Forum Discussion
Excel & Word not working suspect temp folder error
My products are Microsoft Home & Student 2019 on Windows 11
Background: Yesterday accidently clicked on a link with the "screenconnect" virus. Was able to get it stopped before it downloaded on my computer. In attempting to stop it, I ran Microsoft virus check. I also went into Windows Privacy and Security and started Data Encryption, which I stopped after probably less than a minute and it did not complete. At some point received an error "make sure your temp folder is valid" NSIS error.
Part of the NSIS error fix said to clear the temp folder, which I did.
As a result of all the above, my Excel and Microsoft Word stopped working.
I have tried all of the following fixes:
Quick repair
Complete repair
Uninstalling program and reinstalling
Recovered all the temp files from the recycle bin that were deleted and reloaded them into the temp file
Checked Add-Ins in Excel - none are being used
Made sure the temp folder is not set to read only
Ran full virus scan
Verified TEMP/TMP location
Tried to find the folder "C:\users\"myname"\appdata\local\microsoft\windows\INetCache, but can't find INetCache file even when turning on hidden items
Ran a complete disc check to check for disc errors
In Excel, sometimes a document will open, other times it won't open at all and the program freezes. Even if I can open a document, I cannot modify it at all. I cannot create any new documents. When I attempt to create a new document, I get an error saying there isn't enough available memory or disc space (I have plenty of space on my hard drive). Prior to yesterday, I often had quite a few Excel files open at the same time. Also, all my templates disappeared before reinstalling the program. They reappeared when I reinstalled the program, but if I try and open them, an error says they are corrupted.
Microsoft Word is also corrupted.
These are some of the errors message I have received since reinstalling:
Error writing temporary file. Make sure your temp folder is valid
Microsoft Excel cannot access the file "C:\Users\"my name"\OneDrive\Documents\"file name". What should be the file name just appears as a number. The error message continues: "There are several possible reasons: - the file name or path does not exist. - the file is being used by another program. - the workbook you are trying to save has the same name as a currently open workbook"
When trying to do a "save as" in Excel to try and create a new file get this error: C:\users\"myname"\onedrive\documents\"file name". File not found. Check the file name and try again
"hardwareMonitorWindow: WINWORD.EXE - Application error: The exception unknown software exception (0xe00000002) occurred in the application at location....... then a big string of letters and numbers
Microsoft Word: Word cannot save or create this file. Make sure that the disk you want to save the file on is not full, write-protected, or damaged."
Microsoft Word: Word could not create the work file. Check the temp environment variable"
I really don't know what to do at this point. Any help is appreciated.
Thank you
2 Replies
Thank you, Jamony. Your clue about the protection history worked. I was able to go into the history and found out that my Excel and Word folders were being blocked, as was my postage program (postage is not Microsoft program)
These programs said "Protected Folder Access Blocked". I opened a few of them and they all said "your administrator has blocked this action". I then clicked the "controlled folder access settings" and allowed Excel, Word, and my postage program through the controlled folder access.
So the programs are working, but is this a safe method? When I reviewed the list of "controlled folder access" my entire C:/ drive is listed, as are all my documents, photos, onedrive, etc. So by allowing Word and Excel thru have I created some sort of security risk?
I didn't go thru all the steps you listed. I wasn't able to check for ScreenConnect via the Protection History, as there are hundreds of entries and I have to manually click into each one to see it. I wasn't able to find a search function of the Protection History to check for the words "ScreenConnect". However, when this happened, I did contact the company that originally sent the email with the link to me, and their internet security person had me check Task Manager to make sure it ScreenConnect wasn't showing as any process running in the background (it wasn't) and also advised me to change my email password as that is how the problem is spread. He thought that I was safe as it wasn't running as a background process.
For safety, should I continue thru all the steps you listed? I stopped at your instructions "after scanning".
Also, is there a search function in the Protection History?
Thank you
The timing and temporary-file errors make this both a security incident and a damaged-profile possibility. Do not restore files from Temp; that disposable folder could reintroduce an unwanted executable. Update Windows Security, run Microsoft Defender Offline, then review Protection history. If ScreenConnect or another remote-control component ran, disconnect the PC, remove it, and change important passwords from a clean device. After scanning, create a new local administrator account and test Word and Excel there. If they work, the original profile’s Temp or INetCache permissions are damaged; migrate documents rather than applying unverified registry edits. If they also fail, verify that %TEMP% opens and accepts a new text file, then repair Windows system files and Office again. Back up documents first. Office 2019 is out of support, so after recovery move to a supported release. If Defender finds persistent malware, the safest resolution is a clean Windows reinstall.
