XL2002: You Receive a "Cannot Open Protected File" Error Message When You Open a Tab-Delimited Text File

If you try to open a tab-delimited text file that begins with the letter "C" in Microsoft Excel 2002, you may receive the following error message:

To resolve this problem, obtain and install the Excel 2002 security patch that is described in Microsoft Knowledge Base article 830350. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: After you install this hotfix, follow the steps that are listed in the "More Information" section of this article to set the QFE_Osaka registry key and to activate the hotfix.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section of this article.

Warning If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

To activate this hotfix, follow these steps:

1. Quit Excel 2002.
2. Click Start, and then click Run.
3. In the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK.
4. Locate, and then click to select the following registry key:
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Excel\Options\
5. After you select the key that is specified in step 4, point to New on the Edit menu, and then click DWORD value.
6. Type QFE_Osaka, and then press ENTER.
7. Right-click QFE_Osaka, and then click Modify.
8. In the Value data box, type 1, and then click OK.
9. On the File menu, click Exit to quit Registry Editor.