Excel 2003 spreadsheet saving prevented by violation error

[Guest]

All of a sudden, with no changes to options etc. ALL of my spreadsheets can
NOT be saved!

I get the message 'Your changes could not be saved to {filename.xls}'
because of a sharing violation. Try saving to a different file."

If I do that, it saves it to a file name composed of a letter and several
numbers but leaves the original file open. If I close the original and Save
As from the new file to the old name I get the message 'The file
'{filename.xls}' may have been changed by another user since you last saved
it. In that case, what do you want to do?'

I am then given 2 choices Save a Copy (default choice) or Overwrite the
changes. I logically choose the second option in which case I ALWAYS get the
error message 'Document not saved'.

If I then close the file, reopen it and save as it saves correctly.

THIS IS ANNOYING and time consuming. The files have never been shared and
are not presently shared.

I have done a detect and repair on Excel and all other Office 2003
applications but nothing changes.

HOW do I stop this annoyance from happening?

 

[Glenn Richardson]

I had this same problem and couldn't find an answer online anywhere.
So I did a trial and error method!! Here is what eventually worked for
me.

1. Copy the file(s) that you are having the problem with and paste them
onto your desktop (into another folder if there are too many). DO NOT
COPY ANY TEMP FILES!

2. On the original folder - Right Click - Properties - Security.
Delete all names apart from yours (as an administrator). You may need
to uncheck the 'inheritable permissions' box at the bottom.

3. Delete the original folder that was holding the 'problem' file(s).

4. Create a new folder with the same name as the original folder that
held the 'problem' file(s) (it needs to have the same name in case
people have shortcuts to the folder).

5. Copy the file(s) that are on your desktop/held in the folder that
you created on your desktop.

6. Paste the files into the new folder that you created in step 4.

I have no idea what the initial problem was with the files, but doing
the procedure above worked for me!!

I hope this helps.

Cheers
Glenn

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the feedback! I was starting to think along a similar line to
your solution after (similarly) no success on-line.

I'll let you know how it goes.