Description of the Excel 2003 hotfix package: May 10, 2008

This article describes the Microsoft Office Excel 2003 issue that is fixed in the hotfix package that is dated May 10, 2008.

• The issues that the hotfix package fixes.
• The prerequisites for installing the hotfix package.
• Whether you must restart the computer after you install the hotfix package.
• Whether the hotfix package is replaced by any other hotfix packages.
• Whether you must make any registry changes.
• The files that the hotfix package contains.

Issues that this hotfix package fixes

This hotfix fixes the following issues that are not previously documented in a Microsoft Knowledge Base article:

• You cannot import a text file by using the Text Import Wizard after you install one or both of the following items on a client computer that is running Office Excel 2003 Service Pack 2 (SP2):
  • Office 2003 Service Pack 3 (SP3)
    
    For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
    870924 How to obtain the latest service pack for Office 2003
  • Security update MS08-014 for Excel 2003
    
    For more information about security update MS08-014, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
    943985 MS08-014: Description of the security update for Excel 2003: March 11, 2008
• In Excel 2003, you can successfully run VBA code that uses the Paste method in the Workbook_Open() function or in the Auto_Open() function to copy the text data to a specific cell in an Excel worksheet. However, after you install security update MS08-014 and after you double-click the Excel workbook to run the VBA code, the text data can be copied only to cell A1. The text data cannot be copied to the expected cell. Additionally, the first character of the text data is missing in cell A1.
• In Excel 2003, when you open a file that uses ANSI encoding and is in tab-delimited (*.txt) format, the East Asia characters in the file may not be displayed. This problem occurs after you install security update MS08-014 on the client computer. For example, the East Asia characters can be Korean characters or Chinese characters.
• In Excel 2003, you save an Excel worksheet in which a cell has multiple lines that are saved as a .txt file. However, when you use Excel 2003 to open the .txt file, the multiple lines that are previously in a cell may be separately displayed in multiple cells. This problem occurs after you install security update MS08-014 on the client computer.
  
  Note If you want to add an additional line in a cell in Excel, press ALT+ENTER when you type the text in the cell.
• After you install security update MS08-014 on the client computer, the contents of the following files may be displayed incorrectly when you open the files in Excel 2003:
  • Tab-delimited (*.txt) files that use ANSI encoding
  • Comma-delimited (*.csv) files that use UTF-8 encoding

Hotfix information

A supported hotfix is available from Microsoft. However, this hotfix is intended to correct only the problem that is described in this article. Apply this hotfix only to systems that are experiencing this specific problem. This hotfix might receive additional testing. Therefore, if you are not severely affected by this problem, we recommend that you wait for the next software update that contains this hotfix.

If the hotfix is available for download, there is a "Hotfix download available" section at the top of this Knowledge Base article. If this section does not appear, contact Microsoft Customer Service and Support to obtain the hotfix.

Note If additional issues occur or if any troubleshooting is required, you might have to create a separate service request. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for this specific hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Customer Service and Support telephone numbers or to create a separate service request, visit the following Microsoft Web site: Note The "Hotfix download available" form displays the languages for which the hotfix is available. If you do not see your language, it is because a hotfix is not available for that language.

Prerequisites

To apply this hotfix package, you must have Office Excel 2003 installed.

Restart information

You do not have to restart the computer after you apply this hotfix.

Hotfix replacement information

This hotfix does not replace any other hotfixes.

Registry information

To use one of the hotfixes in this package, you do not have to make any changes to the registry.

File information

This hotfix may not contain all the files that you must have to fully update a product to the latest build. This hotfix contains only the files that you must have to correct the issues that are listed in this article.

The global version of this hotfix has the file attributes (or later file attributes) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time item in Control Panel.

Download informationMicrosoft Windows Installer .msp file informationAfter the hotfix is installed, the global version of this hotfix has the file attributes, or a later version of the file attributes, that are listed in the following table:
For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: