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Note
Office 365 ProPlus is being renamed to Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise. For more information about this change, read this blog post.
Symptoms
When you create a hyperlink in an Office document and then select the link, you may receive one of these error messages:
Unable to open <URL>. Cannot locate the Internet server or proxy server.
Unable to open <URL>. Cannot open the specified file.
- I created a code in c# which creates and saves excel file. The code can successfully create and save excel file, but when I open the excel file created, it displays a warning message telling: The file format and extension of 'filename.xls' don't match. The file could be corrupted or unsafe. Unless you trust its source, don't open it.
- I've been attempting to export a report to excel and get the message 'excel could not open the data file'. Randomly, this started happening about 2 weeks ago. I've run the update to no avail. The CVS file will export which I can convert to excel but I don't understand why it's happening randomly. Been using Excel with QB desktop for years.
<URL> = the hyperlink you inserted.
Note
Mar 05, 2018 Then we just end up at the default start page for Excel. If I have the file closed by the user that had it open, then try to open again, it will open just fine. We feel that we could fix this problem by taking the junction points out but at this point that is not really an option. I am hoping that someone here might have a fix for this.
The hyperlink does work if you type it directly in the browser or in the Open box of the Run dialog box (select Start, and then select Run).
Cause
This problem occurs when the following conditions are true:
- You are using Microsoft Internet Explorer:
- As a proxy server -or-
- With a firewall that does not allow HTTP requests to be placed on your local network
- Internet Explorer is not your default browser.
- The ForceShellExecute registry key is not present in the following location or is not set to 1:
- For 32-bit versions of office installed on 64-bit operating systems:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREWow6432NodeMicrosoftOffice9.0CommonInternet
- For 32-bit versions of Office installed on 32-bit operating systems or 64-bit versions of Office installed on 64-bit operating systems:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE SoftwareMicrosoftOffice9.0CommonInternet
Workaround
Important
This 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, select the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
322756 How to back up and restore the registry in Windows
Add the Internet Subkey to the registry and set the Value data
To work around this issue, either add the ForceShellExecute subkey, if it is not present, and set the Value data, or if it is present, set the Value data of the ForceShellExecute subkey.
- Quit any programs that are running.
- Select Start, and then select Run. Type regedit in the Open box, and then select OK.
- In Registry Editor, browse to one of the following subkeys (create the keys if they do not exist):
- For a 32-bit version of Office on a 64-bit version of Windows:*HKLMSOFTWAREWow6432NodeMicrosoftOffice9.0CommonInternet*
- For a 32-bit version of Office on a 32-bit version of Windows:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftOffice9.0CommonInternet
- For a 64-bit version of Office on a 64-bit version of Windows:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftOffice9.0CommonInternet
- Make sure the Internet subkey is selected. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then select DWORD Value. Add the following registry value:Value Name: ForceShellExecute
- Double-click ForceShellExecute, and then set the Value data to 1. Select OK.
- On the Registry menu, select Exit.
Did this fix the problem?
Check whether the problem is fixed. If the problem is fixed, you are finished with this section. If the problem is not fixed, you can contact support.
More Information
A hyperlink may not go to a Microsoft Word document or a Microsoft Excel worksheet after you use this workaround.
Office uses the Urlmon.dll file to handle all Internet transitions.
In this case, the Urlmon.dll file sends a request to get a file via http:// through the proxy server. The proxy server sees that the request came from Internet Explorer, based upon the HTTP User Agent field of the http://request. It then gives an error 403, basically saying 'Access Denied.'
The Urlmon.dll file gets this and simply returns the error message mentioned earlier. The error means that the request failed, but it never states why it failed.
How To Fix Warning Could Not Start Excel Server For Export In A Mac Download
The workaround is to use a ShellExecute() on the URL. This allows the operating system to start the URL on the default browser. If the default browser is not restricted by the proxy server, the proper page is displayed.