Trouble Opening Network Workbooks

Andrew Hope reported a problem with Excel workbooks that cropped up after upgrading to Windows XP. The workbooks are stored on a network, and sometimes when he tries to open the workbooks, he gets an error message that indicates the file is already open, and he has to open the workbook as "read only." The problem is, the file is not being used by anyone else, and sometimes it hasn't been opened for weeks.

Obviously, Excel only displays this behavior if it thinks the target workbook is in use by somebody. Nothing could be located on this problem in the Microsoft Knowledge Base, but there are a couple of things you can try.

First of all, reboot your system to see if the problem clears up. It could be that when you reboot, Windows will clear out whatever memory flags or temporary files that are signaling the workbook as in use. If that doesn't clear it up, you may want to try opening the workbook after disabling your antivirus software temporarily. If the workbook opens properly, you've at least figured out that the culprit is the antivirus program.

Search your system for any temporary files that may have been created by Excel. If Excel was ended abnormally, these temporary files may have been left behind and could affect how Excel works in the future. (Excel creates temporary files when saving a workbook, and may create temporary files at other times, as well.)

Hopefully one of these suggestions will help to clear up the problem.