The cautionary note pertains to corruption of files when saving
from Excel to removable devices. The worst were diskettes
because of limited capacity, but removable devices can be
removed inadvertently. Also saving from Excel to a removable
device can change links. You should save your files and close
them in Excel and use another program to copy such files to
removable media.

When restoring a backed up copy from removable media you
should be aware of other problems if you do not restore to the
same directories. This could affect references.

As far as the actual problem experienced by the poster, it is
also related, because by saving the file to another location
from Excel you change the references to other files, or workbooks.
If you change the references to your personal.xls or your
toolbars you could have serious difficulties. It is best to make
backups with Excel down.
---
HTH,
David McRitchie, Microsoft MVP - Excel [site changed Nov. 2001]
My Excel Pages: http://www.mvps.org/dmcritchie/excel/excel.htm
Search Page: http://www.mvps.org/dmcritchie/excel/search.htm

wrote in message oups.com...
Roger Govier wrote:
dorter wrote:
I copy my excel worksheet into a Mem. Stick. Then I work
mith my workbook in Memory Stick and save. When I copy
it back to my original computer, links in formulas and directories
change. What can I do to prevent this?

It is always safest to do any work with the file on your
local hard disk, rather than on a removable device.

Please explain how your cautionary suggestion relates to the
problem observed by the OP.

I wonder if you are referring to the risk of removing the media
without first allowing MS Win to complete the write to the media.
Yes, there is a risk of human error. Yes, your suggestion works
around that. To the end, it is not a bad suggestion. Of course,
the alternative is for people to be diligent about using the Eject
or Safely Remove Hardware feature or to disable the buffering
feature altogether (sigh, I forgot how).

But if that is what you are referring to, please explain how you
believe it is related to the OP's complaint that when the xls file
is worked on directly from the memory stick, then copied "back
to the original computer", "links in formulas ... change". Do
you think the OP is simply misinterpreting what happened?
That is, do you think the OP meant to write: the "links in
formulas" failed to retain their latest changes?

And what do think the OP means by "directories" (or "links in
directories"?) that changes in the xls file for whatever reason?
Honestly, I have no idea what "directories" (or "links in
directories"?) in an xls file could be affected even by the failure
to write buffered data to removable media.