OO incorrectly claims .xls file is password protected

mtunnell · Newbie Joined: 28 Jul 2003 Posts: 2

I've recently begun having trouble opening certain spreadsheets created in Microsoft Excel. Open Office pops the following message box:
Error loading document.
file:// (it shows the path to the file)
Read-Error.
This file is password-protected.

However, the file is not password protected. Excel opens it just fine.

Any ideas?

Mark

itmauritius · General User Joined: 27 Jul 2003 Posts: 8

Try clicking OK without entering any password. Your file might be damaged since my Impress presentation also had a password prob though I never placed a pswd on it

DDJack59 · Posted: Sun Aug 03, 2003 4:56 am Post subject:

OpenOffice Calc will think that the whole file is password protected if the Excel user has 'protected' any part of the sheet, even if it is one single cell.

Regards,
--Doug

The Liquidator · Posted: Sun Aug 03, 2003 1:50 pm Post subject:

If there are graphics in the spreadsheet that have been "locked" the password message you have referred to will also be seen and the file won't open.

mtunnell · Newbie Joined: 28 Jul 2003 Posts: 2

Actually, you can lock sheets with Excel and OO will open the document fine. You can then unprotect the sheet even if it was password protected from Excel! However, if you protect the workbood in Excel, OO can't open it.

Mark

Guest

The Liquidator · Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2003 12:17 am Post subject:

If any part of the spreadsheet is "locked" it will be reported as password- protected. Typically this will apply to things like graphics. Are there any parts of the spreadsheet to which this applies?

Guest

Guest · Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2003 7:51 pm Post subject:

I'm in the same boat, except I know the .xls file is locked and I have the password to open it. I just don't know where to type the password to get it to unlock the dang file. I just get an error message, no prompt to enter a password. Help?

Guest_J · Guest

I am facing the same problem, I recently installed OO, and I have a lot of excel files that are password protected! OO can't open any of the files, if just gives me an error message. DO I need to instal excel and unlock All the files!

Is there any solution out there?

Regards,

Jad..

dpeach · Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2003 10:05 pm Post subject:

I would assume that if the file was password protected through Excel, then you will have to have Excel to change or delete the password protection.

I have never used Excel and therefore know nothing about the password protection that you are talking about. But I would not see this as a fault of OOo if Excel was the program that you used to protect it.

Try opening in Excel and taking off the password and see if you can open it in OOo. I hope you get access to your excel files (pun inteded).

dpeach

Gabor · Posted: Sun Nov 09, 2003 4:33 am Post subject: Override

This is a terribly big problem for me to. Since it is usually not our own files we face real difficulties with opening but ones that were sent to us by others, the way of development should be to enable OOcalc to override Excel's any protection or ofering to open the tables without certatn features. Of course I know that it is easy to say, I am not a programmer. Maybe it is impossible. But it would be worth a try by experts, perhaps.

Curtz · Posted: Sun Nov 09, 2003 11:47 am Post subject:

I wouldnt blame OOo for this either. The MSO import/export filters in OOo are as good as reverse engeneering filters get. It would be nice if OOo could also open these procted files, but I don't know if there is a copyright issues involved here, but there sure are lots and lots and lots of work involved.
_________________
BR Curtz

OOo 2.0.4 on rock solid Windows 2000 (English, SP4)

carpman · General User Joined: 23 Jul 2003 Posts: 15

so how do we go about gewtting around this problem?

I am going to try opening such a file in gnumeric and see if that helps.

fritzel67 · Guest

I don't know if a solution was ever found for this problem, but I noticed that if you remove the password from within MS Office, subsequently OpenOffice will be able to open the file.