Question

Excel Document with embeded word doc. Only see grey when clicking on word doc

Asked by: JonMny

I have an excel document that has an embedded word document. When I click on it I am able to edit it. If I send this to other users it works but somtimes a user will click on it and all they see is grey. Can anybody tell me why this would happen.

It's almost like the user has the sheet minimized within the window. If he sends it back to me I can view it just fine.

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Asked On
2009-10-27 at 14:57:40ID24849038
Topics

Microsoft Office Suite

,

Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet Software

,

Microsoft Word

Participating Experts
1
Points
500
Comments
4

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Answers

 

by: byundtPosted on 2009-10-27 at 15:35:03ID: 25678452

I assume that you inserted the Word document as a link. If so, the path to that document is stored relative to your computer. You can see this path in the formula bar if you click on the embedded document.

In my Excel 2003 test workbook, which I saved to my local hard drive, I embedded two Word documents. One of them is on a network drive while the other is on my local hard drive. The stored paths as displayed in the formula bar are as follows:
=Word.Document.8|'C:\VBA\How to make your UDF look more professional.doc'!''''
=Word.Document.8|'\\Blacksheep\dpcstorage\Proj 18163 - FIVR System\02 SDD Phase\EDM Design\System Engineering\Requirements Traceability Matrix.doc'!''''

If I sent the test workbook to someone else, they would not be able to resolve the link to the document on my C drive, but they would have no problems with the one on the network drive. If Excel can't resolve the link, then the user won't be able to edit the document.

Assuming that the above explanation fits the problem, try navigating to the linked document by going through Network Neighborhood. In so doing, you should be able to store the absolute path to your file, and the other users can see and edit the embedded document. If that document is on your computer, you'll also need to grant permission to other users to view files in certain folders on your computer.

 

by: JonMnyPosted on 2009-10-27 at 15:44:37ID: 25678542

No it's not a linked document it's an embedded one.

 

 

by: JonMnyPosted on 2009-10-28 at 10:58:24ID: 25686225

Turns out it was the printer driver.  If I set the default printer to another printer it works fine.

 

 

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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