excel 2013 can't open old files

I am having the same problems!  All my old documents are still in 2007 and when I try to open a word or excel document I get the message "There was a problem sending the command to the program".  It will then open the file in compatibility mode "read only".  If I go into Excel 2013 or Word 2013 and find the file and open it from there, it will open properly, but then does not save in 2013.  So I have the same problem, the next time I open it.

Hello All,

1. What is the type of the saved attachment files?
2. Are you able to open other files created from Excel 2013 properly?
3. Have you followed the file association steps provided in my previous post?

Reply with required details and we would assist further.

Thank you.

I have to open the Excel program or Word program first before I open my document.  If I don't, it won't  open properly.

Was a fix ever found? I have the same problem. There are old excel files as attachments in e-mails. I have saved files in my documents and I have tried to open directly from e-mail. Excel opens and tries to open the file but gets to about 9% to 20% and then stops trying to load file. When I "X" out of the screen, it says that the file is corrupt.

Hm, that is an interesting new twist.

I don't have any suggested fixes yet. Could you please use the PSR to capture your various successful and failing attempts to access these files.  Trying to get you to explain in enough detail what you are doing that works and does not work would be too much effort.  The PSR graphically and textually captures your actions, making it MUCH easier for us to be "on the same page" as you.  Use the "add comment" feature in the PSR to add explicit descriptions of what you are doing.  Then you can upload the PSR capture to skydrive and post a link to it back here.

Win7 & Win8 Problem Steps Recorder - PSR

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-CA/windows7/How-do-I-use-Problem-Steps-Recorder

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/how-tos/how\_use\_windows\_7\_problem\_steps\_recorder\_make\_easy\_pc\_guides 

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd371782%28v=vs.85%29.aspx

http://www.7tutorials.com/easy-troubleshooting-and-problem-solving-problem-steps-recorder 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6EgLm3-XcQ

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/patricka/archive/2010/01/04/using-the-secret-windows-7-problem-step-recorder-to-create-step-by-step-screenshot-documents.aspx

Please use the Problem Steps Recorder to capture what you are doing so we have more details to work with. Either copy and paste the recorded steps into the forum or upload the zip file to Skydrive and give us a link to the zip file

Users and computer ‘geeks” often don’t speak the same language, interpreting things differently based on their experience. This short article has 3 examples of fundamental misunderstandings http://www.infoworld.com/t/it-jobs/say-what-three-unfortunate-users-in-need-of-tech-translator-212321  When you read it, if you are posting a question you will probably scratch your head at the answers, while computer people will be slapping their forehead and laughing out loud. Using PSR is one way to bridge that communication breakdown.

Solving problems unique to a machine can be an arduous task for both the end-user and the help desk. That’s why Win7 introduces the Problem Steps Recorder, a screen-capture tool that allows the end-user to record the problems they’re having step-by-step. If the problem is repeatable, the recorder will capture what you do in text form.

It’s as simple as hitting “record” then adding in comments as needed. A HTML-based file is converted to a .ZIP folder, which is easily passed on to the help desk.  The program is accessible from the Control Panel under “Record steps to reproduce a problem” or run psr.exe from Explorer.

Upload result to a file share site like skydrive and post the link back here so we can look at it too.

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If you wish, I can post an example of a case where a PSR provided the clue to a totally unexpected answer (based on the initial description).