Error message when you try to update a link in a PowerPoint 2007 presentation: "Some linked files were unavailable and can't be updated"

You open a Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007 presentation that contains a link to a Microsoft Excel item, such as data or an Excel chart, in an Excel worksheet.

When you click to update the link in the presentation, you receive the following error message: Note This issue may occur in other scenarios that involve a link to data items in other programs.

This issue may occur if one or more of the following conditions are true:

• The Excel item is contained in an Excel workbook that is located on a Universal Naming Convention (UNC) path or in a document library on a Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services Web site.
• The Excel item is contained in an Excel workbook that is located on an HTTP location. Additionally, the PowerPoint slide is linked to another PowerPoint slide in the presentation.
• The Excel item, not the whole workbook, is linked to the PowerPoint 2007 presentation.

To work around this issue, do not update the links in the presentation. When the presentation is open, you must delete the linked Excel item from the PowerPoint 2007 presentation. Then, re-create the link to the Excel item. To do this, follow these steps:

1. In Excel, select the Excel item such as the data range or the Excel chart that you want to link.
2. On the Home tab, click Copy in the Clipboard group.
3. Open the presentation in PowerPoint 2007.
4. On the Home tab, click the arrow on the Paste button in the Clipboard group, and then click Paste Special.
5. In the Paste Special dialog box, click Paste Link, click Microsoft Office Excel Chart Object or Microsoft Office Excel Worksheet Object in the As box, and then click OK.

To resolve this issue, apply hotfix 948943.

For more information about how to do this, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: