Microsoft KB Archive/211665

= XL2000: Changes May Be Lost When You Use a Shared Workbook on an FTP Server =

Article ID: 211665

Article Last Modified on 9/27/2003

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Excel 2000 Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q211665





SYMPTOMS
When you save changes to a shared workbook in Microsoft Excel, changes made to the same workbook by other users may be permanently lost.



CAUSE
Excel determines whether multiple users have opened a shared workbook by checking whether or not the server or computer that stores the workbook has locked it. If the workbook is locked, Excel checks for conflicts in the shared workbook and allows you to resolve the conflicts before actually saving changes to the shared workbook.

When you open a workbook that is stored on an FTP server, the FTP server creates a copy of the workbook, and Excel opens the copy.

Because of this design, when you open a shared workbook that is stored on an FTP server, the FTP server does not lock the workbook. Therefore, Excel is unable to determine when multiple users have opened the shared workbook. As a result, changes saved to the workbook by one user are lost when another user saves the same workbook.



RESOLUTION
To prevent this behavior from occurring, store shared workbooks on a network server that you access through either a network drive letter (such as E:) or through a Universal Naming Convention (UNC) connection (such as \share).

Additional query words: XL2000

Keywords: kbweb kbprb kbpending KB211665

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