Excel Spreadsheet "cannot open the specified file"

Same Issue

I am running Office 2011 for Mac and can not open .xls or .xlsx files that are located on my HD.
I checked file permissions (unlocked, changed and changed back) and all were fine.
I recently bought a Mac to replace my problematic 2 year old PC laptop.
I transferred some important work files from the PC via flash drive.
The same files open fine on the mac directly from the flash drive and all other files (such as .doc and .pdf) in the same directory on the HD open fine also.
After I "save as" to any directory on the HD, they won't open at all, when I "save as" to the flash drive they are fine.
Not permissions and not the file itself, what gives?!
It's great having such a wonderful MackBook at the office while all the other guys are running clones, but it sucks not being able to use it!

 

sinktip, is there any kind of error message when opening a file fails?

 

Yep here's a couple of screen captures I snagged using Grab.

 

Beats me! The only thing I can suggest is to run the Updater (can't recall the precise name) and see if a patch has corrected this glitch.

 

Resolved

Figured it out, the HD name used invalid characters so would not open anything on the local system.
Examples of these characters are: < (less-than sign)
> (greater-than sign)
/ (forward slash)
\ (backward slash)
: (colon)
| (pipe)
In finder: Right click HD>click get info>click arrow beside Name & Extension>type new name in text box then close.
I called min Mac HD (it was called :/EQW for some reason).
Voila! A new simple name and all files will open as needed.