Copy problems

[Jimmy]

I have had some problems with Excel running very slow at startup,
sometimes taking 1-2 minutes to load. After removing and
reinstalling, the startup times are better. However, I am not able to
copy data from a cell and paste it elsewhere in the same file. When I
copy, I momentarily see the little watch symbol, then the spinning
wheel. I have to then use Force Quit to exit Excel.

I've tried deleting the preference file for Excel, but to no avail. I
created a new user on my computer and I don't have these problems.
I'm not sure where to look now. I'm running 10.4.9 on a MacBook Pro.
Any suggestions would be welcomed.

 

[JE McGimpsey]

I have had some problems with Excel running very slow at startup,
sometimes taking 1-2 minutes to load. After removing and
reinstalling, the startup times are better. However, I am not able to
copy data from a cell and paste it elsewhere in the same file. When I
copy, I momentarily see the little watch symbol, then the spinning
wheel. I have to then use Force Quit to exit Excel.

I've tried deleting the preference file for Excel, but to no avail. I
created a new user on my computer and I don't have these problems.
I'm not sure where to look now. I'm running 10.4.9 on a MacBook Pro.
Any suggestions would be welcomed.

Couple of things:

0) You don't say which version of XL you're using so I'll assume you're
using XL04. Make sure it's updated completely, using Microsoft
AutoUpdate or downloading the updater from Mactopia.com.

1) Reinstalling rarely, if ever, is a solution for Mac apps - they just
don't corrupt that easily. It's almost always something else - which is
obvious after you took the step to try it in another user account.

2) However, since you saw a performance boost after reinstalling, did
you use the Remove Office application? If you did, you removed the
preferences, too, which *is* usually the cause of poor performance. If
you didn't, you may have had a corrupt template or default workbook that
was causing the problems.

3) if you deleted the excel preference file in the Preferences folder:

~:Libraryreferences:com.microsoft.excel.plist

then you only deleted the file that stores things like window size and
placement. The "real" preferences file is in a subfolder:

~:Libraryreferences:Microsoft:com.microsoft.excel.prefs.plist

I would just rename that subfolder (with all Office apps shut down),
then start XL - the folder and preference files will be rebuilt from
scratch. If that cures the problem, you can transfer your Word, PPt,
etc. preferences into the new Microsoft folder.

4) Other possibilities that come to mind are corrupt fonts in your user
fonts folder (use Font Book or a font utility to check), and permissions
issues (run Disk Utility from the Applications:Utilities folder and
choose Repair Permissions).