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This project contains links to one or more data sources
Every time I open this project I get this message. have tried everything google suggested, but it isn't a common issue with project, but it is on excel. Additionally, the project is about twice the s...
Apparently at some point you or someone else created imbedded links to the Project file. It could have been a hyperlink, the file was part of a master/subproject structure, a resource pool/sharer structure, or had cross-project links to another file, or perhaps had an imbedded image. Lots of possibilities.
Also, the fact that your file is also much larger than your other similar files indicates there may be corruption. I suggest you try each of the methods in the following Wiki article.
John
In MS Project a vast majority of obscure problems can be generated with very hard to find sources of a standardized solution. In my experience, formatting is a significant cause to these problems, from simple to complex formatting. Also, using and standardizing the Views, Tables, Filters and Custom fields and ANY Macros added into a MS Project file can lead to easy work, but can generate these kinds of errors.
I experienced the same thing the original post raised a few years ago and resolved it by doing the following:
1) Save your file with the error message as any other copy version name, e.g. myfile_r1.
2) Before closing your MS Project file, review if your formatting factors such as views, tables, filters, custom fields and Macros are accounted for in the MS Project file - Info - Organizer. They should be there already unless you customized your installation and turned that feature off.
2a) MS Project by default has two Organizer views the left panel is the installation installed organizer features, the right side is the file organizer features, they DO NOT have to be identical. The left, installation version allows you to replicate your "tools" to other MS Project files, but can also load garbage or corrupt tools, so work them to be clean.
3) This step isn't necessary but its cleaner. Close the MS Project file you just saved as "x_r?".
4) Open the file you just closed and go directly into the File-> Info -> Organizer set.
5) Remove ALL formatting associated to the file in question, this will be the box on the right of the organizer window. Walk across all tabs and remove everything you can from the file.
5a) If you change the default view in your project file to the default GANTT view then you can delete all of your customizations.
6) Save the file as either the same name "x_r1" or as a new version, e.g. "x_r2".
7) Close the file and then re-open it.
The error or the error messages regarding "add-in" function should stop, meaning you removed the cause.
😎 In the new version of the same file with no formatting, simply go back into the Organizer and reload your saved formatting. You can do this one by one and see which one is the culprit, or you can simply reload all and see if you've solved the problem.
Note: formatting of all kinds bares risk, but also bares considerable fruit, use it at your discretion.
Please also check OLE objects, which can add automatically when you copy paste from other ms office app.
When you save to mpt format you can remove them after you selected all options. (baseline, actual, resource cost..etc click save and you will have a question)
