Another possibility is the path is too long. Excel cannot open a file that is located such that the entire path length including the file name is greater than 218 characters. When attempting to do so Excel displays the error:
"full\path\to\file.xls" could not be found. Check the spelling of the file name, and verify that the file location is correct.
This error will occur regardless of how Excel is instructed to open the file. There is no known workaround other than to change the location of the file or shorten the folder names in the path.
Kevin