Microsoft KB Archive/320516

= You cannot open Excel files in Windows Explorer after you use the Text Import Wizard to open a text file =

Article ID: 320516

Article Last Modified on 2/1/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Excel 2002 Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q320516



SYMPTOMS
After you use the Text Import Wizard to open a text file, you cannot open a Microsoft Excel file by double-clicking the file in Microsoft Windows Explorer or by clicking Start, pointing to My Recent Documents, and then clicking the file. Even if you cancel the Text Import Wizard and do not actually open the Excel file, you cannot open the Excel file from the Windows Explorer interface in that session of Excel.



Service pack information
This problem is corrected in Office XP Service Pack 3.

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Microsoft Office XP. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

307841 How to obtain the latest Office XP Service Pack

Hotfix information
A supported hotfix is now available from Microsoft, but it is only intended to correct the problem that is described in this article. Only apply it to systems that are experiencing this specific problem. This hotfix may receive additional testing. Therefore, if you are not severely affected by this problem, we recommend that you wait for the next Microsoft Office XP Service Pack that contains this hotfix.

To resolve this problem immediately, contact Microsoft Product Support Services to obtain the hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Product Support Services telephone numbers and information about support costs, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support

Note In special cases, charges that are ordinarily incurred for support calls may be canceled if a Microsoft Support Professional determines that a specific update will resolve your problem. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for the specific update in question.

The English version of this hotfix has the file attributes (or later file attributes) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time tool in Control Panel.   Date         Time   Size        File name ---  28-Aug-2002  14:11  12,429,096  Excel.msp 28-Aug-2002 14:34  13,452,648  Excel_admin.cab After the hotfix is installed, the following files will have the listed attributes or later:   Date        Time      Version      Size       File name ---  23-Aug-2002 15:59:05  10.0.4420.0  9,173,576  Excel.exe



WORKAROUND
To work around this problem, open Excel files in the Open dialog box in Excel after you use the Text Import Wizard.



STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the &quot;Applies to&quot; section. This problem was first corrected in Office XP Service Pack 3.



Steps to reproduce the problem

 * 1) In Excel 2002, on the File menu, click Open.
 * 2) Select any text file, and then click Open. The Text Import Wizard will appear.
 * 3) Click Finish on the Text Import Wizard to open the file.
 * 4) Switch to Microsoft Windows Explorer, and then double-click any Excel file.

Results: Excel 2002 is brought to the foreground, but the Excel file does not open.

Additional query words: blank screen grey gray DDE ignore other applications

Keywords: kbqfe kbhotfixserver kbwizard kbopenfile kbbug kbfix kbofficexppresp2fix KB320516

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