Excel 2003 stops responding or you receive an "Microsoft Excel has encountered a problem" error message when you open an XML spreadsheet

When you open a workbook that was saved as an XML Spreadsheet in Microsoft Office Excel 2003, Excel may stop responding (hang) or you may receive the following error message:

This problem may occur if you select a noncontiguous selection in your workbook and the Excel workbook is saved as an XML Spreadsheet (*.xml), a single file Web page, or a multiple file Web page.

Note This problem may occur if a noncontiguous selection is included in any one of the following:

• Sheet selection
• AutoFilter
• Publishing Excel data to a Web page
• Conditional formatting
• Pivot Table reference
• Pivot Table area
• Pivot Table location
• Unknown XML

This issue is fixed in the Excel 2003 hotfix package that is dated February 29, 2004.

For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

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