aussiew Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 I have an excel spreadsheet that I go into 2-3 times a week. So I go to open it this morning and it says "file format is not valid". All my other excel files are opening with no problem and I've rebooted twice (work computer) I've never had this happen before - any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scribo Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 Has the filename been changed? If so, check to make sure the name still ends in .xls If it doesn't end in .xls -- you can change it so it does again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB27 Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 One word, VIRUS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussiew Posted December 20, 2004 Author Share Posted December 20, 2004 Nope. Not that either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevestojan Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 I dont know if you can rename the extension of a file without it being open, but try to convert it to a CSV file instead of a XLS file... you may find a program that can do that for you on Download.com... a CSV file (comma seperated value) will at least have all of your data, it just wont be formatted very nicely. i would first go to download.com and search for "xls to CSV" or "xls csv" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussiew Posted December 20, 2004 Author Share Posted December 20, 2004 OK - here's what happened. And I'm sharing this because I didn't even know this could happen. I downloaded a word document from outlook and when I went to place it in a folder, I accidently clicked on an excel file. That document overwrote the excel file!!!! But in the view mode, it still looks like an excel file with a .xls extension. If I open Word, then click on the that particular file, it will open up and voila! I have the original word document that I downloaded. I must have been very distracted last Friday afternoon reading TSW threads. The worst part is that this excel file is the record of everyone's vacation time and sick time for the 2004 calendar year. And no, I didn't have it on the server. Lucky I implemented paper vacation and sick time requests so I can rebuild it. What a blonde I am. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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