Earlier this week I ran into the problem several others have been reporting: the inability to open certain Excel files after the Office 2004 v11.6.1 updater has been applied. Both older Mac as well as all Windows versions can still open the affected files, but reverting (reinstalling and updating) Office is a hassle.

Those who haven't yet updated their MS Office 2004 with the latest security updater 11.6.1 (100907) may want to wait until Microsoft has addressed this bug. Right now MS Autoupdate doesn't list the updater any longer, but the standalone version (Office2004-1161UpdateEN.dmg) may still be around.

Thanks for the caution. I see there is now an 11.6.2 Update available. I don't know if it fixes 11.6.1 so I think I'll stay away until I hear of improved results.

ryck

Thanks for bringing that 11.6.2 updater to my attention; I hadn't noticed its release yet. Because at this stage I've little to lose I downloaded and applied it, and I am very happy to say that the file I had problems with under 11.6.1 now opens normally again. Based on this I'd say this latest 11.6.2 updater is OK, but it won't hurt to give it a few days and follow any comments in for instance the MacInTouch User Report I linked to above.

PS, Microsoft doesn't mention the file-open issue at all with the 11.6.2 updater, and refers to the 11.6.1 page for further details. That's fine with me, but it may be confusing to some.

A branch of posts concerning Word have been detached from this Excel thread and made into a new topic. See: Word 2004 v11.6.2 problem.