OFF95 Err Msg: "Find Fast Is Unable to Open the File . ... "

ID: Q138146

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Office for Windows 95, version 7.0

SYMPTOMS

When you start Microsoft Windows 95 or attempt to open the Find Fast dialog box by double-clicking the Find Fast icon in the Control Panel, you may receive the following error message:

Find Fast is unable to open the file "*.*". Remove the
file from the list and restart Find Fast.

CAUSE

This problem may be caused by a corrupted file that Find Fast is attempting to index or by a bad registry entry in the system registry. Most likely, it is due to one or more corrupted index files.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, try Method 1 first. If Method 1 does not work, try Method 2.

Method 1

Restart Windows and hold down the SHIFT key to prevent items in the Startup group from running.

Search for __ofidx*.* on the hard disk. These files are hidden. To show hidden files, click Options on the View menu in Explorer. Choose the View tab and click the "Show all files" option.

Rename the following files if they are found:
__ofidx.ffl
__ofidx0.ffx
__ofidx.ffa
__ofidxT.ffx

Method 2

If Method 1 does not prevent the error from occurring, use this method.

NOTE: You must follow the steps in Method 1 to guarantee that Method 2 will work.

For information about how to edit the registry, see the Changing Keys And Values Help topic in Registry Editor Help (Regedit.exe). Note that you should make a backup copy of the registry files (System.dat And User.dat) before you edit the registry.

WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall Windows 95. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.
Restart Windows and hold down the SHIFT key to prevent items in the Startup group from running.

Repeat steps 2 and 3 in Method 1 above.

On the Start menu, click Run, and type "regedit" (without the quotation marks). Click OK.
Go to the following location and remove the all keys below the "95" key (but not including the "95" key):
            HKEY_Local_Machine\Software\Microsoft\Shared Tools\Find Fast\95
          
Restart Windows. The error should not appear again.