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Microsoft Excel problem driving me insane!!!

J

jyi786

Supreme [H]ardness
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Jun 13, 2002
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I really need your help on this one.

I was running Microsoft Office 2003 perfectly fine, until 4 days ago. I use Excel extensively, and can have up to 10 spreadsheets open at a time, so this issue is destroying my productivity.

Here's what happens. If I load up 2 worksheets and start Alt-Tabbing between them, eventually, Excel will get stuck on one of the worksheets, and not function at all. It will not read any of my mouse clicks, nor register any changes I make at all. It's not "frozen", because when you move the cell cursor, you can see it moving, AS LONG AS IT'S ON THE SCREEN. If you move the cursor off the screen, the page doesn't automatically scroll down. And no, it's not the scroll lock, because I never have it on.

The only remedy is for me to press the "New Document" button, or to force the program to end and restart it. You can see the problem getting ready to happen, because it looks like the screen will "blit", or "refresh" a few times. VERY annoying.

I uninstalled cleanly and installed Office 2007, and, although it was a bit better, it still was having the same problems.

What could be the issue? Thanks for the help.
 
why don't you tab to different spreadsheet via moving the mouse pointer to that spreadsheet and click it instead of alt-tab?

Also, are you using multiple screen LCD? I have seen similar problem w/ multiple LCD.
 
Happy Hopping said:
why don't you tab to different spreadsheet via moving the mouse pointer to that spreadsheet and click it instead of alt-tab?

Also, are you using multiple screen LCD? I have seen similar problem w/ multiple LCD.
Click to expand...

Well, if I've got a bunch of spreadsheets open, using the mouse pointer rather than Alt-Tab is going to be very excruciating, for the sake of speed.

Yes, I am using a dual LCD setup. But the point is, it was working perfectly fine, then out of nowhere this just started happening.
 
Open Excel click on help, detect and repair and put the cd in when it asks for it. Does it do it in any spreadsheet or just certain ones?
 
I already did that. I also did in Start, Run, excel.exe /regserver. This still has no effect, and I'm still experiencing the same problem.

On a side note, I tried this at home, where I also run dual LCDs. I had no problem at all; it worked flawlessly. What do you think the problem may be?
 
Yes, I completely uninstalled and reinstalled, and that had no effect. It does the same thing.
 
Is it only happening with a certain file? Do you have any macros/VB code in any of the files? If so, what virus scanner are you using?

Does it happen if you ctrl+tab through the open files?

What does task manager show you? Is excel using a lot of memory, or taking up a lot of CPU time when it happens?
 
It's not happening with any certain file; it happens to anything. Even though I have only one macro that I use, I removed it, and it still behaves the same. Even on a clean install of office, it still happens.

My virus scanner is AVG. It's updated daily, and I've already scanned twice for viruses; none to be found.

Task Manager doesn't show anything abnormal. Excel doesn't take up any exorbitant amount memory or CPU usage; it's normal. When it "freezes" on one web page, the CPU usage goes up slightly and activity is a bit more wild, but nothing outrageous.

About the CTRL+TAB, yes, it does the exact same thing when I use that option rather than the ALT+TAB. Still freezes on one open workbook.

Here's what I did. Just opened two blank workbooks, and started ALT+TABbing back and forth. On my rig at home, nothing unusual happens; it works perfectly. Rig at work, after 4-5 switches, it freezes on one book. Can't shake it other than opening a new workbook, and that frees it momentarily, until I so happen to do enough ALT+TABs to make it angry.:rolleyes:
 
I have a very similar problem but not on excel. Just like you, the software I use has been running fine for years (Fotocanvas), and all of a sudden, the progr. won't load up. I suspect some other program w/i the computer has some DLL that causes the problem as those DLL are read by the OS. Last night, I format the hard drive and re-install and track down the software that causes the problem on Fotocanvas.

So, my guess is, you have some other prog. that has newer ver. of the same DLL files, and causes the conflict. The funny thing is, in my case, the prog. that causes the DLL conflict has been in my computer for a few mth., why it is acting up now, I have no idea.

Another thing you can try since you have dual LCD is to run FILEMON on 1 screen, and hope for the above happens on the another screen. AT the moment it happen, look at file mon, save the LOG file, you'll see an error, post that log file in this thread

it would be useful to have a digital clock w/ hundred of a sec. timing so at the moment it happens, you stop the stopwatch and match the time index w/ filemon.
 
I have an HP Laptop NW8440. I also use dual screen with a second LCD.
I also have the same problem with Excel 2007 with screen getting messed up when switching with Alt-TAB trough Excel sheets.

Do you guys find any solution for this problem?
 
Has anyone figured this issue out? I have checked a number of other sites and nobody appears to have a solution.
 
I would try to create a new user and build a new profile and try that. Could be something corrupt in your profile.
 
No, I'm not running a dual display, and I do have a brand-new user (with new user profile) logging in the computer and having the same issue as the previous owner of the computer. However, I am running the same computer. One more bit of info: I un-installed, then re-installed MS Office, with no luck.
 
I have experienced the same problem with Excel 2007, one running Vista with 4 GB RAM and the other XP with 1.5 GB RAM. Separate installations entirely. I find the problem occurs predictably when using alt-tab to flip between two Excel files, which I do frequently. Cells disappear, showing as white area on the spreadsheet. This can be fixed by scrolling down and back again, or by dragging over the cells.

Because I have seen the problem and can replicate on two machines on different spreadsheets and different OS's, I have to think it is a bug in Excel. Every forum I've looked at points to other items or corruptions, there doesn't seem to be a lot out there on this one, but it can make Excel practically unusable if working with multiple workbooks open. Would love to see a solution.
 
Another note: this is with different workbook files. It does not seem to be a problem with the files themselves. The files work fine if only one workbook at a time is open.

Also, I think this was noted above, Excel eventually crashes if you persist and try to live with the problem.
 
jkg188 said:
Another note: this is with different workbook files. It does not seem to be a problem with the files themselves. The files work fine if only one workbook at a time is open.

Also, I think this was noted above, Excel eventually crashes if you persist and try to live with the problem.
Click to expand...

I never did experience this problem again, though I'm disheartened to hear that it hasn't been fixed.

Let me ask you a question. Your OS, is it 32 bit or 64 bit?
 
I have no answer for this, but I'd be curious to know if it is occurring with all file formats. Instead of using the default xlsx file format try saving it as the older xls format to see if that fixes it. Also note when you uninstall MS Office it leaves quite a bit of stuff on your computer. You have to dig around to clean out all the directories and remnants.
 
Mister Natural said:
Instead of using the default xlsx file format try saving it as the older xls format to see if that fixes it.
Click to expand...

I already tried this to no effect. Office 2003 does not use the .xlsx file format; you can only read it if you install the compatibility pack.
 
Check your addins in use, if Solver is not checked on (off by default) turn it on and then restart excel and test. I've had this fix several user issues in Excel business environments, spreadsheets opening slowly having issues, etc...
 
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