Excel Woes
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Excel Woes
Trying to open an Excel file on my company server, I get the message "Excel.exe has generated errors & will be closed by windows. An error log is being generated". I have tried opening the file on other computers (same result) & copied the file to my computer at home where I get an illegal action taken box.
Does anyone know what has caused this & can it be fixed? Where is the error log located? All other files open ok by the way. Using Win 2000 & MS Office Premium.
Thanks
R2
Does anyone know what has caused this & can it be fixed? Where is the error log located? All other files open ok by the way. Using Win 2000 & MS Office Premium.
Thanks
R2
Join Date: Mar 2003
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To diagnose and fix errors that occur when Excel starts up.
1) Start Excel in Safe Mode. In this mode, Excel does not open add-ins or startup files, or command bar customisations. To start Excel in Safe Mode, go to the Windows Start menu, choose Run, and enter the following:
Excel.exe /Safe
If you get a message indicating that Excel.exe cannot be found, you need to enter the entire folder directory path to Excel, enclosed in quotes. Enter something like the following. Your actual path may vary depending on your installation:
"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Excel.exe" /Safe
If Excel starts in Safe Mode, you can continue with the steps below to further diagnose and fix the problems.
2) Re-register Excel with Windows. This command instructs Excel to rewrite all of its "factory default" information to the Windows system registry and re-establish links among the various components of Excel. To re-register Excel, go to the Windows Start menu, choose Run, and enter the following:
Excel.exe /RegServer
If you get a message indicating that Excel.exe cannot be found, you need to enter the entire folder directory path to Excel, enclosed in quotes. Enter something like the following. Your actual path may vary depending on your installation:
"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Excel.exe" /RegServer
Excel will start, write its keys to the registry, and then quit. Now try starting Excel normally.
3) Start Excel without customized toolbars and menus. A frequent cause of problems is a bloated or corrupt customization file. Search your hard drive for *.xlb to locate the XLB files used by Excel. Be sure to change your search options to look for hidden files and folders. XLB files are used by Excel to store your customized menus and toolbars. Their names and locations will vary depending on your version of Excel and Windows. When you search for and find these files, move them to another location, such as the Desktop. Now start Excel normally.
4) Start Excel without Add-Ins. If you are able to start Excel in Safe Mode, as described above, you should systematically disable add-ins to determine if an add-in is causing your problem. Go to the Tools menu, and choose Add-Ins. Make a note of which add-ins are checked, and then uncheck all add-ins. Close and restart Excel normally. If Excel starts normally, then the cause of the problem was an add-in. To determine which add-in caused the problem, go to the Tools menu, choose Add-Ins, and check one of the add-ins that you previously unchecked. Close and restart Excel. Repeat this procedure for each add-in. When the problem recurs, you will have found the troublesome add-in. You can either leave the add-in unchecked and not use it, or you can see if there is an updated version.
5) Start Excel without Startup Files. Search your hard drive for folders named XLStart. When Excel starts, it opens all the files in these folders. Find these folders (you may have more than one, depending on your version of Excel and Windows), and move the files in them to another location, such as the Desktop. Start Excel normally. If Excel starts, one of the files in the XLStart folders is the problem. Add the files back to the folder, one at a time, starting and closing Excel between each file, until the problem recurs. When the problem recurs, you have found the file that is causing the problem. Remove this file from the XLStart folder.
6) Run Detect And Repair. Excel 2000 and later version have a Detect And Repair tool that can help restore Excel to a working version. This will replace missing or damaged files that Excel needs to operate properly. From the Excel Help menu, choose Detect And Repair. You may need your Office installation CD.
7) Delete Files From Temp Folder. When the Windows Temp directory becomes cluttered with too many files, Excel may have problems starting up, or may start very slowly. Open the C:\Windows\Temp folder and delete the contents. Also delete files from the Temp folder in "C:\Documents And Settings\Your User Name\Local Settings\Temp".
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1) Start Excel in Safe Mode. In this mode, Excel does not open add-ins or startup files, or command bar customisations. To start Excel in Safe Mode, go to the Windows Start menu, choose Run, and enter the following:
Excel.exe /Safe
If you get a message indicating that Excel.exe cannot be found, you need to enter the entire folder directory path to Excel, enclosed in quotes. Enter something like the following. Your actual path may vary depending on your installation:
"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Excel.exe" /Safe
If Excel starts in Safe Mode, you can continue with the steps below to further diagnose and fix the problems.
2) Re-register Excel with Windows. This command instructs Excel to rewrite all of its "factory default" information to the Windows system registry and re-establish links among the various components of Excel. To re-register Excel, go to the Windows Start menu, choose Run, and enter the following:
Excel.exe /RegServer
If you get a message indicating that Excel.exe cannot be found, you need to enter the entire folder directory path to Excel, enclosed in quotes. Enter something like the following. Your actual path may vary depending on your installation:
"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Excel.exe" /RegServer
Excel will start, write its keys to the registry, and then quit. Now try starting Excel normally.
3) Start Excel without customized toolbars and menus. A frequent cause of problems is a bloated or corrupt customization file. Search your hard drive for *.xlb to locate the XLB files used by Excel. Be sure to change your search options to look for hidden files and folders. XLB files are used by Excel to store your customized menus and toolbars. Their names and locations will vary depending on your version of Excel and Windows. When you search for and find these files, move them to another location, such as the Desktop. Now start Excel normally.
4) Start Excel without Add-Ins. If you are able to start Excel in Safe Mode, as described above, you should systematically disable add-ins to determine if an add-in is causing your problem. Go to the Tools menu, and choose Add-Ins. Make a note of which add-ins are checked, and then uncheck all add-ins. Close and restart Excel normally. If Excel starts normally, then the cause of the problem was an add-in. To determine which add-in caused the problem, go to the Tools menu, choose Add-Ins, and check one of the add-ins that you previously unchecked. Close and restart Excel. Repeat this procedure for each add-in. When the problem recurs, you will have found the troublesome add-in. You can either leave the add-in unchecked and not use it, or you can see if there is an updated version.
5) Start Excel without Startup Files. Search your hard drive for folders named XLStart. When Excel starts, it opens all the files in these folders. Find these folders (you may have more than one, depending on your version of Excel and Windows), and move the files in them to another location, such as the Desktop. Start Excel normally. If Excel starts, one of the files in the XLStart folders is the problem. Add the files back to the folder, one at a time, starting and closing Excel between each file, until the problem recurs. When the problem recurs, you have found the file that is causing the problem. Remove this file from the XLStart folder.
6) Run Detect And Repair. Excel 2000 and later version have a Detect And Repair tool that can help restore Excel to a working version. This will replace missing or damaged files that Excel needs to operate properly. From the Excel Help menu, choose Detect And Repair. You may need your Office installation CD.
7) Delete Files From Temp Folder. When the Windows Temp directory becomes cluttered with too many files, Excel may have problems starting up, or may start very slowly. Open the C:\Windows\Temp folder and delete the contents. Also delete files from the Temp folder in "C:\Documents And Settings\Your User Name\Local Settings\Temp".
Related Articles At Microsoft
The following Knowledge Base articles may be useful:
814112
Files on Network Shares Open Slowly or Read-Only or You Receive an Error
280504
XL: How to Troubleshoot Startup Problems in Microsoft Excel
211481
XL2000: Startup Switches for Microsoft Excel 2000
291057
XL2002: Methods for Recovering Data from Damaged Workbooks
179871
XL2000: Methods for Recovering Data from Damaged Workbooks
142117
XL: Summary of Methods to Recover Data from Corrupted Files
