OFF2000: Unable to Preview File Using Quick View

ID: Q199825

The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Office 2000
  • Microsoft PowerPoint 2000
  • Microsoft Word 2000
  • Microsoft Excel 2000

SYMPTOMS

When you use Microsoft Quick View to open a file created in one of the Microsoft Office programs listed at the beginning of this article, no data appears in the preview pane or you receive following error message

Could not view file name, the viewer returned an unknown error.
where file name is the name of your Office document.


CAUSE

Microsoft Quick View for Windows 95 and Microsoft Quick View for Windows NT 4.0 cannot directly preview files created in any of the Microsoft Office programs.

NOTE: This problem does not occur in Microsoft Windows 98.


RESOLUTION

To resolve this behavior, use either of the following methods.

Method 1: Save The File in a Different Format

Microsoft Excel 2000

Save the file in the "Microsoft Excel 97-2000 & 5.0/95 Workbook" format. Microsoft Quick View can preview Microsoft Excel workbooks that you save in this format. To save the file, follow these steps:
  1. Open the file in Microsoft Excel 2000.


  2. On the File menu, click Save As.


  3. In the Save As dialog box, click Microsoft Excel 97-2000 & 5.0/95 Workbook in the Save as type list.


  4. Type a new name in the File name box.


  5. Click Save and close the file.


NOTE: When you save a Microsoft Excel 2000 workbook in the "Microsoft Excel 97-2000 & 5.0/95 Workbook" format, you may encounter problems if you open and save the document in earlier versions of Microsoft Excel (for example, some items are not supported in earlier versions of Microsoft Excel).

Microsoft PowerPoint 2000

Save the file in the "PowerPoint 4.0 (*.ppt)" or "PowerPoint 97-2000 & 95 Presentation" format. Microsoft Quick View can preview Microsoft PowerPoint presentations that you save in this format. To save the file, follow these steps:
  1. Open the file in Microsoft PowerPoint 2000.


  2. On the File menu, click Save As.


  3. In the Save As dialog box, click PowerPoint 4.0 in the Save as type list.


  4. Type a new name in the File name box.


  5. Click Save and close the file.



Microsoft Word 2000

Save the file in the "Word 97-2000 & 6.0/95 - RTF" format. Microsoft Quick View can preview Microsoft Word documents that you save in this format. To save the file, follow these steps:
  1. Open the file in Microsoft Word 2000.


  2. On the File menu, click Save As.


  3. In the Save As dialog box, click Word 97-2000 & 6.0/95 - RTF in the Save as type list.


  4. Type a new name in the File name box.


  5. Click Save and close the file.


Method 2: Use "Open File for Editing" in Quick View

If you use Quick View to open a file created in any of the Microsoft Office programs listed at the beginning of this article, and you do not see any data in the document, on the File menu, click Open File for Editing. This command starts the Microsoft Office program in which the file was created (if it is not running), and opens the file just as if you opened it directly in that program.


MORE INFORMATION

Quick View, which is installed by Microsoft Windows 95 and Microsoft Windows NT 4.0, allows you to view documents that are created by Windows-based programs without starting the program. If Quick View is not available on the shortcut menu, either the program that created the file does not support Quick View, or Quick View is not installed on the computer. Please see your Windows 95 or Windows NT documentation for information about installing Quick View on your computer.

Additional query words: quickview viewer nt nt4 workstation server winnt OFF2000

Keywords : kbdta
Version : WINDOWS:2000
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbprb


Last Reviewed: May 13, 1999
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