OFF97: "That control can only..." Appears Clicking a Control (173078)

SYMPTOMS

When you click a control in a Microsoft Excel 97 worksheet object that is embedded in a Microsoft Word 97 document, a Microsoft PowerPoint 97 presentation, a Microsoft Office 97 Binder, or any other type of document, you may receive the following error message:

Microsoft Excel
That control can only be used while the worksheet is displayed in a
separate window. Do you want to open a window for the worksheet?

If the error message is displayed in an Office Assistant balloon and you click Yes or No, the error message may not disappear.

NOTE: Microsoft Excel 97 may appear to stop responding (hang).

CAUSE

This problem occurs when Microsoft Excel 97 incorrectly determines which window currently has the focus. In this case, the worksheet object has the focus even though an error message is displayed by the Office Assistant.

Note that this problem does not occur when the error message is displayed in a error message dialog box outside of the Assistant.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, use either of the following methods:

Press Y or N depending on whether you want to open a window for the worksheet.

-or-
Click anywhere in the Microsoft Excel worksheet object. Then, click Yes or No in the Office Assistant balloon.

The error message disappears.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. We are researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.