trouble opening office 2003 excel files

[Dan53]

Version: 2008 Operating System: Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) Processor: Intel I am having difficulty opening Excel files that were created in the 2003 version withthe 2008 version. The files were originally created on a windows XP machine, then imported into a Mac using Office 2003 under system 10.4. The files are rather large, approximately 60 columns by 10,000 rows. I haad no difficulty in working with the files between the Windows and Mac systems. I recently got a new MacBook Pro with an Intel processor and installed Office 2008. When I try to read these large Excel files on my new laptop, Excel quits responding and I have to force quit to regain control of my machine. I am able to occasionally open these files with my new laptop and have tried saving them in the new Excel version, but still continue to have problems with the program freezing.

I have approximately 500 of these files and I need to be able to access them to complete the final report on my NIH grant. I am desperate. All of our Macintoshes at work have been upgraded to office 2008, so using the 2003 version of office is not an option.

Thanks for any help.

 

[CyberTaz]

What are your current update levels? Office needs to be at 12.2.3, 10.6.2
for OS X. Once you're fully updated run Disk Utility - Repair Disk
Permissions followed by a restart.

The size of he files should not be a problem, but if they contain any
macros, links to missing files, or ActiveX Controls it could account for the
difficulty opening them with Excel 2008. Also, are the files stored locally
or are you accessing them via a network? What happens if you copy one of the
"problem" files to your local HD & attempt to open it from there?

BTW: I think I'm clear on what you meant, but 2003 is a PC version of
Office. The Mac version that preceded 2008 is 2004

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[Dan53]

Thanks for the help. I am running Office 12.2.3 and 10.6.2 for OS X. All of the files are stored locally on my hard drive. I've also tried opening the problem files from a memory stick and the same problem is present. The files don't contain any macros, links to missing files or active X controls. The problem is present on my desk machine and laptop.

 

[John McGhie]

Hi Dan:

Open those files on a Windows machine and save them out in XLSB format.

XLSB is a compressed binary format that offers a performance gain with very
large datasheets.

How much RAM do you have in that computer? You may be running out of free
memory.

Cheers

Thanks for the help. I am running Office 12.2.3 and 10.6.2 for OS X. All of
the files are stored locally on my hard drive. I've also tried opening the
problem files from a memory stick and the same problem is present. The files
don't contain any macros, links to missing files or active X controls. The
problem is present on my desk machine and laptop.

--

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
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]

 

[Dan53]

I'll try the Windows route-. The laptop has 4 gigs of ram, while my desk top has only 1 gig.

Thanks for the suggestions

 

[Dan53]

I ended up reinstalling the 2004 version of Office & I am able to open the suspect files without a problem.

So far having 2 versions of Office hasn't been a problem, but I close all 2008 files before opening 2004 and vice versa.

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[John McGhie]

Hi Dan:

Good thinking. Excel 2004 has a lighter memory footprint than Excel 2008.

I have both versions side-by-side here and they're fine. The only
constraint is that you must NOT allow more than one version of Entourage to
start. So get rid of its icon from the Dock, so you don't hit it by mistake


Cheers

I ended up reinstalling the 2004 version of Office & I am able to open the
suspect files without a problem.

So far having 2 versions of Office hasn't been a problem, but I close all 2008
files before opening 2004 and vice versa.

Thanks for the suggestions.

--

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
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]

 

[XinXin]

Hi Dan, if possible, could you please send me ([email protected]) a copy of your workbook? I'd like to take some time investigating the file I/O performance issue.

Thanks,
XinXin
Macintosh Business Unit, Microsoft

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