xls file won't open - not enough memory?

[johnh]

I have an Excel file which I'm no longer able to open
as the system comes back with a message
saying 'Not enough memory'

The file size is 887kb, I think it was created in
Excel 2000 with Win98, but may have been on a
machine running XP Home when the problem occurred.

I am able to open much larger files without problems,
I have also tried opening it on several other machines
which have XP Home and Pro, obviously these have
newer versions of Excel.

Has anyone got any ideas how I can recover my
information please?

Any help will be appreciated, and thanks in advance
for any help you can give.

 

[johnh]

BTW There are no macros or charts. Just text and numbers with some
multiplication between cols.

 

[Earl Kiosterud]

John,

The file is most likely damaged. In Excel 2002, in File - Open, the Open
button has a drop-down with "Open and repair" you could try. Or try opening
in with Open Office. It has a good reputation for being able to open
damaged files.

Earl Kiosterud
www.smokeylake.com

 

[Dave Peterson]

Just to piggyback on Earl's suggestion.

I'd try closing excel then open excel in safe mode to see if that helps.

close excel
windows start button|run
excel /safe
and hit enter

then File|open your workbook

If it works, maybe it's not the workbook--maybe it's excel.

(Or try opening it on a different pc.)

And a link to OpenOffice:
http://www.openoffice.org, a 60-65 meg download or a CD

 

[Guest]

Another thing to try is to open a new workbook and in cell A1 put something
like this

=C:\[YourBadFileName.xls]Sheet1!A1

Correct the Path and File and Sheet names to be what you have, then copy the
formula over and down...........

hth
Vaya con Dios,
Chuck, CABGx3

 

[johnh]

Thank you guy's for your suggestions.

I'm still on dial-up here in the sticks, so a 60meg download is not an
option. I'll see if I can get my mate to do a download.

I have tried to open the file on an XP Home machine, which did eventually
open it with a massive loss of information (saved the info under a new
name).

So still looking for a magical option.

 

[Earl Kiosterud]

John,

You're welcome to send me the file. I'll try it and send the results back.
If you're dial-up, it'll be outbound at 33K bps, I guess -- should take
around 3 minutes.

Earl Kiosterud
www.smokeylake.com

 

[johnh]

Thank you Earl, very kind of you to offer )