"The drive or network connection that the shortcut 'Insert Visio Button.DOT.LNK' refers to is unavailable" error message when you start Word or Excel after you upgrade to Visio 2002 (304359)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Excel 2002
  • Microsoft Visio 2002 Standard
  • Microsoft Visio 2002 Professional
  • Microsoft Word 2002
This article was previously published under Q304359

SYMPTOMS

When you start Microsoft Word or Microsoft Excel after you upgrade to Microsoft Visio 2002 from Microsoft Visio 5.0 or Microsoft Visio 2000, you may receive one or both of the following error messages:
The drive or network connection that the shortcut 'Insert Visio Button.DOT.LNK' refers to is unavailable. Make sure that the disk is properly inserted or the network resource is available, and then try again.

and

The drive or network connection that the shortcut 'Insert Visio Button.XLS.LNK' refers to is unavailable. Make sure that the disk is properly inserted or the network resource is available, and then try again.

CAUSE

When Visio 2002 Setup removes Visio 5.0 or Visio 2000 from the computer, the Visio toolbar buttons that are added by these versions of Visio to Word and Excel are not removed from the hard disk. As a result, when you start either Word or Excel, you experience the behavior that is described in the "Symptoms" section of this article.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, delete the Visio toolbar buttons and associated files. To do this, follow these steps.

NOTE: Because there are several versions of Microsoft Windows, the following steps may be different on your computer. If they are, see your product documentation to complete these steps.

  1. Click Start, point to Search, and then click For Files and Folders. In the Look in box, click drive, where drive is the drive on which Windows is installed.
  2. Search for the following files:

    VisioMSO.xls
    VisioMSO.dot
    Insert Visio Button.xlt
    Insert Visio Button.xls
    Insert Visio Button.dot

    NOTE: Not all of the files on this list may exist on your hard disk.

  3. Right-click each file that you find, and then click Delete. Click Yes when you are prompted to confirm the deletion.
  4. Click Start, point to Search, and then click For Files and Folders. In the Look in box, click drive, where drive is the drive on which Windows is installed.
  5. Type *.lnk in the Search for files or folders named box, and then click Search Now.
  6. In the list of files that are found, note the files (if any) that are related to Visio. These files may point to the files that you deleted earlier in step 3.

    Right-click each shortcut file that is related to Visio, and then click Delete. Click Yes when you are prompted to confirm the deletion.

MORE INFORMATION

For additional information about Visio, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

281273 Visio: Online Resources for Books, Training, Tips, Updates, Development, Solution Providers, and Support

Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:1/9/2006
Keywords:kbtshoot kbprb KB304359
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