How to troubleshoot the source of the problem when you save files in Excel 2000 and they become corrupted (213951)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Excel 2000
This article was previously published under Q213951
For a Microsoft Excel 97 version of this article, see 142116.

SYMPTOMS

Files that you save to a floppy disk or to a network drive may intermittently become corrupted or damaged.

CAUSE

This problem may occur for either of the following reasons:
  • The method that is used when Microsoft Excel reads and writes files.

    Microsoft Excel uses a technique called "back seeking" when reading and writing files. "Back seeking" means that when Microsoft Excel opens a file and reads from it, it does not necessarily read or write in a sequential manner. It may start at the first record in the file, jump to the fifteenth record, go back to the third record, and so on. This "jumping back" part may be what is causing the intermittent corruption of files especially when you are saving to a floppy disk drive. Microsoft Excel is one of a few programs that uses this technique when reading and writing files. Often these disk problems appear to exist only in Microsoft Excel. Having the floppy disk drive heads realigned should correct this problem.

    -or-
  • A conflict occurs when Microsoft Windows virtualizes the hard disk controller.

WORKAROUND

Testing for a Conflict with Microsoft Windows

To test for a conflict with Microsoft Windows, follow these steps:
  1. Start Windows in Safe mode.

    Windows 95

    To start Windows 95 in Safe mode, restart your computer. Press F8 when you see the "Starting Windows 95" message, and then choose Safe Mode from the Startup menu.

    Windows 98

    To start Windows 98 in Safe Mode, restart your computer. Hold down CTRL until the Microsoft Windows 98 Startup Menu appears. On some computers, you can press F8 instead of CTRL to bring up the Microsoft Windows 98 Startup Menu.
  2. Disable the file system properties settings. To disable the file system properties settings, follow these steps:
    1. Use the right mouse button to click My Computer, and then click Properties.
    2. Click the Performance tab.
    3. Click the File System button.
    4. Click the Troubleshooting tab. Click to select the following check boxes:

      Disable protect-mode hard disk interrupt handling
      Disable synchronous buffer commits
      Disable all 32-bit protect-mode disk drivers
      Disable write-behind caching for all drives

    5. Restart your computer.

REFERENCES

For information about recovering data from damaged workbooks, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

179871 Methods for recovering data from damaged Excel 2000 workbooks

Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:9/30/2004
Keywords:kbsavefile kbnetwork kbprb KB213951
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