Phantom Links

[cubedbee]

I'm having problems getting rid of two "phantom links" in an inherited Excel 97 workbook that I am using. I have some experience removing these annoying phantoms, but everything I know to do has failed me. I have removed all formulas referencing other workbooks. I also deleted all of the Names, except for one, which excel will not let me delete. I have gone to Edit - Links and changed the source for all except one of the links listed there...once again excel will not allow me to change its source.

The funny thing with both the name and the link I cannot delete or change is that they both reference the XLStart folder on the C: drive. None of the other links were linked here. Is there something special about XLStart that would prevent these links from being removed? If anyone has any ideas, I would appreciate hearing them. I use this Workbook every day, and not being able to remove the links is really bugging me

[BigEEE]

This is the reason I never use names in my spreadsheets...No matter how helpful they are in VB or referencing. I have experienced the same problem but I have always been able to delete all of the names. This seems a little fishy...What is the message that you are receiving when you try to delete these names?

[cubedbee]

When I try to delete the name that won't go away, I don't get a message. I am in the "Define Name" menu, and when I highlight it and click delete, it just gets unhighlighted.

As for the link in the Edit - Link menu that I can't change the source for, I get the following error message when I try: "Your formula contains an invalid external reference to a worksheet. Verify that the path, workbook, and range name or cell reference are correct, and try again."

[Polly Nomial]

When I get those, I open a new workbook and copy in each worksheet. Then I joyfully delete the old one.

[NoName]

I don't know why this is happening, but you might try this: If the file in XLStart actually exists, open it at the same time as the workbook you want. If not, create a file with that name and open it. Move all the sheets in the phantom workbook into the workbook you are using and see if that makes the link go away. Delete the extra sheets that are presumably no longer needed.

[cubedbee]

THANK YOU NoName! That worked great. Your solution got rid of the link that wouldn't allow me to change its source. It still won't let me delete that one name, but now it refers to #REF!#REF! instead of another workbook.

And most importantly, it no longer asks me to update the stupid links that don't exist when I open the workbook!

[OftenWrong]

This is the reason I never use names in my spreadsheets...No matter how helpful they are in VB or referencing. I have experienced the same problem but I have always been able to delete all of the names. This seems a little fishy...What is the message that you are receiving when you try to delete these names?
Seems like you are throwing out the baby with the bathwater. Names did not cause this problem, and are too valuable in structuring a workbook and making your work more self-documenting.

Linking to external spreadsheets caused the problem. I do avoid linking to external spreadsheets. If the task involves repetitive retrieval of specific data, I automate the task with VBA.