XL97: Error Opening Password-Protected File with Merged Cells

When you open a password-protected workbook in Microsoft Excel 97 and enter the password, you may receive the following message: If you click Details, you receive the following error message:

This problem may occur if the following conditions are true:

• The workbook contains one or more merged cells. -and-
  
  
• The workbook was protected with a Password To Open password. -and-
  
  
• The computer is using French regional settings.

Note that the versions of Microsoft Windows 95 and Microsoft Excel 97 may both be English language versions.

To correct this problem, install Microsoft Excel 97 Service Release 1 (SR-1).

To work around this problem, switch the regional settings on the computer to English before you attempt to open the workbook again. To do this, follow these steps:

1. On the Start menu, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
2. Double-click Regional Settings. Click the Regional Settings tab.
3. In the list of regional settings, click "English (United States)" or another English setting. Then, click OK.
4. When you are prompted to restart the computer, do so.

After the computer has restarted, start Microsoft Excel 97 and open the workbook. If the problem still occurs, there may be another cause that prevents you from opening the workbook; if the workbook is opened correctly, unmerge the merged cells or remove the password from the workbook before you save and close the workbook.

After you modify the workbook, you should be able to switch back to the original regional settings and open the workbook.

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Microsoft Excel 97. This problem was corrected in Microsoft Excel 97 SR-1.

For additional information about SR-1, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: