marknlynn3
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Excel personal workbook not opening every time
The Excel personal workbook is not opening every time Excel is started. Every 2 to 4 times I open an Excel workbook, the personal workbook will become unavailable. The problem usually, but not always, is proceeded by my getting the following message when closing an Excel workbook: "Personal.xlsb is locked for editing" by me. The personal workbook will not load after that when opening other Excel workbooks.
To see why Excel might consider the personal workbook to be locked for editing I started the task manager and noticed that while the Excel application was not listed as an active application, the task manager listed the excel.exe process as active on the processes tab. So even though I had closed Excel the process was still running. If I force the process to close I am able to access the personal workbook the next time I open an Excel file. But the problem appears again after I close and open Excel workbooks a couple of times.
Any ideas on what might be causing this problem and how to fix it?
To see why Excel might consider the personal workbook to be locked for editing I started the task manager and noticed that while the Excel application was not listed as an active application, the task manager listed the excel.exe process as active on the processes tab. So even though I had closed Excel the process was still running. If I force the process to close I am able to access the personal workbook the next time I open an Excel file. But the problem appears again after I close and open Excel workbooks a couple of times.
Any ideas on what might be causing this problem and how to fix it?
SOLUTION
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i found this : http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/office/forum/office_2010-excel/how-can-i-prevent-windows-7-excel-2010-from/c610c20a-774a-e011-8dfc-68b599b31bf5?msgId=0283afca-fc4a-e011-8dfc-68b599b31bf5
ASKER
Disabling multiple instances of Excel and disabling addins did not help. Also, the personal.xlsb file was only found in one location, C:\Users\Mark\AppData\Roam ing\Micros oft\Excel\ XLSTART, so I don't think that is the problem either. I could try reinstalling Excel, but I would prefer to avoid that if possible.
Unless someone can think of something else to try, I think I'll try converting the personal workbook to an add-in. Could someone provide a little more detailed description of how to do this? I looked at the properties for Module 1 of the personal workbook, but did not see any isaddin property to modify.
Unless someone can think of something else to try, I think I'll try converting the personal workbook to an add-in. Could someone provide a little more detailed description of how to do this? I looked at the properties for Module 1 of the personal workbook, but did not see any isaddin property to modify.
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Look at the properties of the ThisWorkbook object in the personal workbook for the IsAddin property
You have to do more than just change the IsAddin property (I think). Will addin files startup automaticallly if they're in the startup directory? Secondly, the file needs to be renamed/saved as an add-in (otherwise, its still a .xlsb file) and by doing that, doesn't the IsAddin property get changed by Excel automatically?
Dave
Dave
No you don't. It's how I run mine. Any file in a startup directory will open automatically. (it will not appear in the addins list though unless you install it properly)
ASKER
I set up an add-in to hold my macros. But I'm still having some problems. Sometimes when I try to close the workbook, but leave the Excel application open, it is not possible to close the workbook and the ribbon becomes inaccessible. This happens even when the personal workbook is removed from the xlstart folder and all add-ins are disabled. I'm thinking the problem may have something to do with the data files our data entry vendor sent us. The files are currently in .xls format. I think I'll try saving the workbooks in .htm format and then opening them again and saving them in.xlsx format to help clean up any problems, unless someone knows a better way.
I'm not sure, either. What timing! I just wrote an article/utility for Excel version conversion, try this tool: http:/A_8269.html = vote "Yes" if helpful! :) - and award this post a couple points to credit the article.... lol
If your personal.xlsb or addin didn't have any menus, beforeClose events, the work you've been doing to repair problems with it should not be causing these problems you're having.
If the data files don't either, then converting them to .xlsx should not have effect (promoting my article notwithstanding, lol).
You say you've disabled all addins, and your personal workbook is not in the start folder, and thus not running... This is puzzling, if there are no macros in the .XLS files, either...
Let us know what you find. Maybe rorya has some input as well (no doubt :) as I'm wading in the mud with you on this one - puzzling...
Dave
If your personal.xlsb or addin didn't have any menus, beforeClose events, the work you've been doing to repair problems with it should not be causing these problems you're having.
If the data files don't either, then converting them to .xlsx should not have effect (promoting my article notwithstanding, lol).
You say you've disabled all addins, and your personal workbook is not in the start folder, and thus not running... This is puzzling, if there are no macros in the .XLS files, either...
Let us know what you find. Maybe rorya has some input as well (no doubt :) as I'm wading in the mud with you on this one - puzzling...
Dave
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It looks like the preview pane being enabled was the problem. I recall being annoyed with the pane yesterday because it kept expanding to cover up information I wanted to look at like date modified and file size, so it must have been enabled recently as I haven't had this problem in the past. Anyway I disabled the preview pane and was able to use the macros in my personal workbook on ten files. Previously I would have lost access to the personal workbook after processing and saving 2 to 4 workbooks. So it looks like the problem is resolved. Great detective work.
ASKER
Thanks much for helping to resolve this issue. It's always a pleasure to work with knowledgeable people to solve a problem.