Applies to Windows 8, Windows 8.1
Run the Windows Firewall Service
- Open Services (services.msc) from Control Panel – Administrative Tools – Services
- Locate the Windows Firewall Service
- Double-click the Windows Firewall Service and from the General Tab change the Startup Type selection to Automatic
- Restart the System
- Upon restart check the status of the Windows Firewall Service. If it is in running mode, you may try opening the excel file
- If the Windows Firewall is still not in running mode; you will need to make changes to the registry
Changes to Registry
- Open Registry Editor (regedit)
- Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control
- With the control folder selected, right click in the pane on the right and select new DWORD Value
- Name the new DWORD -ServicesPipeTimeout
- Right-click ServicesPipeTimeout, and then click Modify
- Click Decimal, type ‘180000’, and then click OK
- Restart the computer and check the Windows Firewall Service once again
- If the service has started; you may open the excel files without any error
If the Windows Firewall service has still not started working after the above instructions, I would advice looking for further assistance. But we do have a temporary workaround to enable opening of individual excel files
Temporary Workaround
- Right-Click the specific Excel File and click Properties
- In the General Click Unblock under Security
- The file should now open without any error
