Microsoft KB Archive/27091

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Last reviewed: October 31, 1994

Article ID: Q27091 The information in this article applies to:
 * Microsoft Excel for Windows, versions 2.x, 3.0, 4.0

Summary:

The WIN.INI is a file used to store configuration information about Windows. Windows will cease to function correctly if Excel is used to edit this file. Symptoms may include:


 * Fonts displaying and printing incorrectly
 * Windows applications unable to print
 * OLE-aware applications unable to use OLE
 * 'Random' system crashes

More Information: Excel reads text files correctly; however, when they are saved to disk, Excel puts quotation marks around any line with a comma in it, and puts quotation marks around any quotation marks that are already in the line.

Workaround
To correct this problem, reinstall Windows (or the run-time version of Windows 2.x if you are using run-time Windows).

If changes need to be made to the WIN.INI, a word or text processor (such as Notepad) should be used, not Excel.
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