Link to home
Start Free TrialLog in
Avatar of MostHated
MostHatedFlag for United States of America

asked on

Issues opening Excel .xls file directly from AS400 network share on Windows 7 and Excel 2013

Hello all,
    I had a user who was having issues opening Excel .xls files directly from an AS400 network share. It would launch Excel, say that it was downloading the file, get to 100% but then would just stay with a blank Excel window that had everything grayed out and then that would be where it ends. If they take the file and save it to the local disk, it will open just fine, but not when opening from the AS400 share.

I tried a few things I found online, such as disabling WebClient under services.msc, renaming the local Office folder under AppData so that a new one gets rebuilt, but have had no luck thus far.

If anyone has any suggestions, I would appreciate it!
Thanks,
Avatar of Scott Silva
Scott Silva
Flag of United States of America image

I remember something like this before... See if this helps...

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2994633
Avatar of MostHated

ASKER

Scott,
    I appreciate the reply, unfortunately I had tried that already, and all it did was make it so that no Excel files were able to be opened at all for some reason.

It is only .xls files that are on a network share, the same workbook can be opened if saved to the local drive with out any problem.
Avatar of ThomasMcA2
ThomasMcA2

Does another user have the same issues when opening the same file?

If so, it could be an issue with the file itself.
If not, then it could be an issue with the configuration of the first user's computer.
Can authority differences be found between this user and others, for the file, the directory and the share?
Thomas, no one else had an issue before today, so I thought it was an issue with that particular user (it might still be) but the exact same thing is now occurring with another user. Both Windows 7 and Office 2013. I have office 2013 and Windows 10 but am able to open the file just fine from a network share, as well as someone else who tried who also has windows 10.

I am wondering if perhaps it is related to a Windows 7 update that may have been installed over night on the newly effected persons PC, as I was looking at the update install date of the first user, and she noticed the issue right around the same time updates were installed.
You can try restarting the System I Access File server process on the AS400 and see if it helps...
The server did an IPL over the weekend (it does one every weekend), would that have restarted the process you are referring to? If so, that did not help, as the original person having the issue is still having it.
SOLUTION
Avatar of wsh2
wsh2

Link to home
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
Start Free Trial
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
Link to home
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
Start Free Trial
I don't see the server OS version in the thread. In case I didn't just miss it, can you post the version? If you can find out, can you also post the the cume group PTF level?

Because MS sometimes changes its networking protocols, it can require matching protocols on the server. That can mean either having an appropriate server OS version or appropriate PTFs.
I came across a forum post that had information directly from the Microsoft Excel team, I have linked to their Technet page.