PRB: Error Messages When Opening Word Documents or Excel Workbooks with Internet Explorer (216657)
The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.01 for Windows NT 4.0
- Microsoft Excel 2000
- Microsoft Word 97 for Windows
- Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows
- Microsoft Internet Explorer (Programming) 5.5
- Microsoft Word 2000
- Microsoft Excel 2002
- Microsoft Word 2002
This article was previously published under Q216657 SYMPTOMS
When opening a Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Word document with Internet Explorer, you might receive an error message that the files Temporary.xls, Internet.xls, Temporary.doc, or Internet.doc could not be opened.
CAUSE
When Internet Explorer downloads a file, it places it in a temporary directory, which is usually named "Temporary Internet Files." When you open the file, Internet Explorer launches the application associated with the file's extension, and passes that application the full path and filename of the file. For example, for an .xls file, Internet Explorer might launch Excel.exe as follows:
Excel.exe C:\WINNT\PROFILES\user\Temporary Internet Files\85IFCTQN\page.x
The problem occurs with path and filenames that contain spaces. The target application interprets these as multiple parameters. For the example above, Excel tries to open three files,
"C:\WINNT\PROFILES\user\Temporary.xls," "Internet.xls," and "Files\85IFCTQN\page.xls"
RESOLUTION
With some versions of Internet Explorer, you can
work around this problem by renaming your "Temporary Internet Files"
directory so that it does not contain spaces. If you are unable to rename
this directory, you will need to save the file to disk and open from Microsoft Excel instead.
STATUSMicrosoft has confirmed that this is a bug in Internet Explorer 4.01. Microsoft is researching this problem and will post more information in this article when the information becomes available.
| Modification Type: | Major | Last Reviewed: | 12/12/2003 |
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| Keywords: | kbBug kbnofix kbprb KB216657 kbAudDeveloper |
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