Excel found unreadable content in "……………".

[springbrook]

I have received and error message:

Excel found unreadable content in "……………". Do you want to recover contents of this workbook?

This workbook has been used for quite some time now.
There are 3 of us who use this workbook nearly every day.
It opens fine on my pc but not on the other 2 (we all run 2007)

Now when they open the workbook it comes up with the following error.
If they open an older version its ok, however if I open it, do nothing to it, save it and then close it, the error appears.

It seems to be since Thursday last week when my 'automatic updates' were done.
Some thing has changed !

Nothing has been altered at all.

I need of desperate help.

Thanks in advance
Springbrook

 

[StreetMike]

I am having this problem on my home computer and on my work computer as well. These are entirely separate systems...separate add-ins, different spreadsheets, etc. I can't believe this isn't a widespread problem!

It MAY only affect macro-enabled files. I haven't seen it yet with .xlsx files. That said, we almost never use .xlsx files.

 

[kkonen]

We only use xlsx files and we are continually having the problem. I just downloaded the hotfix. I will see if that works.

 

[StreetMike]

we are still having the problem...please post if you find a solution!

 

[kkonen]

The hotfix said I have the wrong version of excel. I have 2007 with all the updates.

The Office 2010 beta is available for download. I might switch to that to see what happens. This error is causing my office to grind to a halt.

 

[jwjcmw]

Just in case this helps someone with the unreadable content issue, in our case it turned out to be the Application.CalculateFullRebuild function that was corrupting our spreadsheets. It is also triggered by Ctrl-Alt-Shift-F9. And it potentially corrupts any open workbooks.

 

[brendanolear]

I have just had same issue on files that are 200mb and had just about lost the will to live.

See MOAK's suggestion Page2? - My originals were created on 2003 I am now on 2007.

I saved a copy of the file to 2007 .xlsm,

Closed it, reopened, saved it again as a 2003 .xls

Problem has been resolved.

Thanks MOAK

 

[bdr200]

I have an Excel application originally developed in Excel 2003 then converted to 2007 and saved in .xlsm format. It is complex containing multiple formulaic worksheets, pivot tables, and VBA code modifies the workbook in accordance with user input sspecifications. In 2003 it worked reliably. Once converted to 2007 it worked on first time of opening then after saving, closing, and re-opening the unreadable content appeared. The consequence was the loss of some formulae, usually on the same group of worksheets although the exact formulae being corruoted could vary. Some were converted to values and others became #N/A (as text in the cell, not as the result of a formula). Also within 2 worksheets we found that the calulation function was broken. Apparently good formulae fail to update even though calculation was set to automatic. Pressing F9 did not have an effect. It was possible to fix all these issues manully but upon save, close, and re-open the problems come back but not necesserily in the same place.

After some forum research I found a reference to a Microsoft HotFix dated 29th June 2010, link as below:-

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/983314/en-us

I downloaded and applied this fix (despite microsoft's warning that it had not yet been fully tested). Initial tests indicate the problem has been solved.

 

[StreetMike]

I was very excited by the hotfix, but alas it doesn't seem to solve my problem.

 

[MLF]

I don't know the exact date, but I've been getting that error for about 6 months now (plus or minus).
Mine also happens with xlsx files.
I use range names very generously in my models.
I also use relative range names.
Never had *any* issues with Excel 2003.
Mine is related to the calc chain, I believe.
I need to force the rebuild of the calculation dependency chain because several times a year Excel "forgets" to update some cells.
I now do that frequently with a personal macro -- supposedly the same as hitting crtl+alt+shift+F9.

Here is a typical error dump:
Removed Records: Formula from /xl/worksheets/sheet5.xml part
Removed Records: Shared formula from /xl/worksheets/sheet5.xml part
Removed Records: Formula from /xl/worksheets/sheet7.xml part
Removed Records: Shared formula from /xl/worksheets/sheet7.xml part
Removed Records: Formula from /xl/worksheets/sheet8.xml part
Removed Records: Shared formula from /xl/worksheets/sheet8.xml part
Removed Records: Formula from /xl/worksheets/sheet10.xml part
Removed Records: Shared formula from /xl/worksheets/sheet10.xml part
Removed Records: Formula from /xl/worksheets/sheet12.xml part
Removed Records: Shared formula from /xl/worksheets/sheet12.xml part
Removed Records: Formula from /xl/worksheets/sheet13.xml part
Removed Records: Shared formula from /xl/worksheets/sheet13.xml part
Removed Records: Formula from /xl/worksheets/sheet15.xml part
Removed Records: Shared formula from /xl/worksheets/sheet15.xml part
Removed Records: Formula from /xl/worksheets/sheet19.xml part
Removed Records: Formula from /xl/calcChain.xml part (Calculation properties)


This is still a hot issue for me, so please post any solutions you may find.

BTW, I didn't see a "subscribe" option -- I'd like to follow this one.

--Matt

 

[StreetMike]

At this point, I have still not found a solution and continue to have the issue.

At least it's nice to know I am not alone.