Microsoft KB Archive/124927

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NT: OLE, Setup, and MOM Problems with Long Directory Names

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Q124927

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The information in this article applies to:


 * Microsoft Office for Windows NT, version 4.2
 * Microsoft Excel for Windows NT, version 5.0
 * Microsoft Word for Windows NT, version 6.0

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SYMPTOMS
The following symptoms occur if you install Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Word to a directory with a long name that contains a space character:

  When you insert a Microsoft Excel 5.0 Worksheet object in a Microsoft Word document, or a Microsoft Word 6.0 Document object in a Microsoft Excel worksheet, you receive one of the following error messages:

Microsoft Excel
Cannot start the source application for this object

In Microsoft Word
The server application, source file, or item cannot be found. Make

sure the application is properly installed, and that it has not been

deleted, moved, or renamed.

  When you start the application by clicking the application button on the Microsoft Office Manager (MOM) toolbar, you receive the following error message

Cannot find . Please start the application another way.

While the application is running, click the toolbar button or

choose the menu command again.

where FILENAME.EXE is the name of the executable file for the application.   When you choose Office Setup And Uninstall from the Microsoft Office menu, you receive the following error message:

Cannot execute 'c:\this'. Try to execute this application from File

Manager or Program Manager for a more detailed error message.

NOTE: The error message contains the first word in the directory name, ignoring any characters following the space in the directory name. For example, the error message uses 'c:\this' if you install the application to the directory "c:\this is a long directory."   The Microsoft Excel Samples icon that is added to the Program Manager group uses the generic icon. When you double-click the icon to open the SAMPLES.XLS file in Microsoft Excel, you receive the following error message

Program Not Found: Cannot find . This program is needed to

run files with extension '.XLS.' Location of :

where  is the first word in the long directory name and the .exe extension, (only the characters before the first space in the directory name). 

CAUSE
This behavior occurs when you run the Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Word Setup program, and you change the default directory to a long filename that contains a space, such as C:\this is a long directory\excel.

WORKAROUND
To avoid receiving any of these symptoms, install Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Word to a directory that does not contain any space characters. To reinstall Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Word, do the following:


 * 1) In File Manager, rename the Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Word directory by changing any spaces in the directory name to underscore characters.
 * 2) Rename the SETUP.STF file (located is in the SETUP subdirectory of the directory to which you installed the application).
 * 3) Run Setup again, and install the application to the directory that you renamed in Step 1.

This procedure corrects all of the symptoms listed above, and must be used to correct the error you receive when you insert a Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Word object.

Note that if you reinstall Microsoft Excel to a new directory, you may receive an error message when you start Microsoft Excel, indicating that Microsoft Excel cannot locate the add-in files. If you receive this error message, you can use the Add-Ins dialog box to correct the path to the add-in files.

Inserting Object
To avoid receiving an error message when you insert a Microsoft Excel 5.0 Worksheet object, or a Microsoft Word 6.0 Document object, see the workaround listed above.

MOM Toolbar
To avoid receiving an error message when you run Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Word from the MOM toolbar, you can create a custom button by doing the following:


 * 1) From the Microsoft Office menu, choose Customize.
 * 2) Select the Toolbar tab, and then choose the Add button.
 * 3) Choose the Browse button. From the File Name list, select WINWORD.EXE or EXCEL.EXE, and choose OK.
 * 4) Choose OK to add the application to the toolbar.

To remove the extra button, choose Customize from the Microsoft Office menu, and clear the check box for "Microsoft Word" or "Microsoft Excel".

Office Manager Menu Setup
To avoid receiving an error message when you run Setup from the Microsoft Office menu, run Setup from your original installation disks, from the Microsoft Office CD, or by using the Setup icon in Program Manager.

MS Excel Samples Icon
To avoid receiving an error message when you double-click the MS Excel Samples icon at Program Manager, change the command line for the MS Excel Samples icon to include the application path in quotation marks. For example, change the following icon command line

"'c:\this is a long filename\examples\samples.xls'" to the following:

"'c:\this is a long filename\excel.exe' 'c:\this is a long filename\examples\samples.xls'"

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.