"Access Denied" Message Accessing File Open Elsewhere

This article was previously published under Q101636

A Windows NT Advanced Server that runs Windows NT Services for Macintosh (SFM) enables Macintosh and PC-compatible computers to share the same files, such as Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel documents.

In the PC-based environment, more than one person can open the same Microsoft Excel document; the first user receives read-write access and subsequent users automatically receive read-only access. However, when a PC-compatible computer opens a Microsoft Excel document, an attempt to open the document from a Macintosh fails and the Macintosh user receives an "access denied" message.

This occurs because Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh does not have the same defaults that Microsoft Excel for Windows does. The Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh Open File dialog box contains a Read-Only check box in its lower left corner. Select this option to open a spreadsheet that another user already has open. By default, this option is not selected.