Microsoft KB Archive/917877

= A workbook on a network share may use a drive letter path in Excel 2003 if you open the workbook by using a UNC connection and if the location is mapped to a drive letter =

Article ID: 917877

Article Last Modified on 10/8/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Office Excel 2003

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Important This article contains information about how to modify the registry. Make sure to back up the registry before you modify it. Make sure that you know how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up, restore, and modify the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows registry



SYMPTOMS
Consider the following scenario. You map a network location to a drive letter. Then, you use a Universal Naming Convention (UNC) connection to open a workbook from the network location. For example, you use the following UNC connection to open the workbook:

\\ \ \ .xls

In this scenario, references to a hyperlinked workbook may use a drive letter location. Additionally, may receive unexpected results.

For example, you may experience the following symptoms:  If the following conditions are true in the workbook, you receive unexpected results:  The workbook contains an INDIRECT field. The INDIRECT field references a cell that contains a hyperlink to a cell that is in another workbook.

In this situation, you receive a #REF! error message in the cell that contains the INDIRECT field. If you click a hyperlink in the workbook to open another workbook, a drive letter is used for the location of the workbook instead of the UNC location.



RESOLUTION
This problem was first fixed in a hotfix that is now contained in a service pack. If you installed the latest Office 2003 service pack, you do not have to install the hotfix.

Service pack information
This problem is corrected in Office 2003 Service Pack 3.

After you install the service pack, follow the steps that are listed in the &quot;How to enable the hotfix&quot; section of the article to set the  registry key and to activate the hotfix.

Hotfix information
To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Office 2003. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

870924 How to obtain the latest service pack for Office 2003

How to obtain the hotfix
This issue is fixed in the Excel 2003 post-Service Pack 2 Hotfix Package that is dated April 10, 2006. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

917876 Description of the Excel 2003 post-Service Pack 2 hotfix package: April 10, 2006

How to enable the hotfix
Warning Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly by using Registry Editor or by using another method. These problems might require that you reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that these problems can be solved. Modify the registry at your own risk.  Exit Excel 2003.</li> Click Start, click Run, type regedit in the Open box, and then click OK.</li> Locate and then click to select the following registry subkey:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Excel\Options

</li> After you select the subkey that is specified in step 3, point to New on the Edit menu, and then click DWORD Value.</li> Type DisableUNCDriveMap, and then press ENTER.</li> Right-click DisableUNCDriveMap, and then click Modify.</li> In the Value data box, type 1, and then click OK.</li> On the File menu, click Exit to exit Registry Editor.</li></ol>

<div class="status_section">

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 2003 Service Pack 3.

Additional query words: excel2003 excel2k3 excel11 xl2003 xl2k3 xl11

Keywords: kberrmsg kbbug kbfix kbregistry kbqfe kbpubtypekc kbopenfile kbxlerrref kbxlslink kbexpertiseinter kboffice2003presp3fix kboffice2003sp3fix KB917877

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