List manager slowdown

[Posterizer]

Gang, I have a fairly large list in Excel 11.3. I'm using List Manager,
including the autofilters, total row and visuals. I'm currently up to
row 1829 (the total row) and use columns A through X, with 7 columns
being "calculated columns" containing formulas. I have a modest amount
of color filling in some cells and a sprinkling of comments throughout.
So I've got quite a bit going on with this list.

It's slowed down considerably lately, most noticeably when filtering. I
get a wristwatch followed by the spinning beachball. Not eternal waits,
but maybe 5-10 seconds, when it used to filter almost immediately.

Excel has also been crashing a LOT lately. I haven't noted whether it
only crashes when I have this doc open, or if it's done it with other
docs. I do know that it's particularly unstable if I have Classic
running in the background, but it has crashed without it, too.

I could swear that I once read in the Excel help that once a list got to
a particular size that it was a good idea to do something to improve
performance...I thought it was turning off the visuals, but that made no
difference. Now I can't find the statement in the help files that I
thought I read before.

I'm running this on a 1.6 GHz Powermac G5 tower with 1.25 GB memory, OS
10.4.8.

Any suggestions?

thanks
_dennis

 

[Bob Greenblatt]

Gang, I have a fairly large list in Excel 11.3. I'm using List Manager,
including the autofilters, total row and visuals. I'm currently up to
row 1829 (the total row) and use columns A through X, with 7 columns
being "calculated columns" containing formulas. I have a modest amount
of color filling in some cells and a sprinkling of comments throughout.
So I've got quite a bit going on with this list.

It's slowed down considerably lately, most noticeably when filtering. I
get a wristwatch followed by the spinning beachball. Not eternal waits,
but maybe 5-10 seconds, when it used to filter almost immediately.

Excel has also been crashing a LOT lately. I haven't noted whether it
only crashes when I have this doc open, or if it's done it with other
docs. I do know that it's particularly unstable if I have Classic
running in the background, but it has crashed without it, too.

I could swear that I once read in the Excel help that once a list got to
a particular size that it was a good idea to do something to improve
performance...I thought it was turning off the visuals, but that made no
difference. Now I can't find the statement in the help files that I
thought I read before.

I'm running this on a 1.6 GHz Powermac G5 tower with 1.25 GB memory, OS
10.4.8.

Any suggestions?

thanks
_dennis

I don't use list manager, but that's not a very large list to me. I've used
(again not with list manager) lists of 10,000+ rows x 150 columns without
much delay. Do you have plenty of hard disk space? Have you run disk tools
lately or diskwarrior?

 

[Geoff Lilley]

If it's just that one file, I would probably try exporting it to a CSV
or other text format, then re-import it. See if that makes a
difference. You can certainly reduce file bloat by taking out List
Manager, no question. If it's ALL Excel files that you're having that
problem with, I would certainly agree with Bob's advice. Trashing
prefs, trying a new user, and re-installing are also options I would
consider.

HTH.

Cheers,
Geoff Lilley
Microsoft Office Master Instructor (2000/XP)
Apple Certified HelpDesk Specialist (OS X 10.4)

 

[Posterizer]

I don't use list manager, but that's not a very large list to me. I've used
(again not with list manager) lists of 10,000+ rows x 150 columns without
much delay. Do you have plenty of hard disk space? Have you run disk tools
lately or diskwarrior?

Lots of disk space, and the only maintenance I do is to run MacJanitor
regularly, and periodically repair permissions. I believe I booted from
my old OSX disk a while back and ran a Disk Utility repair on the HD and
it said it could find nothing wrong. I probably should get DiskWarrior,
though...been meaning to for a while. I just haven't ever really had
any problems to speak of to warrant it.

_d

 

[Posterizer]

If it's just that one file, I would probably try exporting it to a CSV
or other text format, then re-import it. See if that makes a
difference. You can certainly reduce file bloat by taking out List
Manager, no question. If it's ALL Excel files that you're having that
problem with, I would certainly agree with Bob's advice. Trashing
prefs, trying a new user, and re-installing are also options I would
consider.

HTH.

Thanks. I worry about exporting and importing because I have a LOT of
formatting and stuff (eg, comments) that I worry it might drop in the
process.

If I drop List Manager, I assume I would have to insert a new row
manually every time I'd want to enter a new case? Is there still a way
to use autofilters and a totals row such that sorting the data with one
or more of the auto filters won't also include the totals row in the
sort? I could live with manually inserting new rows, but I rely too
heavily on sorting and filtering via the autofilters, and looking at the
resulting changes in the totals row, to lose that ability.

thanks!
_d

 

[Geoff Lilley]

That's a two part answer. Part one is use a PivotTable to sort the
data; that way, you get the best of both worlds, in terms of subtotals
and filters. The underlying basis of said PivotTable would be your
existent sheet.

The second part of the answer is to create a dynamic named range.

Excel MVP Debra Dalgleish does a pretty good job of covering both
topics:
http://www.contextures.com

Check it out.
Cheers,
Geoff Lilley
Microsoft Office Master Instructor (2000/XP)
Apple Certified HelpDesk Specialist (OS X 10.4)

 

[Patrick McMillan [MSFT]]

Dennis,

If the workbook that's causing you problems does not contain sensitive data
and you would be willing to send it to us here at Microsoft, we would be
happy to investigate and see if we can figure out what's going on with the
file. You can send the file to me directly at (e-mail address removed). If you
do send the file, please let me know what version of Excel you're running.

Thanks,

Pat

That's a two part answer. Part one is use a PivotTable to sort the
data; that way, you get the best of both worlds, in terms of subtotals
and filters. The underlying basis of said PivotTable would be your
existent sheet.

The second part of the answer is to create a dynamic named range.

Excel MVP Debra Dalgleish does a pretty good job of covering both
topics:
http://www.contextures.com

Check it out.
Cheers,
Geoff Lilley
Microsoft Office Master Instructor (2000/XP)
Apple Certified HelpDesk Specialist (OS X 10.4)

--
Pat McMillan
Macintosh Business Unit
Microsoft Corp.

This posting is provided ³AS IS² with no warranties, and confers no rights.