Typing delay in Excel 2008

[Pat McMillan]

I'm also curious to know if the problem goes away, or is minimized, after
saving the files in Mac Excel 2008? Excel keeps track of the hardware and
software versions used when saving files and then forces a recalc of files
when loaded on configurations different from what's stored in the file. Once
saved on the new configuration, the file doesn't need to do a full recalc on
load.

 

[Matt Bateman]

Saving to current format did nothing to change the behavior. This same file (in any of the formats) works fine in Mac 2004, XP 2003, and XP 2007. These formulas are not that intense and there is no reason that it should take so long. Especially since the same hardware and file work great on Mac 2004.

 

[Pat McMillan]

Matt -- what you're seeing is definitely different from the issue with the
recent file list bug. Is there any chance you could share a file with us
that shows the performance problem you're seeing?

Thanks,

Pat
(e-mail address removed)

 

[Roger]

I had same problem when mounting SMB shares.
Did the "Show number of documents" workaround and it looks like the problem got fixed.
When I opened a document from a SMB share, in Activity Monitor I saw a lot of activity every time I type a letter, or did any copy or paste.
At the same time, the spinning beach ball..

 

[b33k34]

Another one with the problem here. this is the first time in 15 years i've had to resort to the MS forums. 100kb spreadsheet (most of which is a a few jpeg images) with simple formulae and it's impossible to use.

I'll try some of the above suggestions but there is somthing fundamentally wrong with this piece of software. The spreadsheet is fine in Windows Office and in Mac Excel 04.

Not impressed.

 

[b33k34]

bump to get emails.

 

[Julien PERON]

Same problem here, the copy/paste fonction or cells editing is very very very slow on lots of differents Mac (Imac 3,06Ghz on Leopard, G5 PPC 4x2,5 Ghz on Tiger, G5 PPC 2x2,7Ghz on Tiger, Imac 2,4Ghz on Tiger ...) connected to a File server in windows 2003 (appleshare enable).
I've tried to empty/deactivate recent menu, flush the DNS server (i'm the IT Support Tech) and then delete the .plist file. Nothing !!
We've got 50 mac (PPC and Intel) and our users are going crazy. My phone ring all the time, and directors of different department are complaining to my boss. We cannot go back to 2004 because the 400 Pcs of the company have Office 2007.

What can I do ? Rollback to 2004 on Mac and 2003 on PC ?

PS : Leopard is in (10.5.5)
Tiger in 10.4.11
Office 2008 in 12.1.5

 

[Pat McMillan]

Julien -- Would you be able to contact me directly about the problems you're
company is having? The issues you're seeing are clearly different from the
typing delay issue that started this thread (there is a fix for that problem
in the 12.1.5 update). In particular, it would be really valuable if we you
could provide us with one or more files that have this problem.

Thanks,

Pat McMillan
(e-mail address removed)
Macintosh Business Unit
Microsoft Corp.

 

[Julien PERON]

Hello Pat !

We've got a premier contrat with microsoft and Simone Goetze-Lewicki (German specialist) found a solution to our Problem
Here is the solution for those who have a problem that looks like our :

Save the file in XML Spreadsheet format
If you can open the corrupted Excel file, you can filter it if you save it in XML Spreadsheet format, close the file, and then reopen it. To do this, follow these steps:
1. On the File menu, click Save As.
2. In the Save as type list, click Excel 2004 – XML-Spreadsheet.
3. Click Save.
4. Close the file.
5. Open the file again in Excel.
6. On the File menu, click Save As.
7. In the Save as type list, click Microsoft Excel Workbook.
8. Change the name of the file to create a new copy without replacing the original.
Note Some features may be lost when you save in XML Spreadsheet format.

The solution works perfectly but we have thousands of excel files that do not work properly. I've asked Simone if it was possible to have a applescript (running on a mac) or program (running on the W2003 server) to do the modification for all the files.
She asked to Microsoft UsDevTeam if it's possible to have such a script/program.

I can send you a file that do not work properly if you want to find the origin of the problem.

You can send me an email if you want more informations : jperon [at} raja.fr

Julien -- Would you be able to contact me directly about the problems
you're company is having? The issues you're seeing are clearly different
from the typing delay issue that started this thread (there is a fix for
that problem in the 12.1.5 update). In particular, it would be really
valuable if we you could provide us with one or more files that have this
problem.





Thanks,





Pat McMillan (e-mail address removed) Macintosh Business Unit Microsoft
Corp.

Same problem here, the copy/paste fonction or cells editing is very

very very > slow on lots of differents Mac (Imac 3,06Ghz on Leopard, G5
PPC 4x2,5 Ghz on > Tiger, G5 PPC 2x2,7Ghz on Tiger, Imac 2,4Ghz on Tiger
...) connected to a File > server in windows 2003 (appleshare enable).

I've tried to empty/deactivate recent menu, flush the DNS server (i'm

the IT > Support Tech) and then delete the .plist file. Nothing !! > We've
got 50 mac (PPC and Intel) and our users are going crazy. My phone ring

all the time, and directors of different department are complaining

to my > boss. We cannot go back to 2004 because the 400 Pcs of the company
have Office > 2007. > > What can I do ? Rollback to 2004 on Mac and 2003
on PC ? > > PS : Leopard is in (10.5.5) > Tiger in 10.4.11 > Office 2008
in 12.1.5





-- Pat McMillan Macintosh Business Unit Microsoft Corp. This posting is
provided �AS IS� with no warranties, and confers no rights.

 

[pjmode]

Hello Pat !

We've got a premier contrat with microsoft and Simone Goetze-Lewicki (German specialist) found a solution to our Problem
Here is the solution for those who have a problem that looks like our :

Save the file in XML Spreadsheet format
If you can open the corrupted Excel file, you can filter it if you save it in XML Spreadsheet format, close the file, and then reopen it. To do this, follow these steps:
1. On the File menu, click Save As.
2. In the Save as type list, click Excel 2004 � XML-Spreadsheet.
3. Click Save.
4. Close the file.
5. Open the file again in Excel.
6. On the File menu, click Save As.
7. In the Save as type list, click Microsoft Excel Workbook.
8. Change the name of the file to create a new copy without replacing the original.
Note Some features may be lost when you save in XML Spreadsheet format.

The solution works perfectly but we have thousands of excel files that do not work properly. I've asked Simone if it was possible to have a applescript (running on a mac) or program (running on the W2003 server) to do the modification for all the files.
She asked to Microsoft UsDevTeam if it's possible to have such a script/program.

I can send you a file that do not work properly if you want to find the origin of the problem.

You can send me an email if you want more informations : jperon [at} raja.fr

_____________________________

Julien and Pat,

This is a potential lifesaver -- I have been wrestling with this problem for weeks, reading posts, etc., all with no luck. Version 12.1.5 didn't fix it. Turning off Recent Files in Preferences didn't fix it. Shifting to manual recalc didn't fix it. But saving to .XML format, then reopening and resaving in .XLS format did the trick!

HOWEVER, one little problem -- in the reformatting, I lost all my charts! Surely this must be a way to avoid this? It would take me days to recreate them all. (Only other apparent problem was the loss of the password, easily restored.)

BTW, Pat, you may want to know a couple of specifics. The problem had to do with huge delays in trying to do things as simple as copying and pasting a fixed number (worse for formulas). Oddly, it affected only one sheet of a workbook that has 8 or 9 sheets -- and not even the largest sheet or the one with the most formulas. This workbook is not particularly large, about 1.3mb. And it did not seem to affect other workbooks. I run Excel 2008 at home on my iMac, and send workbooks back and forth to the office, where we are running some earlier version (not 2007) on Windows.

Can you help me apply this fix without losing the graphs? Or have you found another fix? Many thanks,

PJ Mode

 

[Julien PERON]

Hello PJ mode,

Microsoft, through our premier contract, was not able to solve our problem with a script or programme to modify all the xlsx (and like you say,to prevent the lost of all charts). The official response : this problem of typing delay maybe solved in the service pack 2 which will be released in spring.

I decided to reinstall office 2004 on all our G5/Imac, i will wait for service pack 2 ...
I used to wait Service pack 1 for Microsoft Software before installing them in production. Do we have to wait for service pack 2 now ?

 

[pjmode]

Hi Julien -- or others,

Since I am only dealing with a single workbook that has this problem, is there no way to go to XML and then back to XLS while preserving the charts? Thanks,

PJ Mode
_________________________________

 

[Pat McMillan]

PJ and Julien,

I'm not sure I can come up with any suggestions other than what Simone has
provided. But in order to tackle the performance issues it's really
important that we get specific files that show the problem. Would it be
possible for you both to send me files that have these problems so we can
investigate?

Thanks,

Pat
(e-mail address removed)