Excel Crashes Very often

[warriorpoetsamurai]

Version: 2008 Operating System: Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) Processor: Intel I use excel 2003 on a windows pc at work and I use excel 2008 on my macbook at home. I find that I am not able to open my 2003 files or even new worksheets. Sometimes I am able to get them open but the excel will crash. Here is one of the error reports that I've gotten.

Microsoft Error Reporting log version: 2.0

Error Signature:
Exception: EXC_BAD_ACCESS
Date/Time: 2010-04-25 09:20:45 -0400
Application Name: Microsoft Excel
Application Bundle ID: com.microsoft.Excel
Application Signature: XCEL
Application Version: 12.2.4.100205
Crashed Module Name: unknown
Crashed Module Version: unknown
Crashed Module Offset: unknown
Blame Module Name: unknown
Blame Module Version: unknown
Blame Module Offset: unknown
Application LCID: 1033
Extra app info: Reg=en Loc=0x0409

Thread 0 crashed:

# 1 0xffff0084 in ( + 0x00000000)
# 2 0x97ec240b in _objc_assign_strongCast + 0x97E113ED (libobjc.A.dylib + 0x0000640b)
# 3 0x97ec9972 in _objc_assign_strongCast + 0x97E18954 (libobjc.A.dylib + 0x0000d972)
# 4 0x97ecac17 in _objc_assign_strongCast + 0x97E19BF9 (libobjc.A.dylib + 0x0000ec17)
# 5 0x97ec2367 in _objc_assign_strongCast + 0x97E11349 (libobjc.A.dylib + 0x00006367)
# 6 0x97ec1f13 in _objc_assign_strongCast + 0x97E10EF5 (libobjc.A.dylib + 0x00005f13)
# 7 0x93fee808 in .objc_class_name_CTGlyphStorageInterface + 0x93F866D4 (CoreText + 0x00005808)
# 8 0x93fee70b in .objc_class_name_CTGlyphStorageInterface + 0x93F865D7 (CoreText + 0x0000570b)
# 9 0x901aad61 in .objc_class_name_IMKInkInputSession + 0x8FE65409 (HIToolbox + 0x0000bd61)
# 10 0x901aacb5 in .objc_class_name_IMKInkInputSession + 0x8FE6535D (HIToolbox + 0x0000bcb5)
# 11 0x901aaa12 in .objc_class_name_IMKInkInputSession + 0x8FE650BA (HIToolbox + 0x0000ba12)
# 12 0x901a96d0 in .objc_class_name_IMKInkInputSession + 0x8FE63D78 (HIToolbox + 0x0000a6d0)
# 13 0x901a9547 in .objc_class_name_IMKInkInputSession + 0x8FE63BEF (HIToolbox + 0x0000a547)
# 14 0x014d1e82 in _McpFBuildCMLinkableTextStyleTag + 0x000064CE (MicrosoftComponentPlugin + 0x00072e82)
# 15 0x014d20a3 in _McpFBuildCMLinkableTextStyleTag + 0x000066EF (MicrosoftComponentPlugin + 0x000730a3)
# 16 0x014d35a1 in _McpFBuildCMLinkableTextStyleTag + 0x00007BED (MicrosoftComponentPlugin + 0x000745a1)
# 17 0x014d4eb2 in _McpFBuildCMLinkableTextStyleTag + 0x000094FE (MicrosoftComponentPlugin + 0x00075eb2)
# 18 0x014d59a0 in _McpFBuildCMLinkableTextStyleTag + 0x00009FEC (MicrosoftComponentPlugin + 0x000769a0)
# 19 0x0148c2d4 in _McpDispTBCBDataFromIMcpControl + 0x00000580 (MicrosoftComponentPlugin + 0x0002d2d4)
# 20 0x014eb72a in _McpFCreateControl + 0x00001B3C (MicrosoftComponentPlugin + 0x0008c72a)
# 21 0x015044ec in MHIView::HandleEvent(OpaqueEventHandlerCallRef*, MEvent&amp + 0x000006F4 (MicrosoftComponentPlugin + 0x000a54ec)
# 22 0x01503308 in MHIView::GetMHIView(OpaqueControlRef*) + 0x000000F0 (MicrosoftComponentPlugin + 0x000a4308)
# 23 0x014fb134 in MEventHandler::FRemoveHandler(unsigned long, unsigned long) + 0x000001DE (MicrosoftComponentPlugin + 0x0009c134)
# 24 0x901a70a9 in .objc_class_name_IMKInkInputSession + 0x8FE61751 (HIToolbox + 0x000080a9)
# 25 0x901a6370 in .objc_class_name_IMKInkInputSession + 0x8FE60A18 (HIToolbox + 0x00007370)
# 26 0x901a61cf in .objc_class_name_IMKInkInputSession + 0x8FE60877 (HIToolbox + 0x000071cf)
# 27 0x901ce245 in .objc_class_name_IMKInkInputSession + 0x8FE888ED (HIToolbox + 0x0002f245)
# 28 0x901cdb99 in .objc_class_name_IMKInkInputSession + 0x8FE88241 (HIToolbox + 0x0002eb99)
# 29 0x901cde0c in .objc_class_name_IMKInkInputSession + 0x8FE884B4 (HIToolbox + 0x0002ee0c)
# 30 0x901cde0c in .objc_class_name_IMKInkInputSession + 0x8FE884B4 (HIToolbox + 0x0002ee0c)
# 31 0x901cde0c in .objc_class_name_IMKInkInputSession + 0x8FE884B4 (HIToolbox + 0x0002ee0c)
# 32 0x901ccbbf in .objc_class_name_IMKInkInputSession + 0x8FE87267 (HIToolbox + 0x0002dbbf)
# 33 0x901cc805 in .objc_class_name_IMKInkInputSession + 0x

 

[XinXin]

I searched the existing postings and found the following discussion has a similar crash log as yours. Could you please take a look? Basically, please try hold the "shift" key when launching XL to see whether your crash goes away. Please report back.

skull373, "CRASHING EXCEL " #7, 11 Nov 2009 11:29 am">skull373, "CRASHING EXCEL " #7, 11 Nov 2009 11:29 am

Thanks,
XinXin Liu
Test Lead, Macintosh Business Unit, Microsoft

 

[XinXin]

Try post the link again:

"skull373, "CRASHING EXCEL " #7, 11 Nov 2009 11:29 am">skull373, "CRASHING EXCEL " #7, 11 Nov 2009 11:29 am"

 

[olimpia]

Hi,

2 of my users are having the same problem. Did you find a solution?

The link "skull373, "CRASHING EXCEL " #7, 11 Nov 2009 11:29 am" is not working

Thank you in advance.

Olimpia

 

[XinXin]

Could you please try holding "shift" before launching Excel? Don't release the "shift" key until XL is fully launch. If XL still crahes, could you please follow the steps in this KB to troubleshoot?

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/979949

Thanks,
XinXin Liu
Test Lead, Macintosh Business Unit, Microsoft

 

[olimpia]

Hi XinXin,

Holding the "shift" key before launching Excel and releasing that key until XL is fully launch worked for us, but my users are not happy with this temporarily solution. Is Microsoft working on fixing this problem with a patch?

Thanks,

Olimpia

 

[XinXin]

You don't need a patch. The following is the instructions John McGhie gave:

Holding down the shift key is diagnostic: it disables the preferences.
Starting in a different user is diagnostic: it ignores the bad preferences.

Delete com.microsoft.Excel.plist from ~/Library/Preferences/

Delete ~/Library/Preferences/Microsoft/Office 2008 (the whole folder!)

Restart the machine and see if that fixes it.

This kind of issue is often caused by migrating or restoring preferences from a previous OS. The preferences are specific to the OS and system they were created on, if you restore or migrate from a different installation, you get these issues.

Thanks,
XinXin Liu
Test Lead, Macintosh Business Unit, Microsoft

 

[olimpia]

Hi XinXin,

We didn't have to delete the com.microsoft.Excel.plist neither the whole folder ~/Library/Preferences/Microsoft/Office 2008
My 2 users start up their computer this morning and they don't have any problems anymore opening Excel.

Thanks you for all your help.

Olimpia

 

[John McGhie]

Are you using Network home folders?

There can be great excitement if more than one user is using a set of
preferences, due to a network glitch

Cheers

Hi XinXin,

We didn't have to delete the com.microsoft.Excel.plist neither the whole
folder ~/Library/Preferences/Microsoft/Office 2008
My 2 users start up their computer this morning and they don't have any
problems anymore opening Excel.

Thanks you for all your help.

Olimpia

--

The email below is my business email -- Please do not email me about forum
matters unless I ask you to; or unless you intend to pay!

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP (Word, Mac Word), Consultant Technical Writer,
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
Sydney, Australia. | Ph: +61 (0)4 1209 1410 | mailto:[email protected]

 

[Peachtree]

You don't need a patch. The following is the instructions John McGhie gave:

>
> Holding down the shift key is diagnostic: it disables the preferences.
> Starting in a different user is diagnostic: it ignores the bad preferences.
>
> Delete com.microsoft.Excel.plist from ~/Library/Preferences/
>
> Delete ~/Library/Preferences/Microsoft/Office 2008 (the whole folder!)
>
> Restart the machine and see if that fixes it.
>
> This kind of issue is often caused by migrating or restoring preferences from a previous OS. The preferences are specific to the OS and system they were created on, if you restore or migrate from a different installation, you get these issues.
>
> Thanks,
> XinXin Liu
> Test Lead, Macintosh Business Unit, Microsoft
>

Hi Xin Xin,
New to this site, and have the same crashing problems as others, which only started a few months ago and have got more and more frequent.
 I have tried all the suggestions you posted - both the Font validation & removal of "bad" fonts, and the library deletions. Less crashes, but still some.
Here is my latest crash report, I hope it helps indicate what my basic problem is!

Microsoft Error Reporting log version: 2.0

Error Signature:
Exception: EXC_BAD_ACCESS
Date/Time: 2010-05-07 13:12:58 +0200
Application Name: Microsoft Excel
Application Bundle ID: com.microsoft.Excel
Application Signature: XCEL
Application Version: 12.2.4.100205
Crashed Module Name: libobjc.A.dylib
Crashed Module Version: unknown
Crashed Module Offset: 0x00005ed7
Blame Module Name: libobjc.A.dylib
Blame Module Version: unknown
Blame Module Offset: 0x00005ed7
Application LCID: 1033
Extra app info: Reg=en Loc=0x0409

Thread 0 crashed:

# 1 0x9423fed7 in _objc_assign_strongCast + 0x9418EEB9 (libobjc.A.dylib + 0x00005ed7)
# 2 0x014dc995 in _McpCopyFontMenu + 0x000006A3 (MicrosoftComponentPlugin + 0x0007d995)
# 3 0x014dd6d9 in _McpMruDisplayGetNumEntries + 0x0000010D (MicrosoftComponentPlugin + 0x0007e6d9)
# 4 0x014ddb72 in _McpMruDisplayGetNumEntries + 0x000005A6 (MicrosoftComponentPlugin + 0x0007eb72)
# 5 0x014dddf5 in _McpMruDisplayRefresh + 0x000000BD (MicrosoftComponentPlugin + 0x0007edf5)
# 6 0x00177bd0 in __mh_execute_header + 0x00176BD0 (Microsoft Excel + 0x00176bd0)
# 7 0x00613ac3 in __mh_execute_header + 0x00612AC3 (Microsoft Excel + 0x00612ac3)
# 8 0x01a777a4 in _MsoFCreateToolbarSet + 0x00000E7C (MicrosoftOffice + 0x0033f7a4)
# 9 0x01a779e2 in _MsoFCreateToolbarSet + 0x000010BA (MicrosoftOffice + 0x0033f9e2)
# 10 0x014eb935 in _McpFCreateControl + 0x00001D47 (MicrosoftComponentPlugin + 0x0008c935)
# 11 0x014ea2da in _McpFCreateControl + 0x000006EC (MicrosoftComponentPlugin + 0x0008b2da)
# 12 0x0153067e in _McpCreateControlContainer + 0x00003780 (MicrosoftComponentPlugin + 0x000d167e)
# 13 0x01530c16 in _McpCreateControlContainer + 0x00003D18 (MicrosoftComponentPlugin + 0x000d1c16)
# 14 0x986510a9 in .objc_class_name_IMKInkInputSession + 0x9830B751 (HIToolbox + 0x000080a9)
# 15 0x98650370 in .objc_class_name_IMKInkInputSession + 0x9830AA18 (HIToolbox + 0x00007370)
# 16 0x986501cf in .objc_class_name_IMKInkInputSession + 0x9830A877 (HIToolbox + 0x000071cf)
# 17 0x9869cf4a in .objc_class_name_IMKInkInputSession + 0x983575F2 (HIToolbox + 0x00053f4a)
# 18 0x986c7d55 in .objc_class_name_IMKInkInputSession + 0x983823FD (HIToolbox + 0x0007ed55)
# 19 0x986c72e8 in .objc_class_name_IMKInkInputSession + 0x98381990 (HIToolbox + 0x0007e2e8)
# 20 0x986c7ba0 in .objc_class_name_IMKInkInputSession + 0x98382248 (HIToolbox + 0x0007eba0)
# 21 0x986c69a1 in .objc_class_name_IMKInkInputSession + 0x98381049 (HIToolbox + 0x0007d9a1)
# 22 0x986c65ce in .objc_class_name_IMKInkInputSession + 0x98380C76 (HIToolbox + 0x0007d5ce)
# 23 0x986c628f in .objc_class_name_IMKInkInputSession + 0x98380937 (HIToolbox + 0x0007d28f)
# 24 0x987feb0b in .objc_class_name_IMKInkInputSession + 0x984B91B3 (HIToolbox + 0x001b5b0b)
# 25 0x986516a3

 

[John McGhie]

That looks as if one of the modules that comprise Excel has been damaged.

Have you been running any system utilities that promise to compact or reduce
the size of Microsoft Office?

Utilities such as Monolingual and iCleanLanguage that offer to remove
unwanted localisations cause heaps of crashes.

Once one of these utilities has screwed things up, the only cure is a full
remove and replace using the Microsoft Office Remover tool. If you don't
use the tool, you'll only make things worse. If you forget to re-apply all
the updates afterwards, things may not get much better!

Hope this helps

Hi Xin Xin,
New to this site, and have the same crashing problems as others, which only
started a few months ago and have got more and more frequent.
I have tried all the suggestions you posted - both the Font validation &
removal of "bad" fonts, and the library deletions. Less crashes, but still
some.
Here is my latest crash report, I hope it helps indicate what my basic problem
is!

Microsoft Error Reporting log version: 2.0

Error Signature:
Exception: EXC_BAD_ACCESS
Date/Time: 2010-05-07 13:12:58 +0200
Application Name: Microsoft Excel
Application Bundle ID: com.microsoft.Excel
Application Signature: XCEL
Application Version: 12.2.4.100205
Crashed Module Name: libobjc.A.dylib
Crashed Module Version: unknown
Crashed Module Offset: 0x00005ed7
Blame Module Name: libobjc.A.dylib
Blame Module Version: unknown
Blame Module Offset: 0x00005ed7
Application LCID: 1033
Extra app info: Reg=en Loc=0x0409

Thread 0 crashed:

# 1 0x9423fed7 in _objc_assign_strongCast + 0x9418EEB9 (libobjc.A.dylib +
0x00005ed7)
# 2 0x014dc995 in _McpCopyFontMenu + 0x000006A3 (MicrosoftComponentPlugin +
0x0007d995)
# 3 0x014dd6d9 in _McpMruDisplayGetNumEntries + 0x0000010D
(MicrosoftComponentPlugin + 0x0007e6d9)
# 4 0x014ddb72 in _McpMruDisplayGetNumEntries + 0x000005A6
(MicrosoftComponentPlugin + 0x0007eb72)
# 5 0x014dddf5 in _McpMruDisplayRefresh + 0x000000BD
(MicrosoftComponentPlugin + 0x0007edf5)
# 6 0x00177bd0 in __mh_execute_header + 0x00176BD0 (Microsoft Excel +
0x00176bd0)
# 7 0x00613ac3 in __mh_execute_header + 0x00612AC3 (Microsoft Excel +
0x00612ac3)
# 8 0x01a777a4 in _MsoFCreateToolbarSet + 0x00000E7C (MicrosoftOffice +
0x0033f7a4)
# 9 0x01a779e2 in _MsoFCreateToolbarSet + 0x000010BA (MicrosoftOffice +
0x0033f9e2)
# 10 0x014eb935 in _McpFCreateControl + 0x00001D47 (MicrosoftComponentPlugin
+ 0x0008c935)
# 11 0x014ea2da in _McpFCreateControl + 0x000006EC (MicrosoftComponentPlugin
+ 0x0008b2da)
# 12 0x0153067e in _McpCreateControlContainer + 0x00003780
(MicrosoftComponentPlugin + 0x000d167e)
# 13 0x01530c16 in _McpCreateControlContainer + 0x00003D18
(MicrosoftComponentPlugin + 0x000d1c16)
# 14 0x986510a9 in .objc_class_name_IMKInkInputSession + 0x9830B751
(HIToolbox + 0x000080a9)
# 15 0x98650370 in .objc_class_name_IMKInkInputSession + 0x9830AA18
(HIToolbox + 0x00007370)
# 16 0x986501cf in .objc_class_name_IMKInkInputSession + 0x9830A877
(HIToolbox + 0x000071cf)
# 17 0x9869cf4a in .objc_class_name_IMKInkInputSession + 0x983575F2
(HIToolbox + 0x00053f4a)
# 18 0x986c7d55 in .objc_class_name_IMKInkInputSession + 0x983823FD
(HIToolbox + 0x0007ed55)
# 19 0x986c72e8 in .objc_class_name_IMKInkInputSession + 0x98381990
(HIToolbox + 0x0007e2e8)
# 20 0x986c7ba0 in .objc_class_name_IMKInkInputSession + 0x98382248
(HIToolbox + 0x0007eba0)
# 21 0x986c69a1 in .objc_class_name_IMKInkInputSession + 0x98381049
(HIToolbox + 0x0007d9a1)
# 22 0x986c65ce in .objc_class_name_IMKInkInputSession + 0x98380C76
(HIToolbox + 0x0007d5ce)
# 23 0x986c628f in .objc_class_name_IMKInkInputSession + 0x98380937
(HIToolbox + 0x0007d28f)
# 24 0x987feb0b in .objc_class_name_IMKInkInputSession + 0x984B91B3
(HIToolbox + 0x001b5b0b)
# 25 0x986516a3

--

The email below is my business email -- Please do not email me about forum
matters unless I ask you to; or unless you intend to pay!

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP (Word, Mac Word), Consultant Technical Writer,
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
Sydney, Australia. | Ph: +61 (0)4 1209 1410 | mailto:[email protected]

 

[Peachtree]

That looks as if one of the modules that comprise Excel has been damaged.

>
> Have you been running any system utilities that promise to compact or reduce
> the size of Microsoft Office?
>
> Utilities such as Monolingual and iCleanLanguage that offer to remove
> unwanted localisations cause heaps of crashes.
>
> Once one of these utilities has screwed things up, the only cure is a full
> remove and replace using the Microsoft Office Remover tool. If you don't
> use the tool, you'll only make things worse. If you forget to re-apply all
> the updates afterwards, things may not get much better!
>
> Hope this helps
>

Hi Again,

No, I haven't run any third party utilities. The only one thing use is the Disk Utility in the Mac OS
So, I take it I need to do a full uninstal.
 is the removal tool part of the Office suite or do I need to download it? And will I lose any Templates I have made in the process?
Thanks for taking the time to help me with this.

Richard

 

[John McGhie]

Hi Richard:

The Office Remover tool is on your hard disk at /Applications/Microsoft
Office 2008/Additional Tools/Remove Office

It will not touch any files YOU have made. But you MUST apply all the
updates after you re-install, otherwise you may not be able to read some of
the files you have made (mainly: email...).

Hope this helps

Hi Again,

No, I haven't run any third party utilities. The only one thing use is the
Disk Utility in the Mac OS
So, I take it I need to do a full uninstal.
is the removal tool part of the Office suite or do I need to download it? And
will I lose any Templates I have made in the process?
Thanks for taking the time to help me with this.

Richard

--

The email below is my business email -- Please do not email me about forum
matters unless I ask you to; or unless you intend to pay!

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP (Word, Mac Word), Consultant Technical Writer,
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
Sydney, Australia. | Ph: +61 (0)4 1209 1410 | mailto:[email protected]

 

[Peachtree]

Hi there,

Followed the instructions for uninstall & reinstall, just tried to use Excel and it crashed as I tried to create a new Excel sheet! Soon as it happens again I will post the report here, but open to suggestions. This is really depressing as I had no problems for a year, now this!

Richard

 

[XinXin]

Hi Richard,

could you please send me ([email protected]) a complete crash log? The log you pasted got cut off. I need to understand a little bit more about your local environment in order to analyze what could possibly go wrong here.

Thanks,
XinXin Liu
Test Lead, Macintosh Business Unit, Microsoft

 

[Peachtree]

Hi there,
I just sent you the latest log,

Cheers,
Richard

 

[Peachtree]

Hi there,
XinXin helped me solve the crashes problem - it appears that a bad template my have been the cause. Thanks again XinXin for all your help!

Here are the steps

1. Close all Office applications
2. Delete all file starting com.microsoft.* from ~/Library/Preferences/
3. Delete ~/Library/Preferences/Microsoft/ (the whole folder!)
4. Delete ~/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/ (the whole folder!)
5. Reboot the machine

You may want to back up these files before deleting them.

This also deletes any custom Templates from Excel AND Word, so I saved them all as reular documents, then afterwards saved them one by one as templates. I advise doing this in stages, as if the original problem was a "bad" template, saving it again could start the issue all over again!

On reboot Excel is set back to the original state so you will have to re-customise toolbars etc.

 

[John_McGhie_[MVP]]

Thanks for your report. We can add that to our list of fixes

Hi there,
XinXin helped me solve the crashes problem - it appears that a bad template my
have been the cause. Thanks again XinXin for all your help!

Here are the steps

1. Close all Office applications
2. Delete all file starting com.microsoft.* from ~/Library/Preferences/
3. Delete ~/Library/Preferences/Microsoft/ (the whole folder!)
4. Delete ~/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/ (the whole folder!)
5. Reboot the machine

You may want to back up these files before deleting them.

This also deletes any custom Templates from Excel AND Word, so I saved them
all as reular documents, then afterwards saved them one by one as templates. I
advise doing this in stages, as if the original problem was a "bad" template,
saving it again could start the issue all over again!

On reboot Excel is set back to the original state so you will have to
re-customise toolbars etc.

--

The email below is my business email -- Please do not email me about forum
matters unless I ask you to; or unless you intend to pay!

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP (Word, Mac Word), Consultant Technical Writer,
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
Sydney, Australia. | Ph: +61 (0)4 1209 1410 | mailto:[email protected]