XL98: Multiple Documents Opened or Errors When Excel Starts (177193)

SYMPTOMS

When you start Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition, you may receive one or more of the following error messages:

Not enough memory.

-or-

This file is not in a recognizable format.

If you know the file is from another program which is incompatible with Microsoft Excel, click Cancel, then open this file in its original application. If you want to open the file later in Microsoft Excel, save it in a format that is compatible, such as text format.
If you suspect the file is damaged, click Help for more information about solving the problem.
If you still want to see what text is contained in the file, click OK. Then click Finish in the Text Import Wizard.

-or-

File not loaded completely.

Note that these error messages may appear more than once.

CAUSE

This problem may occur if the following conditions are true:

You click Preferences on the Tools menu, and then click the General tab.

-and-
The folder that you specify in the Alternate Startup File Location box is a folder that contains files Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition cannot open, for example:
Macintosh HD:Microsoft Office 98:
-or-
Macintosh HD:Microsoft Office 98:Office:

If you specify either of these folders in the Alternate Startup File Location box, Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition attempts to open all of the files in the folder, including program files. Because these files cannot be opened by Microsoft Excel, you receive one or more of the error messages in the "Symptoms" section in this article.

NOTE: You may need to restart your computer to stop receiving the error messages.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, follow these steps:

If you are unable to start Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition, go to step 2. Otherwise, go to step 4.
In the Finder, double-click the icon for Microsoft Excel. Then, quickly hold down the SHIFT key.
After Microsoft Excel has started, release the SHIFT key and proceed to step 4.

Holding down the SHIFT key prevents Microsoft Excel from opening any of the files in the alternate startup file location.
On the Tools menu, click Preferences. Click the General tab.
Clear the Alternate Startup File Location box, and then click OK.
Quit and then restart Microsoft Excel.

When you do this, the problem does not occur.

Note that you can also correct this problem by quitting Microsoft Excel and deleting the Excel Settings (8) file, which is stored in the following folder:

System Folder:Preferences

However, if you delete this file, you lose other settings that are associated with Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition. After the settings file is deleted, Microsoft Excel starts correctly.

STATUS

This behavior is by design of Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition. This problem does not occur if the folder you specify in the Alternate Startup File Location box contains only readable files (for example, workbooks, add- ins, text files, and so on).

MORE INFORMATION

In Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition, you can set an alternate startup file location. When you do this, all of the files in the specified folder are automatically opened when you start Microsoft Excel. To set the alternate startup file location, follow these steps:

On the Tools menu, click Preferences. Click the General tab.
In the Alternate Startup File Location box, type the path to the folder that contains the files that you want to open when you start Microsoft Excel, for example:
Macintosh HD:My Data Files:Excel Files:
NOTE: Include the trailing colon (:).

If you do not know the path, click the Select button to the right of the box. Select the folder you want to use, and then click the Select button at the bottom of the dialog box.
Click OK.