Excel. Had its day or is it my computer?
Discussion
Over the last 6 months or so I've found Excel to be very poor at responding. It has now reached a point where I have to 'control, alt, delete' just to get it off my screen. My laptop (HP Envy) is now 5 or 6 years old, and I have used Excel for many years for my business invoices, estimates, etc. Excel has now become a bit risky to use because if it fails completely, I'll be in the s
t. So the question is: Is it Excel that's now past it's sell by or is it my laptop that's grown to dislike it? If Excel is past it, what would I replace it with where years and years of invoices etc. can still be accessed with ease? I do the computer updates when there are any.
t. So the question is: Is it Excel that's now past it's sell by or is it my laptop that's grown to dislike it? If Excel is past it, what would I replace it with where years and years of invoices etc. can still be accessed with ease? I do the computer updates when there are any.
I've seen Word documents become corrupt and unresponsive; create a new document then cut and paste everything from the old one to the new one and that sorts it out.
But I've never seen it happen with Excel, but you could give it a go (assuming it's one specific file you are talking about).
But I've never seen it happen with Excel, but you could give it a go (assuming it's one specific file you are talking about).
What about other applications, does word for example perform the same?
Have you tried different Excel workbooks, are you opening Excel then opening the file or simply selecting the file then Excel launches and opens the file?
Have you ever rebuilt the laptop? Typically they would need a rebuilt ever 1-2 years, I've just had the pleasure of rebuilding my iMac as it was taking forever to do anything, with a fresh install it's like night and day now.
Have you tried different Excel workbooks, are you opening Excel then opening the file or simply selecting the file then Excel launches and opens the file?
Have you ever rebuilt the laptop? Typically they would need a rebuilt ever 1-2 years, I've just had the pleasure of rebuilding my iMac as it was taking forever to do anything, with a fresh install it's like night and day now.
You mention it having years and years of invoices, how big is the file? There are several potential issues:
- Massive file size and it can't load it all in to memory - If you've got lots of old data in there that you don't need to access regularly, consider splitting it in two, with an archive workbook and a current data workbook. Upgrading the memory or fitting an SSD might also help
- Lots of calculations going on - Check the bottom right of the screen, do you get text in the border saying "Calculating" and percentage? If so checkyour older stuff, does it have calculated fields, do they need to still be calculated fields? Copy and paste values would reduce the number of calculations that need to be done every time
- Laptop getting clogged up with crap - It can be worth doing a complete reinstall of Windows sometimes
- Something else eating your processor or memory - Take a look in the task manager, sometimes things like anti virus or windows update processes can take up a huge amount of resources and slow everything else down,
- Check what it's saving the file as, if you've had it for years through different versions of Excel you might be saving in an old format, which can take longer to open and save. Try saving as a new version rather than just saving
- Sometimes stuff in the file can get corrupted, depending how complicated the file is, jusy copying and pasting each sheet in to a new workbook can be easier, but will probably mess up formulae that look at other sheets within the same book
- Massive file size and it can't load it all in to memory - If you've got lots of old data in there that you don't need to access regularly, consider splitting it in two, with an archive workbook and a current data workbook. Upgrading the memory or fitting an SSD might also help
- Lots of calculations going on - Check the bottom right of the screen, do you get text in the border saying "Calculating" and percentage? If so checkyour older stuff, does it have calculated fields, do they need to still be calculated fields? Copy and paste values would reduce the number of calculations that need to be done every time
- Laptop getting clogged up with crap - It can be worth doing a complete reinstall of Windows sometimes
- Something else eating your processor or memory - Take a look in the task manager, sometimes things like anti virus or windows update processes can take up a huge amount of resources and slow everything else down,
- Check what it's saving the file as, if you've had it for years through different versions of Excel you might be saving in an old format, which can take longer to open and save. Try saving as a new version rather than just saving
- Sometimes stuff in the file can get corrupted, depending how complicated the file is, jusy copying and pasting each sheet in to a new workbook can be easier, but will probably mess up formulae that look at other sheets within the same book
Edited by RizzoTheRat on Tuesday 6th December 09:06
Freakuk said:
Have you ever rebuilt the laptop? Typically they would need a rebuilt ever 1-2 years, I've just had the pleasure of rebuilding my iMac as it was taking forever to do anything, with a fresh install it's like night and day now.
This, I dispair the amount of people I know who will just go and buy a new laptop as the old one is "slow" or the hard drive is full. The reality is a quick reinstall of the operating system and it will be like having a new laptop.I think people just get excited about getting a new shiny thing and think reinstalling windows is too hard.
Lord Flashheart said:
My laptop (HP Envy) is now 5 or 6 years old,
I've just replaced a 2yr old mid-business-spec ThinkPad as it was becoming tedious running Office programs (Office 365, but the downloaded versions). It's always been hesitant with big excel files.I'll flatten the old one and reinstall Windows and pass it on to one f the kids but it's my only working machine and I'm not doing that without any fall-back!
Sheepshanks said:
Lord Flashheart said:
My laptop (HP Envy) is now 5 or 6 years old,
I've just replaced a 2yr old mid-business-spec ThinkPad as it was becoming tedious running Office programs (Office 365, but the downloaded versions). It's always been hesitant with big excel files.I'll flatten the old one and reinstall Windows and pass it on to one f the kids but it's my only working machine and I'm not doing that without any fall-back!
I've just installed extra Ram now 16gb, and an ssd into a 10 year old laptop that even my better half had started to complain about (I never use it as I have a much newer one) it won't run Windows 11, but on win10 it's like a new machine.
Greenmantle said:
my laptop i7 is nearly 19 years old.
It might be getting on but if it's got Intel i7 it aint 19yrs old! Quick Google says introduced in 2008.The 2yr old Thinkpad I'm replacing was a bit of a bargain (in ThinkPad terms) - it was £800 inc VAT and included a better screen than standard, but it's i5, 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD. The other thing that motivated me to get a new one was I think there was a Black Friday glitch on Lenovo's website as a lot of combinations of spec didn't change the price, so the new one was "only" £1000 - same spec now is £1700.
Lord Flashheart said:
Over the last 6 months or so I've found Excel to be very poor at responding. It has now reached a point where I have to 'control, alt, delete' just to get it off my screen. My laptop (HP Envy) is now 5 or 6 years old, and I have used Excel for many years for my business invoices, estimates, etc. Excel has now become a bit risky to use because if it fails completely, I'll be in the st. So the question is: Is it Excel that's now past it's sell by or is it my laptop that's grown to dislike it? If Excel is past it, what would I replace it with where years and years of invoices etc. can still be accessed with ease? I do the computer updates when there are any.
It's your computer.t. So the question is: Is it Excel that's now past it's sell by or is it my laptop that's grown to dislike it? If Excel is past it, what would I replace it with where years and years of invoices etc. can still be accessed with ease? I do the computer updates when there are any.You say the business depends on it; buy a new, more powerful laptop if it's business-critical. This is a no-brainer. Stop 'crashing out' the app/PC as you're just asking for data/file corruption. And make sure your critical files are backed-up to both a USB hard drive and off-prem to something like OneDrive or Backblaze so your data's in 3 places.
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