XL97: Crash Saving Workbook If Module Name Contains Equal Sign

When you save a workbook that contains one or more module sheets, you receive an error and Microsoft Excel quits without saving the workbook.

If you are running Windows 95, you may receive the following error when you attempt to save the workbook: If you are running Windows NT 3.51 or later, you may receive the following error when you attempt to save the workbook:

This problem may occur if the workbook contains a module sheet with a name that contains an equal sign (=).

In Microsoft Excel 97, module names can contain only alphabetic, numeric and underscore characters; the equal sign character is not valid for module names. However, earlier versions of Microsoft Excel allow module sheet names to contain equal signs. Microsoft Excel 97 can successfully open these files. However, when you attempt to save the workbook in the Microsoft Excel 97 file format, you receive an error, and the workbook is not saved.

To work around this problem, change the name of the module sheet to a valid Microsoft Excel 97 module name before you save the file. To do this, use the following steps:

1. Open the workbook.
2. Press ALT+F11 to activate the Visual Basic Editor.
3. Click Project Explorer on the View menu to display the Project Explorer.
4. In the Project Explorer, double-click the Modules folder for the workbook.
5. Select the module that has an equal sign in its name and press F4 to display the Properties window for that module.
6. In the Properties window, change the name of the module so that it contains only valid characters (alphabetic, numeric and underscores are valid).
7. On the File menu, click "Close and Return to Microsoft Excel."
   
   You should now be able to save the workbook without receiving the error described in this article.

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article.