# I am receiving an error when trying to open any .xls spreadsheet with Excel 2010



## dr_insanity (Aug 19, 2005)

I am receiving an error message when trying to open any .xls (97-2003) spreadsheet with Excel 2010.
Both opening the file from explorer, or from within Excel itself, when attempting to open a .xls spreadsheet, I am presented with an error box containing the following:

The file could not be accessed. Try one of the following:
* Make sure the specified folder exists (it does)
* Make sure the folder that contains the file is not read-only (it isn't)
* Make sure the file name does not contain any of the following characters: < > ? [ ] : {FILENAME}.XLS or *
* Make sure the file/path name does not contain more than 218 characters (It doesn't)

What I find strange is that the list of illegal characters contains the actual name of the file, and changes to whatever .XLS filename I am trying to open at the time.

As a test, I created a new spreadsheet and saved it as an XLS. The save operation completes, but then comes up with the same error followed by another box stating:
The document was saved successfully, but Excel cannot re-open it because of a sharing violation. Please close the document and try to open it again.
Obviously when I try to open it again, I come up with the same original problem.

In attempt to solve this, I have tried:

Disabling all add-ins
Repairing the Office 2010 installation
Reinstalling the Office 2010 installation
Uninstalling the Office 2010 installation, removing all entries regarding Office14 from the registry, and reinstalling Office2010

The problem occurs both as a user and at administrator level on the machine.

Does anyone have any ideas?


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## dr_insanity (Aug 19, 2005)

This question can also be found:

on the MrExcel forum: I am receiving an error message when trying to open any .xls (97-2003) spreadsheet with Excel 2010 - MrExcel Message Board
on the Microsoft Answers forum: I am receiving an error message when trying to open any .xls - Microsoft Answers

Many thanks


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