MS11-072: Description of the security update for Excel 2007: September 13, 2011

Known issues with this security update

• After you install this security update, relative external links may be broken in Excel files that are located on a UNC share. This problem occurs if the files contain references that point to another location on the same server. When this problem occurs, a share name in the UNC path is duplicated. For example, "\\servername\folder\test" is converted to \\servername\folder\folder\test."
  
  To work around this problem, used either of the following methods:
  
  

  • Work with local copies of the files.

  • Fix the links and then save the file.
    
    
    
    Note When the file is opened again on a computer that has this security update installed, the links will be broken again.
    

  To resolve this issue, install update 2596596. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
  

  2596596 Description of the Excel 2007 update: December 13, 2011
  This issue has also been addressed by the hotfix in Microsoft Knowledge Base article 2596545. You can download and install the hotfix package from the following Knowledge Base article:

  2596545 Description of the Office Excel 2007 hotfix package (excel-x-none-msp, xlconv-x-none.msp, graph-x-none.msp): October 25, 2011

• Microsoft Update or Windows Update may offer this update even though you do not have Microsoft Office Excel 2007 installed. For more information about this issue, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

  830335 Microsoft Update and Windows Update offer updates for Office programs that you do not have installed

• After you install this update, you may be unable to save an Excel file on a network share. When you open and then try to save an Excel file from a network share, you may receive an error message that resembles the following:
  
  
  
  

  
  The file <name of file> may have been changed by another user since you last saved it.
  

  
  You are then asked if you want to save a copy or overwrite the changes.
  
  Workaround
  
  To work around this issue, use one of the following methods, depending on your version of Excel.
  
  
  ImportantThis section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

  322756 How to back up and restore the registry in Windows

  • Excel 2003
    Follow the resolution steps that are described in the Excel 2003 section of Knowledge Base article 324491.
    
    For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
    

    324491
    You receive a "The file may have been changed" error message when you save a workbook to a network server in Excel 2002 or in Excel 2003
    

  • Excel 2007
    

    1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit in the Open box, and then click OK.

    2. Locate and then click the following subkey in the registry:
       
       

       HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Excel\Options

    3. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.

    4. Type QFE_Saskatchewan for the name of the DWORD, and then press Enter.

    5. Right-click QFE_Saskatchewan, and then click Modify.

    6. In the Value data box, type 2, and then click OK. When you type this value, Excel will always flush the file cache before the program obtains the time stamp. (This should resolve the problem most of the time.) Or, type 1 to have Excel disable the time stamp check and always suppress the dialog box.
       
       Note We do not recommend disabling the time stamp check.

  • Excel 2010
    

    1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit in the Open box, and then click OK.

    2. Locate and then click the following subkey in the registry:
       
       

       HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Excel\Options
       
       

    3. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.

    4. Type QFE_Saskatchewan for the name of the DWORD, and then press Enter.

    5. Right-click QFE_Saskatchewan, and then click Modify.

    6. In the Value data box, type 2, and then click OK. When you type this value, Excel will always flush the file cache before the program obtains the time stamp. (This should resolve the problem most of the time.) Or, type 1 to have Excel disable the time stamp check and always suppress the dialog box.
       
       Note We do not recommend disabling the time stamp check.

  
  Microsoft is currently working on an update to resolve this problem and will post more information in this article when the information becomes available.
  
  

Prerequisites to apply this security update

To apply this security update, you must have Service Pack 1 (SP1) or Service Pack 2 (SP2) for the 2007 Microsoft Office system installed on the computer.

For more information about how to obtain the service pack, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

949585 How to obtain the latest service pack for the 2007 Office suite

Restart information

You may have to restart the computer after you install this security update.

In some cases, this update does not require a restart. If the required files are being used, this update will require a restart. If this behavior occurs, a message is displayed that advises you to restart the computer.

To help reduce the possibility that a restart will be required, stop all affected services, and close all applications that may use the affected files before you install this security update. For more information about the reasons why you may be prompted to restart, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

887012 Why you may be prompted to restart your computer after you install a security update on a Windows-based computer

Security update replacement information

This security update replaces the following security update:

2541007 MS11-045: Description of the security update for Excel 2007: June 14, 2011

Removal information

To remove this security update, use the Add or Remove Programs item or use the Programs and Features item in Control Panel.

Note When you remove this security update, you may be prompted to insert the disc that contains Microsoft Office Excel 2007. Additionally, you may not have the option to uninstall this security update from the Add or Remove Programs item or the Programs and Features item in Control Panel. There are several possible causes for this issue.

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

903771 Information about the ability to uninstall Office updates

File information

The English version of this security update has the file attributes (or later file attributes) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time item in Control Panel.