
attempting to save a file from a Mac to a networked volume on a
Windows 2000 machine. If anyone else is experiencing the same
problem, I believe that I have found the solution.

The clue lies in the format of the disk on the windows server. If
your server is using the old "FAT" format then it needs to be changed
to the newer "NTFS" format. It relates to file permissions - FAT
doesn't support "modify file" permissions, which is what Excel needs
to do when it saves a file (saves a temporary file, deletes the
original, then renames the temporary file).

To check the disk format on the server you just open "My Computer",
right click on the hard drive and choose "Properties". My bet is that
you will see the file system listed as "FAT" or "FAT32".

I suspect that changing the format is not for the faint-hearted and
probably results in wiping all the data on the hard drive. I just
created a new partition in NTFS format as an experiment, and it
worked. You can do this in Control Panel -> Administrative Tools ->
Computer Management -> Storage -> Disk Management on the Windows
machine.

Hope this helps.

David.
 

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