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Is there an error log file that can provide details of the following Excel 2010 error?

The file is corrupt and cannot be opened.

Error in Excel 2010

In Excel 2003 some error messages would be displayed in the following format, with the name and the location of the file, with the error details as illustrated below:

Error in Excel 2003

Is similar information logged by Excel 2010?

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2 Answers

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I would check in event viewer for any issues. If you are using windows 7 you can just type event viewer at the start bar and it will come up.

Post the outcome or issues as a comment.

After Google-ing I discovered the following steps at http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/excslcreate/thread/93af59c1-946c-4f5f-83c1-bd6f58dbd94f. Note that this is for opening files. I currently believe that that is what the issue is.

Try the following steps:

  1. Open Excel 2010.
  2. Click on File > Options.
  3. Select Trust Center > Trust center settings.
  4. Select Protected view.
  5. Uncheck all the options under Protected View > OK.
  6. Restart Excel 2010 and try to open Excel documents.

I researched some more after after I found the previous quote. But all I could find is people trying to open XML pages that they screwed up. Are you doing anything like that, or is this just when you try to open Excel?

Good Luck-

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hanks David, the only thing that shows up in the Event Viewer is under "Microsoft Office Alerts" Type: Information Description Event Type: Information Event Source: Microsoft Office 14 Alerts Event Category: None Event ID: 300 Date: 03/11/2010 Time: 13:59:51 User: N/A Computer: PC1 Description: Microsoft Excel The file is corrupt and cannot be opened. P1: 101294 – kristof Nov 3 '10 at 14:04
wow... MS is so... helpful... Well I have done some Google-ing and have discovered the following page social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/excslcreate/thread/…. I will add the steps that I see helpful to my answer. – David Nov 3 '10 at 14:16
Thanks David, I came across that as well and it is actually solving the issue of opening the file. The problem is that I do not have the control over the excel settings as those are on our client machines. I wanted to find out what is the problem with the file itself so I could correct it at the source, I was hoping that some error log would give me some pointers – kristof Nov 3 '10 at 15:50
I yes the file is in the "XML Spreadsheet 2003" format and it is generated programatically. It worked fine with Excel 2003 and 2007 but it is now causing issues with the 2010 version. – kristof Nov 3 '10 at 15:54
So you need to figure out how to fix the XML file on the server? I'm just trying to make it very clear so that myself and others know how to help the issue. – David Nov 3 '10 at 16:20
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I also found that the issue is caused by the DataValidation tags. So far, I have been unsuccessful in changing the XML code so that any Excel 2010 client may open the file regardless of Protected View options.

However, I can offer another work-around that does not require disabling Protected View. After saving the XML file to your harddrive, right-click the file and select "Open with..."->"Internet Explorer". IE opens it like normal, and the user can edit/save. Once the file is "natively" saved once on the machine, Excel 2010 opens the file as expected (the first save essentially turns off Protected View for subsequent viewings).

If you found a way to edit the XML Spreadsheet 2003 code so that it opens without needing a work-around, then please mention it in the comments.

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thanks Kobinator, unfortunately I did not find the solution that would eliminate the need for work around. From the solutions that I use apart form the changing protected view settings is adding the site to the trusted site list in the browser so the file will not be flagged as unsafe and will open ok – kristof May 4 '11 at 13:25
Another option is to change the properties of the downloaded file. Once the file is downloaded, select properties and you should see in general tab: " The file came from another computer and might be blocked to protect this computer" and an "Unblock" button next to it. Once you choose unblock the file will open ok – kristof May 4 '11 at 13:32
Cool, hopefully we can find a "server" solution. I'll post back if I make any improvements. – Kobinator May 5 '11 at 17:32
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