Consider a scenario, wherein, you receive the following error when you try to open an Excel 2002 workbook pertaining to your employees’ personal information:

“Unable to read file.”

After you click OK button, the Document Recovery task pane does not appear, and the workbook is not recovered.

Cause

This happens when the Excel file contains damage to different portions of the file structure. In the above scenario, MS Excel 2002 detects the first signs of damage and tries to repair the file by starting Excel in safe mode. After doing this, Excel 2002 observes the remaining damages in the file, and then attempts to restart it in a minimal-load mode.

When this second attempt to restart Excel fails, the above error occurs. The behavior also points towards severe corruption in an Excel file.

Resolution

You can resolve the problem by following the below-mentioned Excel recovery steps:

• You must download the latest service pack i.e. SP 3 for Microsoft XP
• Alternatively, you must try the following methods to recover data from an Excel file

1. Set the recalculation option in Excel to manual
2. Open the file in Microsoft Word or WordPad
3. Open the file in Microsoft Excel Viewer
4. If a chart is linked to the corrupted file, use a macro to extract the data

• If the above steps do not yield any result, then immediately opt for a professional Excel repair software.

Stellar Phoenix Excel Repair is a reliable utility which repairs corrupt or damaged Excel spreadsheets created with MS Excel 2007, 2003, 2002 and 2000 versions. The Excel file repair utility also preserves the formatting whilst restoring all the components of a corrupt Excel file.

To thoroughly elaborate the above situation, consider a realistic situation wherein you encounter the below error message while trying to open MS Excel 2000 spreadsheet:

“File Error: Data May Have Been Lost”

The above error message does not allow the spreadsheet to open and makes all its saved records inaccessible.

Cause:

The above error message appears when your Excel spreadsheet is logically corrupted.

Resolution:

To get past the above Excel spreadsheet corruption error message, repair the file using the below mentioned steps:

1. Click ‘Open’ under the ‘File’ menu.
2. Choose the corrupt Excel file and click ‘Open’ button.
3. Lastly, click on ‘Open and Repair’ option to repair the spreadsheet.

In case the spreadsheet remains corrupted even after following the above steps, and you have not maintained any backup, then you will need to repair the spreadsheet using an effective third-party Excel File Repair application. The repair tool is easily understandable and is absolutely non-destructive. It allows the user to save the repaired file at user-specified location.

Stellar Phoenix Excel Repair repairs and restores MS Excel 2000, XP(2002), 2003 and 2007 files, regardless of their cause of corruption. The tool ensures recovery of all Excel file objects, like charts, images, text, formulas, and more. Compatible with almost all Windows operating systems (7, Vista, 2003, XP, and 2000), the Excel Repair tool does not require any technical skill to perform repair.

Consider a scenario wherein you open an Excel workbook, which was created in Excel 2002, in Excel 2003. However, you are unable to open the file. An error message is displayed, that is:

“Errors were detected in ‘filename.xls,’ but Microsoft Excel was able to open the file by making the repairs listed below. Save the file to make these repairs permanent.

Damage to the file was so extensive that repairs were not possible. Excel attempted to recover your formulas and values, but some data may have been lost or corrupted.”

Cause:

The root cause of this error message is that the Excel file has corrupted owing to various reasons mentioned in the first paragraph.

Resolution:

You can resolve this error message by:

• Opening the file in Microsoft Word (or WordPad) or in Microsoft Excel Viewer.
• Setting the recalculation option in Excel to manual.
• Using external references to link to the corrupted file.
• Using a macro to extract data, if a chart is linked to the corrupted file.

The above-mentioned methods will be able to provide a solution for the error message. However, if you are unable to rectify the issue then you should use third-party Excel repair software to repair Excel file. Such read-only tools are able to repair Excel file from any instance of corruption by scanning the file using fast yet sophisticated scanning tools thereby ensuring safe recovery of corrupt file.

Stellar Phoenix Excel Repair software is an Excel file repair tool that enables you to repair corrupted or damaged Excel files. It is able to repair Excel file by recovering various components such as text, color, formatting, engineering formulas, charts, macros, etc. This Excel repair tool is capable of repairing errors which even the ‘Open and Repair‘ utility is not able to resolve. It supports Excel 2000, 2002, 2003, 2007, and 2010 (Beta). This Excel file repair tool is compatible with Windows 7, Vista, Server 2003, XP, and 2000.

Think of a practical situation – On a Windows Vista-based computer, when you try to exit from Excel 2007, you observe that the program stops working, and eventually crashes. Furthermore, you may receive the following information for the error:

Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: EXCEL.EXE
Application Version: 11.0.8231.0
Application Timestamp: 48934d57
Fault Module Name: OLEAUT32.dll
Fault Module Version: 6.0.6001.18000
Fault Module Timestamp: 4791a74f
Exception Code: c0000005
Exception Offset: 00004580
OS Version: 6.0.6001.2.1.0.768.3
Locale ID: 1033

Additional information about the problem:
LCID: 1033
Brand: Office11Crash
skulcid: 1033

Cause:

This issue might be caused by the add-ins present in the program.

Resolution:

Following measures may help you resolve the issue:

Disable the add-ins from Excel and then test the program.
If this does not help, then try to change the value of LoadBehavior  from 3 to 0 under the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\Excel\Addins

In most cases, you will be able to solve the issue after using the above mentioned measures. However, changing the registry key value can be be risky as any wrong entry can severely damage your system. Therefore, to solve all the problems related to Excel crash, it is recommended to use a good-quality excel repair software to repair the Excel file that got corrupt due to Excel crash. These sophisticated applications employ influencing scanning mechanisms to repair excel file systematically. Equipped with intuitive graphical user interface, these are user-friendly tools and you do not require any prior technical understanding to use these applications.

Consider a situations – Sometimes, when you try to open a Excel file, lets say a workbook, you encounter the following error message:

“The workbook you are opening contains macros. Some macros may contain viruses.”

You get three options after this error message, viz- Disable Macros (Default), Enable Macros and Do not open. This surprises you as you know that the workbook does not contain macros. Furthermore, while you are still worried about this error message, another error message appears:

“Unable to read file.”

The end result of the whole scenario comes out to be fatal as the data saved in the workbook becomes inaccessible.

Cause:

Possible reasons for the above error message are:

Norton anti-virus conflicting with MS Excel.
Some add-ins hinder in the proper functioning of Excel.
Excel uses files with .xlb extension to store toolbar information. Sometimes, these files get corrupt and the error message appears.

Resolution:

Since, the problem is caused by three different causes, there has to be a separate solution for all of them. Thus, to solve the problem, consider the following measures:

When an anti-virus like Norton is generating the problem, then you need to uninstall it.
If the problem is caused by add-ins in Excel, you need to disable them.
If the files with .xlb extension are causing the problem, then delete all the files. But, if the problem still continues, then the problem is most probably due to Excel spreadsheet corruption. In such a case, you will need to repair excel file to retrieve your data from the corrupted Excel file. This can be easily done by using an effective excel recovery application that employs sophisticated scanning mechanisms to repair the Excel file successfully. Designed with interactive graphical user interface, these utilities are user-friendly and self-explanatory.

For instance – In some cases, when you try to open an Excel file, you may encounter any of the below mentioned error message:

“Cannot find the file.”
“Unable to read file.”
“Unexpected Error (35012).”
“File format not valid.”
“The file *.xls caused a serious error the last time it was opened.”

After the occurrence of any of the above error message, the Excel file does not open and ultimately your data becomes inaccessible.

Cause:

The root cause of all the above mentioned error messages is the corruption of Excel file. This happens due to the following reasons:

When a computer shuts down, it closes all the open files. But, in case the computer crashes, then the open Excel files get corrupted.
Excel file corruption can also occur when the hard drive develops s bad sector and the Excel files are within that sector.
Some software problems like unexpected closure of the files cause corruption of Excel files.
Another reason for Excel corruption is virus infection.

Resolution:

To resolve the Excel corruption issues, you will need to repair excel file using an effective third-party application known as excel repair software. These applications employ high-end scanning mechanisms to ensure complete retrieval of your data from the corrupted Excel file. Embedded with rich graphical user interface, these tools are easy to use and understand.

For instance – Sometimes, when you try to format a cell or range of cells, you encounter the below mentioned error message:

“Too many different cell formats.”

This error message leads to corruption of the Excel file or workbook, due to which you fail to access the data stored in the file.

Cause:

The above mentioned error message mainly occurs if the workbook contains more than 4000 different combinations of cell format. In other words, the error message is the result of complex formatting used, which generally occurs in shared workbook leading to corruption of the file.

Resolution:

Try to resolve the problem by simplifying the formatting in the workbook. Consider the measures given below to simplify the formatting:

Try using a standard font. This will reduce the number of formatting combinations.
Try to use borders consistently in worksheets.

Save and close the workbook after simplifying the formatting. Then, reopen the workbook before applying additional cell formatting.

In most cases, you will succeed in resolving the problem by following the above mentioned measures. However, if the problem continues to exist, then you will need to excel file repair by using a effective excel repair software. Employing high-end scanning algorithms, these applications provide quick and accurate retrieval of your data. These applications are carefully incorporated by highly proficient technicians, who furnish these tools with interactive graphical user interface to make them user-friendly and self-explanatory.

As a regular MS Excel user, any unusual behavior of the application causing corruption of your files can put you on backfoot as you may be on the verge of losing your precious data. In such cases, excel recovery becomes essential. But, before explaining the solution, let us talk about the kind of problems that you may encounter at MS Excel startup:

• Conflicting or problematic file in Excel startup folder or alternate startup file location.
• Corrupted Excel toolbar file.
• Corruption in the registry keys.
• Corrupted shortcut to the Excel program.
• Corrupted add-ins under the Tools menu.

When you come across any of the above mentioned symptoms, then there is a possibility of Excel file or files corruption. At this point, you need to find an appropriate solution to repair the damaged or corrupted Excel files.

Resolution:

When an Excel file gets corrupted, then the only way though which your data can be retrieved is by using a powerful third-party application known as excel repair software. These are advanced applications that are designed specifically to resolve all the corruption issues in MS Excel. These tools effectively repair the corrupted or damaged Excel file by incorporating sophisticated scanning mechanisms. Furthermore, these applications are embedded with highly interactive graphical user interface that makes them user friendly and self explanatory. So, you do not require any prior technical skills.

Consider a practical situations – Sometimes, when you attempt to open a workbook( that has macros) , which contains Visual Basic for Applications modules, the following error message may appear on the system screen:

“Unexpected Error (35012)”

After this error message, a Disable Macros dialog box may appear, but the problem remains intact even after disabling the macros. Further, when you click OK in the error message, the workbook closes but Excel remains opened.

Cause:

You come across the above error message when the workbook is corrupted or damaged, regardless of the macro code being present in the file. Corruption in the workbook file may occur due to virus infected macros , improper system shutdown, application malfunction, etc.

Resolution:

Consider the measures given below to resolve the issues:

• Try to re-open the file in Excel and set the calculation option to Manual.
• Try opening the Excel file in MS Word. However, even if the file opens, you may not be able to recover macros sheets, charts, cell formulas, embedded charts, and more. In such a situation, it is recommended to use a third-party application to repair excel file. An effective excel repair software will enable you to retrieve and restore the data from the corrupted workbook file. These are advanced applications that employ high-end scanning mechanisms to quickly scan and repair the Excel file. Embedded with rich graphical user interface, these tools are easy to use and understand without any prior technical skills.

For instance – Sometimes, when you try to open a MS Excel file, you may encounter an error message similar to the following:

“File error: data may have been lost”

This error message generates the possibility of data loss.

Cause:

Possible causes for the above mentioned error message are:

• The error message generally appears if the file is created in the older version of Excel, while you are opening it in a newer version.
• Another reason could be corruption or damage of Excel file.

Resolution:

Consider the measures given below to resolve the problem:

• Try to open the file in the same version in which you have created the file.  But, if the file does not open, then it might be corrupt. Perform a manual workaround to resolve the problem by following any of the measures given below:

1.Try to repair and open the file using Open and Repair feature.
2.Convert the file in XML or HTML format and then convert it back to normal file format.
3.In case, the file is using a chart linked to the affected file, then you can use a macro to extract the data.

However, if the problem still persists, then you are required to use a powerful excel file repair software to repair the corrupted Excel file. These excel recovery applications completely repair the Excel file by employing highly sophisticated scanning algorithms. With their interactive graphical user interface, these are easy-to-use tools that do not require any prior technical understanding or skills.