Why does a long running macro in Excel 2007 block Outlook???
(No, the macro doesn't access Outlook in any way. It does use ADO to access
a database).
I've noticed similar things on several occassions... where one Office 2007
App will block another (for no reason).

God I hate Office 2007.

--
-C. Moya
www.cmoya.com

Blocks Outlook in what way? From starting up?

--
Robert Sparnaaij [MVP-Outlook]
Coauthor, Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003
http://www.howto-outlook.com/
Outlook FAQ, HowTo, Downloads, Add-Ins and more

-----
"C. Moya" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Why does a long running macro in Excel 2007 block Outlook???
> (No, the macro doesn't access Outlook in any way. It does use ADO to
> access a database).
> I've noticed similar things on several occassions... where one Office 2007
> App will block another (for no reason).
>
> God I hate Office 2007.
>
> --
> -C. Moya
> www.cmoya.com
>

"Roady [MVP]" <newsgroups_DELETE_@_DELETE_sparnaaij_NO_._SPAM_net> wrote in
message news:B8F22ADC-F915-4238-95C2-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Blocks Outlook in what way? From starting up?
>
> --
> Robert Sparnaaij [MVP-Outlook]
> Coauthor, Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003

No, from working period. Outlook is loaded up. It freezes (neither its main
window nor any open message windows respond). I expect Excel to be frozen
while the macro runs (the macro runs against a database and fills some
cells.... it takes some time), but not Outlook!!!

I haven't tested to see if other Office apps are affected too. In any case,
this is a real downer. Office 2003 and prior didn't do this.

Hmm, interesting. Do you have another machine available to see if you can
repro the issue? If so; you might want to raise a support incident with
Microsoft. Support is free the first 90 days and basically always free if
they confirm it as a bug.

--
Robert Sparnaaij [MVP-Outlook]
Coauthor, Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003
http://www.howto-outlook.com/
Outlook FAQ, HowTo, Downloads, Add-Ins and more

-----
"C. Moya" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> "Roady [MVP]" <newsgroups_DELETE_@_DELETE_sparnaaij_NO_._SPAM_net> wrote
> in message news:B8F22ADC-F915-4238-95C2-(E-Mail Removed)...
>> Blocks Outlook in what way? From starting up?
>>
>> --
>> Robert Sparnaaij [MVP-Outlook]
>> Coauthor, Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003
>
> No, from working period. Outlook is loaded up. It freezes (neither its
> main window nor any open message windows respond). I expect Excel to be
> frozen while the macro runs (the macro runs against a database and fills
> some cells.... it takes some time), but not Outlook!!!
>
> I haven't tested to see if other Office apps are affected too. In any
> case, this is a real downer. Office 2003 and prior didn't do this.
>

Could it just be that the macro forces Excel to take 100% of the CPU and
hence nothing is left over for Outlook to run with? Have you watched the
CPU consumption of the Excel and Outlook processes during the execution
of the macro? One way to determine whether it's a CPU issue, is to
reduce the Excel process to the lowest priority possible while the macro
is running and to see whether Outlook is usable then.

Patrick Schmid [OneNote MVP]
--------------
http://pschmid.net
***
Outlook 2007 Performance Update: http://pschmid.net/blog/2007/04/13/105
Office 2007 RTM Issues: http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/11/13/80
***
Customize Office 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/customize
RibbonCustomizer Add-In: http://pschmid.net/office2007/ribboncustomizer
OneNote 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/onenote
***
Subscribe to my Office 2007 blog: http://pschmid.net/blog/feed

"C. Moya" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed):

> "Roady [MVP]" <newsgroups_DELETE_@_DELETE_sparnaaij_NO_._SPAM_net> wrote in
> message news:B8F22ADC-F915-4238-95C2-(E-Mail Removed)...
> > Blocks Outlook in what way? From starting up?
> >
> > --
> > Robert Sparnaaij [MVP-Outlook]
> > Coauthor, Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003
>
> No, from working period. Outlook is loaded up. It freezes (neither its main
> window nor any open message windows respond). I expect Excel to be frozen
> while the macro runs (the macro runs against a database and fills some
> cells.... it takes some time), but not Outlook!!!
>
> I haven't tested to see if other Office apps are affected too. In any case,
> this is a real downer. Office 2003 and prior didn't do this.

All other programs respond fine. The CPU isn't really hit hard because the
bottleneck is the vpn connection to the database. I did (quick and dirty)
try an empty Do-Loop in Excel to see if the same thing happened. It didn't.
Outlook responded just fine (eventhough, ironically, CPU was at 100%).

I will try to experiment some more and isolate the problem...

But, I do know for a fact that I've seen this at other times.... although
I've never paid enough mind to make a note of exactly when. For instance,
Access will also block other Office apps. It seems that under some
circumstances, Office 2007 apps are very sensitive to each other. I'll try
to experiment some more

P.S.
(this issue is now a big deal for us.... I can't have my employees not use
Outlook just because they're pulling info the database into Excel.... it's
bad enough that Excel's MDI crippled window already blocks access to their
other open workbooks).

--
-C. Moya
www.cmoya.com
"Patrick Schmid [MVP]" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Could it just be that the macro forces Excel to take 100% of the CPU and
> hence nothing is left over for Outlook to run with? Have you watched the
> CPU consumption of the Excel and Outlook processes during the execution of
> the macro? One way to determine whether it's a CPU issue, is to reduce the
> Excel process to the lowest priority possible while the macro is running
> and to see whether Outlook is usable then.
>
> Patrick Schmid [OneNote MVP]
> --------------
> http://pschmid.net
> ***
> Outlook 2007 Performance Update: http://pschmid.net/blog/2007/04/13/105
> Office 2007 RTM Issues: http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/11/13/80
> ***
> Customize Office 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/customize
> RibbonCustomizer Add-In: http://pschmid.net/office2007/ribboncustomizer
> OneNote 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/onenote
> ***
> Subscribe to my Office 2007 blog: http://pschmid.net/blog/feed
>
> "C. Moya" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed):
>
>> "Roady [MVP]" <newsgroups_DELETE_@_DELETE_sparnaaij_NO_._SPAM_net> wrote
>> in
>> message news:B8F22ADC-F915-4238-95C2-(E-Mail Removed)...
>> > Blocks Outlook in what way? From starting up?
>> >
>> > --
>> > Robert Sparnaaij [MVP-Outlook]
>> > Coauthor, Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003
>>
>> No, from working period. Outlook is loaded up. It freezes (neither its
>> main
>> window nor any open message windows respond). I expect Excel to be frozen
>> while the macro runs (the macro runs against a database and fills some
>> cells.... it takes some time), but not Outlook!!!
>>
>> I haven't tested to see if other Office apps are affected too. In any
>> case,
>> this is a real downer. Office 2003 and prior didn't do this.
>

So if you are trashing the VPN connection with Excel queries how do you
think Outlook can maintain its connection to the Exchange server or am I
missing something in your setup here?

--
Robert Sparnaaij [MVP-Outlook]
Coauthor, Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003
http://www.howto-outlook.com/
Outlook FAQ, HowTo, Downloads, Add-Ins and more

-----
"C. Moya" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> All other programs respond fine. The CPU isn't really hit hard because the
> bottleneck is the vpn connection to the database. I did (quick and dirty)
> try an empty Do-Loop in Excel to see if the same thing happened. It
> didn't. Outlook responded just fine (eventhough, ironically, CPU was at
> 100%).
>
> I will try to experiment some more and isolate the problem...
>
> But, I do know for a fact that I've seen this at other times.... although
> I've never paid enough mind to make a note of exactly when. For instance,
> Access will also block other Office apps. It seems that under some
> circumstances, Office 2007 apps are very sensitive to each other. I'll try
> to experiment some more
>
> P.S.
> (this issue is now a big deal for us.... I can't have my employees not use
> Outlook just because they're pulling info the database into Excel.... it's
> bad enough that Excel's MDI crippled window already blocks access to their
> other open workbooks).
>
> --
> -C. Moya
> www.cmoya.com
> "Patrick Schmid [MVP]" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>> Could it just be that the macro forces Excel to take 100% of the CPU and
>> hence nothing is left over for Outlook to run with? Have you watched the
>> CPU consumption of the Excel and Outlook processes during the execution
>> of the macro? One way to determine whether it's a CPU issue, is to reduce
>> the Excel process to the lowest priority possible while the macro is
>> running and to see whether Outlook is usable then.
>>
>> Patrick Schmid [OneNote MVP]
>> --------------
>> http://pschmid.net
>> ***
>> Outlook 2007 Performance Update: http://pschmid.net/blog/2007/04/13/105
>> Office 2007 RTM Issues: http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/11/13/80
>> ***
>> Customize Office 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/customize
>> RibbonCustomizer Add-In: http://pschmid.net/office2007/ribboncustomizer
>> OneNote 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/onenote
>> ***
>> Subscribe to my Office 2007 blog: http://pschmid.net/blog/feed
>>
>> "C. Moya" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:(E-Mail Removed):
>>
>>> "Roady [MVP]" <newsgroups_DELETE_@_DELETE_sparnaaij_NO_._SPAM_net> wrote
>>> in
>>> message news:B8F22ADC-F915-4238-95C2-(E-Mail Removed)...
>>> > Blocks Outlook in what way? From starting up?
>>> >
>>> > --
>>> > Robert Sparnaaij [MVP-Outlook]
>>> > Coauthor, Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003
>>>
>>> No, from working period. Outlook is loaded up. It freezes (neither its
>>> main
>>> window nor any open message windows respond). I expect Excel to be
>>> frozen
>>> while the macro runs (the macro runs against a database and fills some
>>> cells.... it takes some time), but not Outlook!!!
>>>
>>> I haven't tested to see if other Office apps are affected too. In any
>>> case,
>>> this is a real downer. Office 2003 and prior didn't do this.
>>
>
>

Are you running the Outlook Performance Update already?

Patrick Schmid [OneNote MVP]
--------------
http://pschmid.net
***
Outlook 2007 Performance Update: http://pschmid.net/blog/2007/04/13/105
Office 2007 RTM Issues: http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/11/13/80
***
Customize Office 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/customize
RibbonCustomizer Add-In: http://pschmid.net/office2007/ribboncustomizer
OneNote 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/onenote
***
Subscribe to my Office 2007 blog: http://pschmid.net/blog/feed

"C. Moya" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed):

> All other programs respond fine. The CPU isn't really hit hard because the
> bottleneck is the vpn connection to the database. I did (quick and dirty)
> try an empty Do-Loop in Excel to see if the same thing happened. It didn't.
> Outlook responded just fine (eventhough, ironically, CPU was at 100%).
>
> I will try to experiment some more and isolate the problem...
>
> But, I do know for a fact that I've seen this at other times.... although
> I've never paid enough mind to make a note of exactly when. For instance,
> Access will also block other Office apps. It seems that under some
> circumstances, Office 2007 apps are very sensitive to each other. I'll try
> to experiment some more
>
> P.S.
> (this issue is now a big deal for us.... I can't have my employees not use
> Outlook just because they're pulling info the database into Excel.... it's
> bad enough that Excel's MDI crippled window already blocks access to their
> other open workbooks).
>
> --
> -C. Moya
> www.cmoya.com
> "Patrick Schmid [MVP]" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> > Could it just be that the macro forces Excel to take 100% of the CPU and
> > hence nothing is left over for Outlook to run with? Have you watched the
> > CPU consumption of the Excel and Outlook processes during the execution of
> > the macro? One way to determine whether it's a CPU issue, is to reduce the
> > Excel process to the lowest priority possible while the macro is running
> > and to see whether Outlook is usable then.
> >
> > Patrick Schmid [OneNote MVP]
> > --------------
> > http://pschmid.net
> > ***
> > Outlook 2007 Performance Update: http://pschmid.net/blog/2007/04/13/105
> > Office 2007 RTM Issues: http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/11/13/80
> > ***
> > Customize Office 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/customize
> > RibbonCustomizer Add-In: http://pschmid.net/office2007/ribboncustomizer
> > OneNote 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/onenote
> > ***
> > Subscribe to my Office 2007 blog: http://pschmid.net/blog/feed
> >
> > "C. Moya" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> > news:(E-Mail Removed):
> >
> >> "Roady [MVP]" <newsgroups_DELETE_@_DELETE_sparnaaij_NO_._SPAM_net> wrote
> >> in
> >> message news:B8F22ADC-F915-4238-95C2-(E-Mail Removed)...
> >> > Blocks Outlook in what way? From starting up?
> >> >
> >> > --
> >> > Robert Sparnaaij [MVP-Outlook]
> >> > Coauthor, Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003
> >>
> >> No, from working period. Outlook is loaded up. It freezes (neither its
> >> main
> >> window nor any open message windows respond). I expect Excel to be frozen
> >> while the macro runs (the macro runs against a database and fills some
> >> cells.... it takes some time), but not Outlook!!!
> >>
> >> I haven't tested to see if other Office apps are affected too. In any
> >> case,
> >> this is a real downer. Office 2003 and prior didn't do this.
> >

"Roady [MVP]" <newsgroups_DELETE_@_DELETE_sparnaaij_NO_._SPAM_net> wrote in
message news:F799F1F9-81A1-4030-BA8F-(E-Mail Removed)...
> So if you are trashing the VPN connection with Excel queries how do you
> think Outlook can maintain its connection to the Exchange server or am I
> missing something in your setup here?
>
> --
> Robert Sparnaaij [MVP-Outlook]
> Coauthor, Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003
> http://www.howto-outlook.com/
> Outlook FAQ, HowTo, Downloads, Add-Ins and more

I'm talking about a UI freeze here. Outlook does its Exchange connection
stuff in a background thread. The UI is hardly ever affected. I trash the
VPN connection regularly... and Outlook never chokes or ceases to respond.

--
-C. Moya
www.cmoya.com

"Patrick Schmid [MVP]" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Are you running the Outlook Performance Update already?
>
> Patrick Schmid [OneNote MVP]

I have no idea what that is. Was it part of Windows Update? I've had no
problems with Outlook 2007 otherwise... performance-wise anyway-- other than
this Excel problem.
I'll research this update.

--
-C. Moya
www.cmoya.com