Performance issues with large .xls files

[Kestrel] · 11-13-2007, 04:05 PM

Hello,

Running Office 2003 on Windows XP (2002 edition, SP2), and working with large (but not excessively so) spreadsheets -- (24 columns, 15,000 rows), and it's taking ~30 minutes for my Compaq nc6320 (3GB RAM, T2400 1.83GHz Intel processor) to load it. I can't imagine this processing hit is within spec -- is there something I need to be looking for/screening, or some way I can boost performance? Excel maxes out at 50% CPU cycles, and I'm a bit at a loss.

The data is relatively low-key -- a few words/numbers per cell (at most 2 sentences), but there's an email and a URL in each one. Is excel perhaps trying to parse or check validity on each one, maybe?

Any help you can offer would be great.
Thanks!

**Glaswegian** · 11-14-2007, 06:13 AM

Hi and welcome to TSF.

Could be a variety of reasons. Have a look here

http://www.decisionmodels.com/

for some useful tips on optimising Excel.

Also, is your AV checking the file first? You might need to change a setting.

11-13-2007, 04:05 PM	#1 (permalink)
[Kestrel] Registered User Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 1 OS: WinXP	Performance issues with large .xls files Hello, Running Office 2003 on Windows XP (2002 edition, SP2), and working with large (but not excessively so) spreadsheets -- (24 columns, 15,000 rows), and it's taking ~30 minutes for my Compaq nc6320 (3GB RAM, T2400 1.83GHz Intel processor) to load it. I can't imagine this processing hit is within spec -- is there something I need to be looking for/screening, or some way I can boost performance? Excel maxes out at 50% CPU cycles, and I'm a bit at a loss. The data is relatively low-key -- a few words/numbers per cell (at most 2 sentences), but there's an email and a URL in each one. Is excel perhaps trying to parse or check validity on each one, maybe? Any help you can offer would be great. Thanks! Last edited by [Kestrel]; 11-13-2007 at 04:14 PM. Reason: Clarification

11-14-2007, 06:13 AM	#2 (permalink)
Glaswegian Moderator/ Rangemaster TSF Academy; Analyst, Security Team; Oor Wullie; TSF Surgeon and Resident Comic Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Glasgow Posts: 25,533 OS: Win XP Pro SP3 / Win 7 Pro My System Blog Entries: 10	Re: Performance issues with large .xls files Hi and welcome to TSF. Could be a variety of reasons. Have a look here http://www.decisionmodels.com/ for some useful tips on optimising Excel. Also, is your AV checking the file first? You might need to change a setting. __________________ Iain - Defender of the Haggis and all things Scottish. I don't help by PM - post in the Forums. PC Safety & Security::PC running a bit slow?::Donate::Photographers Corner