Excel Document Windows Disappearing

[jelly]

I tried to respond to a previous post related to this issue and was
not able, so I'm starting a new thread. I'm assuming the thread was
too old to respond to, my apologies for crowding the group.

I have seen similar postings on this list regarding the same issues,
but none of the resolutions have fixed my problem.

I have a problem with Microsoft Excel that started occurring about 6
months ago on my PowerBook G4 (Dual Layer DVD burner) and has
continued to occur on my new MacBookPro (Core 2Duo). Sometimes, and
the cause is always different, my Excel document window just
disappears. Literally disappears. It is not minimized and is not
behind another Excel window, its just gone. Sometimes I can get it
back by selecting "Window" from the menu bar and then choosing the
Excel document that is gone. But many times I actually have to go to
another application, then go back to Excel, and then choose the
document from the window menu in order for it to re-appear.

I have tried all of the following to get this to go away and none have
worked:

1) Remove excel and all known supporting files like plists, etc. Re-
install, upgrade to latest version (currently I'm on 11.3.3).
2) Upgrade Mac OS X (currently running 10.4.9). This issue persists,
though, through all my os upgrades since about 6 months ago, and I
stay pretty current.
3) Removed particular plists files as recommended on a usenet list
(the excel plist in ~/Library/Preferences/Microsoft and the other one
in ~/Library/Preferences).
4) Created a new user on my machine.
5) Inspected fonts and deleted bad ones.

I don't know what to do. The problem seems to occur more frequently as
I use excel longer, and harder, and then slacks off again after i quit
and re-open or after a restart, but it always returns. The
disappearing window is always triggered by some event, but that event
can vary. I've seen all of the following cause the window to
disappear:
* Saving using command-s
* Auto-column resize by double-clicking the column header
* Copying
* Pasting
* Selecting a cell using the arrow keys or the mouse
I'm sure there are more I'm forgetting.

For awhile I thought I was going crazy, but I have a colleague who is
having the same issue on his powerbook.

I have found that some users have gotten rid of this problem by
updating or removing an application called Stickybrain. I do not have
that application on my machine, nor has it every been on my machine.

Please help, this is killing my productivity.

 

[ovkofschip]

HI,

This is exactly my problem too.
For me it started only a few weeks ago. I've used Excel on my old
iBookG4 for years without any problems.
Then I bought a MacBook (month ago) and a few weeks ago it started.
The strange is that my old iBook and my iMacG5 (+1 year running
Office) started showing the same problems. So I thought it was a
recent Microsoft of MacOSX update, but since you've had it for over
half a year, that isn't it!

I have not yet succeeded in solving it. So if anyone knows anything
about this, please help us!

Thanks,

Marco
Netherlands

 

[IanF]

There's a possibly related problem I've been having and which I've
seen described elsewhere.

When opening a workbook it simply isn't visible - though it is listed
in the Window menu.

The workaround is...
Select the workbook name in the Window menu.
Select Arrange... in the Window menu.
Pick tile, or any of the other options and check the "windows of
active workbook" box
Click OK

That's the workaround but it would be good to get a fix for the root
cause. In my case it seems to be related to using my MacBook and
PowerBook at various locations with different external monitors. I
also get strange behaviour when running the Chart Wizard - the
intermediate steps of the wizard dialog show up on a different
monitor, or disappear completely if I am not connected to an external
monitor. I'm guessing Excel has cached information somewhere about my
monitor configuration which is out of sync with the actual
configuration. If one could find and delete it or fix it perhaps all
would be well.

 

[davecarlen]

I have been using that workaround as well, the problem is that I need
to do it about every 3-4 clicks so it is not practical. I also use an
external monitor, are you NOT having problems when not connected to an
external?


I also do not have Stickybrain.

I created a new used on my system and that did not help

Any help would be appreciated

 

[Bob Greenblatt]

For what it's worth, I have ALWAYS been using Excel with multiple monitors,
and have NEVER seen this. Excel does indeed remember where the window was
when the file is saved. When it is reopened on another machine with only 1
(or different configuration of) monitor, it may open the document "off
screen". The work around to windows-Arrange the active document will put it
back where it is visible. Why it is happening every few clicks, I don't
know. Are you clicking the yellow dot to move the window to the dock? Is a
macro rearranging the windows?

 

[davecarlen]

It happens when working within cells, I type something and while
typing (or dragging the cell or clicking on a function, or cut/paste)
the window dissapears (although I can continue to perform the action
in the cell). Excel thinks the window is still there, it is just not
visable. Nothing is repositioned. I did test without the external and
get the same behavior. I have searched many lists and found this
error is happening to quite a few people but have yet to find a
resolution.

 

[davecarlen]

Also, it didn't start until about 2 months ago and I have been using
the same apps for a lot longer than that. It seems to become
progressively worse over time.

I have tried deleting prefs and even creating a new user on my system,
neither fixed the problem.

 

[Bob Greenblatt]

Also, it didn't start until about 2 months ago and I have been using
the same apps for a lot longer than that. It seems to become
progressively worse over time.

I have tried deleting prefs and even creating a new user on my system,
neither fixed the problem.

Do you have an "funny" keytrapping utilities. Haxies, anything that might be
changing the key strokes? Is Excel the only application where this occurs.?
Do you see anything else strange with any other applications?

 

[davecarlen]

I don't have any keytrapping apps that I am aware of, on some threads
I have seen people complain it happens to them in Word, I don't use
the other office apps enought to know. I was suspicious that it was
related to specific spreadsheets I use often so this morning I created
a new spreadsheet, created 2 shore liists, multiplied the lists by
each other and the tried to copy and past one list and the window
dissapeared.

 

[jelly]

i am not using an external monitor (i never do), and I have this issue
all the time. I use word infrequently and have not seen the issue
there.

Please see my initial post for more info about what triggers this
behavor. It is NOT a case of the window being moved off the screen for
the following reason:
1) worksheet disappears for some random reason (click in a cell with a
formula, double-click column to re-size, anything!)
2) click on another app in the dock
3) click on excel in the dock... missing window reappears
(sometimes).

in other cases, i have to go out to another app, then come back, then
click "window" and select my window, and it will reappear in the place
i expect it to reappear in.

As mentioned earlier, the work arounds are fine, but when you're doing
it every 5 seconds, its really a drag.

 

[jelly]

Note this post on MacOSXhints that discusses how the same issue we're
seeing (disappearing excel windows) seemed to be caused by a bug in
the cocoa API that causes bugs with carbon apps. Chronos released a
workaround to prevent it.

from: http://forums.macosxhints.com/showthread.php?t=49511

"Chronos, who bundles OpenBase SQL in their SOHO products, has found
and fixed the problem. It was an API call that Stickybrain made to the
NSWorkspace to manage contextual menus. Apparently some bug in the
Cocoa API triggers an issue with Carbon apps such as Excel. They have
worked around the problem and have posted an update to their
software."

 

[johnb_usenet]

For what it's worth, just in the last week I have started experiencing
the Excel 2004 disappearing window symptoms described in this thread.
Triggering actions and symptoms are exactly the same as those
described in the original post.

I am using Office 2004 on a MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo system with OS
10.4.9. StickyBrain has never been installed on my system. The
symptoms occur both with and without an external monitor connected.
There does not seem to be any correlation with installing system
updates.

Deleting .plist files fixed the problem very briefly (an hour or so of
moderate use), then it returned.

I have also experienced the problem of Excel workbooks not being
visible when initially opened when an external monitor is connected,
but I believe that is a separate issue. I have seen that problem for
at least a year and on both a G4 Powerbook and my current MacBook. I
have learned to automatically do the Window / Arrange menu sequence
after opening a workbook, and have resigned myself to waiting for a
new version of Excel to fix it. The new problem is much more
bothersome and very recent (for me).

 

[davecarlen]

MIne is getting worse, Excel is basically unusable.

Is anyone from Microsoft checking these forms?

Does anyone have a suggestion on an a non-microsoft spreadsheet app
that is compatible with excel?

HELP

 

[JE McGimpsey]

MIne is getting worse, Excel is basically unusable.

Is anyone from Microsoft checking these forms?

MacBU reads these groups, but rarely responds. This is one of those
problems that is intractable in some ways, because it's only happening
to a few individuals. I've used XL for years now and NEVER seen it
happen - that doesn't mean anything one way or the other, except that I
can't suggest a solution. You might try looking at the Activity Monitor
app to see if there are processes running that cause these bizarre
symptoms.

It IS interesting that at least for one user, the problem went away, if
only briefly. when the preference files were trashed. I wonder if
blowing away the prefs folder, then looking for which pref file was
recently changed when the problem comes back would be informative? It
would also be informative to trash one pref file at a time and see if
the behavior stops when a particular file is trashed...

In any case, it's nearly impossible to diagnose these intermittent
problems without knowing a lot more about your system and what else is
running. Unfortunately, I don't even know where to tell you to start
looking (other than haxies and corrupt workbooks).

Does anyone have a suggestion on an a non-microsoft spreadsheet app
that is compatible with excel?

There are several, including OpenOffice, NeoOffice (OpenOffice with a
Mac front-end), gnumeric (a unix-based app), Mariner Calc, and probably
a few others that I've forgotten for now.

There are also on-line spreadsheet apps, including Google Spreadsheets
and ThinkFree Online.

Compatibility varies - none of them are 1-for-1 replacements, especially
with respect to macros and U/I.

 

[jelly]

i think there are more people having this issue than we think - most
people just assume they're going nuts. take a look at this forum:
http://forums.macosxhints.com/showthread.php?t=49511

i just tried deleting my contextual menu items in /Library and ~/
Library based on the info about the app called StickyBrain and some
sort of bug in the Carbon API. I'm hoping that helps, will let folks
know if it does.

 

[little_creature]

i think there are more people having this issue than we think - most
people just assume they're going nuts. take a look at this forum:http://forums.macosxhints.com/showthread.php?t=49511

i just tried deleting my contextual menu items in /Library and ~/
Library based on the info about the app called StickyBrain and some
sort of bug in the Carbon API. I'm hoping that helps, will let folks
know if it does.

Hello all,
I do not have any certain fix, just few ideas. I do not think that
this will solve the problem, but from my experiences discussion of any
idea even bad leads to some progress.

My first thought was if it could be some macro virus. My second
thought brings me to the OSX - all the trick with windows such as F11,
F12... but this is far away from my knowledges. I just want to put the
ideas here other might disprove or expand them. I'm sorry but that's
the way I'm used to work.

 

[jelly]

FYI, deleting contextual menu items works!!! Two of us that were
having the issue tried it, and neither have had any problems since.

We all have a third party app called "Noteshare" installed on our
machines. It seems that the contextual menu items that this app
installs were causing the issue. Once I deleted them, the issue
stopped.

Even if you are not using Noteshare, it could be contextual menu items
from another 3rd party app. I noticed on some other forums that an
application called "Sticky Brain" was doing the same thing.

To remove your contextual menu items, delete all files in the
following locations:
/Library/Contextual Menu Items
~/Library/Contextual Menu Items

 

[jelly]

FYI, deleting contextual menu items works!!! Two of us that were
having the issue tried it, and neither have had any problems since.

We all have a third party app called "Noteshare" installed on our
machines. It seems that the contextual menu items that this app
installs were causing the issue. Once I deleted them, the issue
stopped.

Even if you are not using Noteshare, it could be contextual menu items
from another 3rd party app. I noticed on some other forums that an
application called "Sticky Brain" was doing the same thing.

To remove your contextual menu items, delete all files in the
following locations:
/Library/Contextual Menu Items
~/Library/Contextual Menu Items

 

[JE McGimpsey]

FYI, deleting contextual menu items works!!! Two of us that were
having the issue tried it, and neither have had any problems since.

Thanks for the update.