Excel File Opens As Read-Only, Notifies about Read-Write Switch Later. HDD Problem?

S

shortie

this started to happen periodically. i open an excel file and get a warning that it's Read-Only. In a minute or so I am notified that it can be switched to Write mode.

Could it be that my HDD has become slow and it takes time for an excel file to properly open?

Google search suggests the problem may happen with network drives when several people access the same file. This is not the case here, because this is a stand-alone machine.
 
what's the OS?
What version of excel?
What kind of machine?
How long has it been going on?
How many times has it happened?
How many times has it not happened since it started happening?
 
I don't remember where I read it, but I think I recently read somewhere that this problem were being caused by a recent security update.
 
XP, service pack 3
Excel 2003
E7400 processor

i noticed it ~1 month ago, not sure exactly. now it is frequent enough to make me worry something is wrong. i happens once a day i think.

it tends to happen when i just start excel. after the first file the others open fine. but it may happen when a excel file is already open (without problems) but the second file gives me the Read Only notice.

it does look as if it takes time for Excel to kick in. Files are not huge <20MB. but it may try to do some calculations automatically. will try turning those off.

actually as I type this, I begin to suspect that only one file gives me this error. And it may have a lot of calculations in worksheets. i will try to turn them off and see what happens.

XP is on SSD, files on a regular HDD, Excel is on SSD

could SSD be getting slow?
 
Open that 20mb file and start task manager and see how much ram is being used and how much is free.

While 20mb is not a big file by our standards, to have a file that big in Excel with calculations open can consume lots of ram.

That's why we have gone to x64 with unlimited ram in recent versions of Excel. Your 2003 version is limited to 2gb of ram for Excel.

Look at ram useage before and after opening the file. If it's using the whole 2gb I suggest a newer x64 version of excel and more ram.

I deal with this all the time. It was a tremendous relief getting x64. No more funny stuff like what you're going through.
 
Quote from shortie:

this started to happen periodically. i open an excel file and get a warning that it's Read-Only. In a minute or so I am notified that it can be switched to Write mode.

Could it be that my HDD has become slow and it takes time for an excel file to properly open?

Google search suggests the problem may happen with network drives when several people access the same file. This is not the case here, because this is a stand-alone machine.
More...

With crashed and deleted excel documents can cope with Excel repair tools. It is able to help after various errors such as unable to read excel files, viruses, hard disk failures. The software launches under Windows 98 and higher.
 
This is symptomatic of a corrupt Excel file. It appears the flag to protect the file read-only with/without password is getting set inadvertantly.
Make sure that option is set off.
Another option: create a new workbook, copy all worksheets from the existing to the new, save, and then test the new one.
 
Quote from Nana111:

Hi there
I am also looking for an excel processing program.It should support to edit and read excel files effectively.I have got a free trial package from an excel processing program:
http://www.rasteredge.com/how-to/csharp-imaging/excel-processing/
It is powerful but expensive.Is there any cheap one?
Thanks for any suggestion.
More...

And why are you not just using Excel to "process" Excel files?

Off brand programs are highly discouraged. They can't be trusted.
 
Add the file's location/directory as a trusted location. No idea how you do that on XP with 2003. Upgrade to at least W7 and Office 2007 or preferably 2010.

Just add it as a trusted location and it'll open up read-write all the time.
 
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