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Thread ID: 21915 2002-07-07 06:37:00 Its Drafty Attached-Non Attached Spread sheet Grandad J (868) Press F1
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60464 2002-07-07 06:37:00 Greetings to the Wise

(1) I have recently tried to attach a spread sheet to an Email I sent to a Trustee Company who tell me that they were unable to open it .
On sending there was no indication that it would not get to it's destination

(2) To endeavor to see what was wrong I tried to send a spread sheet to my alias Email address.On pressing the send button a message came up saying that it had been removed due to the possibility of the sheet containing A "virus"

(3) On checking that alias Email address I found that the attachment had arrived and I was able to open it .

(4) Is there an explanation for this inconsistency?

Kind Regards To The WISE

Grandad J ?:|
Grandad J (868)
60465 2002-07-07 07:21:00 There could be 2 reasons for their inability to open it.

1. There is a virus in it
2. They don't have compatible software to open it.

If you don't already run anti-virus software, or it hasn't recently had it's virus definitions updated do it now!!

If that's OK find out what spreadsheet software they use and see if you are actually sending them something they can read.
Heather P (163)
60466 2002-07-07 09:30:00 Most Office programs can save a file in HTML format which can then be read by anyone. I wish more people would use this option. Give that a try. mikebartnz (21)
60467 2002-07-08 00:25:00 Greetings To Heather P & Mike

I will try the HTML to see how it goes .I have Nortons Virus check which "Auto Protects And is updated weekly I run scandisk normal & defrag monthly . I also do a thorough Defrag on quarterly basis.

Thankyou both for your time and advice

Grandad J :D
Grandad J (868)
60468 2002-07-08 03:03:00 It may be that the excel spreadsheet contains macros.. some virus scanners have a serious problem with them (and for good reason). You might want to disable any in the sheet.

Tools> Macro> Macros

and delete any that may be in there.
honeylaser (814)
60469 2002-07-08 04:13:00 Whoever answered you at the Trust company probably just works there . Their IT people may have set their filters to reject anything containing attachments .

I noticed today that the letters page of the Listener says emails with attachments will not be read . (I suppose that the only useful attachments would be cash, and it doesn't work very well) . ]:)
Graham L (2)
60470 2002-07-08 07:27:00 I note there are assumptions in the reply. "Excel", "Office". Although most spreadsheets are created in the above there are other spreadsheet programs - Lotus 123 (if it's still around) and MS Works spring to mind.

Check that the people you are sending to have not only the same program but also the same version. Some programs are backward compatible, very few are forward compatible (ie if you create it in Excel 95 Excel 2000 should be able to read it but it may not work the other way)
Heather P (163)
60471 2002-07-10 02:07:00 Hi to the wise ones

Thank you for your interest. The spread sheet is (version 4 for Windows 95) My op.syst is 98 se.

Grandad J
Grandad J (868)
60472 2002-07-10 06:31:00 Hi Grandad,

You've stated the version of your software but not the software name - Excel? Works?

If it is Excel it is likely that the Trustees are using a later version (Excel 2000 is version 9, 2002 presumably version 10).

Although Excel should in theory be backwardly compatible it is possible that they would need to install the convertors off the Office disk to read it.

In theory Excel should pop up with a message saying it needs the convertors and that one needs to insert the Office disk to install them. This may fall into the too hard basket for the user who is attempting to open it.

Write to them again with the attachment stating which program and version the file was created in (eg "This document was created in Excel v4") and see how you get on.


Heather
Heather P (163)
60473 2002-07-10 07:03:00 > Most Office programs can save a file in HTML format
> which can then be read by anyone. I wish more people
> would use this option. Give that a try.

I agree. I shouldn't have to buy an overpriced office suite from a monopolistic company just so I can read the files that people send me. (Although their HTML output is pretty bad too).
segfault (655)
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