Excel Err Msg: "Serious Disk Error" Opening Multiple Files

• Microsoft Excel for Windows, versions 4.0, 4.0a

SYMPTOMS

In Microsoft Excel, when you use SMARTDRV.EXE to open multiple files at one time from a cached floppy disk drive, if the floppy disk is a write-protected disk, you may receive the following error message:

   Serious Disk Error. A serious disk error has occurred while writing
   to drive A. Continue will retry the operation.

WARNING: File corruption may result if the disk is NOT a write-protected disk.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, do the following to turn off caching to the floppy drive:

• Exit Windows and type the following command at the MS-DOS prompt:

        smartdrv.exe a- b-
  

  -or-

• Modify the SMARTDRV.EXE line in the AUTOEXEC.BAT command line to turn off caching of any type for all floppy drives, as follows:

        c:\windows\smartdrv.exe 2048 1024 a- b-
  

MORE INFORMATION

Smartdrv is a memory caching utility that decreases the time needed to read data from disk to memory. Applications can access data faster from memory than reading the same data from the disk. However, when system resources are in demand, Smartdrv will attempt to temporarily store information to the disk and read it again when resources become available.