Excel Locks up/Freezes PC unpredictably

I have a user who has been experiencing an issue for quite some time with Excel and we have not been able to track down the cause or a fix to it.

Excel will lock up and crash with what seems to be completely random frequency. Below are the details.

Windows 7 32bit

Office 2010

-It happens with different spreadsheets

-It happens with both .xls and .xlsx

-It can happen when opening, saving, working within a spreadsheet, or in a different program all together

-Other people use the same spreadsheets and do not experience the issue

-The only correspondence to the crashes in the Event Viewer are multiple "Office Software Protection Platform Service" events

-The issue is experienced with local files, filed saved on the network, and blank/unsaved workbooks

-The PC is connected to a domain

I have done the following:

-Repaired Microsoft Office

-Re-installed Microsoft Office

-Disabled all Add-ons

-Ran Office Products in safe mode

-Re-created the users profile, both from scratch and using the Windows Easy Transfer tool

-Replaced the users PC entirely

-Edited the registry key that controls the frequency of "Office Software Protection Platform Service"

-Set the "Office Software Protection Platform" service to automatic

-Verified that Office 2010 Product Key information was correct

-Set Excel.exe to "Run as Administrator"

-Disabled Protected View

-Used a different printer/print drivers

-Cleared the "Recently Used" list

-Deleted the files in Appdata\Roaming\Excel

As you can see I have done a lot and have gotten nowhere, the user still reports the issue happening. Sometimes upwards of 8 times a day. This has caused the user to lose a lot of work that wasn't recoverable. Any suggestions about what else to try or where to look?

March 12th, 2014 3:18pm

Also tried removing all group policies and making her an admin. Neither made a difference.
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
March 13th, 2014 8:27am

Re:  Excel crashing

I am grasping at straws and you have probably already done most/all of these, but...
Clear all Temp files

Delete all .Exd files
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290537/en-us)

Delete the .xlb files
These files (file) contain the toolbar/ribbon and get bloated, corrupt.
They seem to stick around, even after a repair.
A new default .xlb file is built automatically, when Excel starts, if the file does not exist.
'-
Is Service Pack 2 (Office 2010) installed?
I know it is heresy, but Windows XP might be a solution.
'---

Jim Cone
Portland, Oregon USA
free & commercial excel programs
https://jumpshare.com/b/O5FC6LaBQ6U3UPXjOmX2


  • Edited by James Cone 22 hours 6 minutes ago clarification
March 13th, 2014 8:56am

I have not deleted the .exd files but will do that now and report back.

The rest has already been done.

Any other ideas?

Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
March 13th, 2014 3:39pm

re:  more excel crashing

Well you asked about other ideas so...
1. Turn off Auto-Save
2. Turn off file-sharing
3. Locate the XLSTART directory, move everything there someplace else.
4. You disabled all add-ins, but does that include Com add-ins and the other flavors.
5. Does the user have an anti-virus app installed - disable it.
6. Doug Robbins (Word MVP) has an exhaustive list of problems/solutions for crashes in Office 2013.
    There will be overlap with Office 2010...
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/office/forum/office_2013_release-customize/something-went-wrong/b178f08f-3f59-4938-8f39-2af189bffd44
7. Don't know anything about it, but another idea ...
   "Fix a corrupted user profile"  http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/fix-corrupted-user-profile#1TC=windows-7
'---
Wish you good luck
Jim Cone
March 13th, 2014 5:34pm

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