SHARED WORKBOOK SLOWS MY COMPUTER!

I have a shared workbook on our server. Whenever I try to access it on my
computer, it slows to a crawl. It takes me 1 minute and 14 seconds to open
the file! (it is only 149KB) The funny thing is that my co-workers working
off of older versions (and older computers) can open it in 12 seconds or so.

Also- when I "unshare" the file, it opens no problem! HELP! What can I do
to make this shared file run a little smoother for all of us in the office?

Any suggestions?

Hi Heather,

> Also- when I "unshare" the file, it opens no problem! HELP! What can I do
> to make this shared file run a little smoother for all of us in the office?
>

Don't share it?

Seriously. If this is a critical application for you, strongly consider moving
towards a different solution than Excel.
Excel is very unreliable with sharing information with multiple users.

Access is much better designed for such a task.

Regards,

Jan Karel Pieterse
Excel MVP
http://www.jkp-ads.com

Hi Jan,

Thank you for your email. I feel rather silly asking this, but being that I
am not Access-savy....the shared workbooks that are giving me issues are our
estimators' schedules. Would Access be a better program for that particular
type of document? I can probably figure it out, just figured I would ask
first if it is worth trying. The key thing is that everyone is able to
go in and make additions/changes to the schedule throughout the day.

Thanks so much for your advice!

Heather Forrest

"Jan Karel Pieterse" wrote:

> Hi Heather,
>
> > Also- when I "unshare" the file, it opens no problem! HELP! What can I do
> > to make this shared file run a little smoother for all of us in the office?
> >
>
> Don't share it?
>
> Seriously. If this is a critical application for you, strongly consider moving
> towards a different solution than Excel.
> Excel is very unreliable with sharing information with multiple users.
>
> Access is much better designed for such a task.
>
> Regards,
>
> Jan Karel Pieterse
> Excel MVP
> http://www.jkp-ads.com
>
>

Like Jan Karel I distrust Shared Workbooks.
I have seen too many reports of problems from people using them.
They also restrict what operations are permitted.
Since other peoples' changes only become visible to users when they
save their copy of the workbook there is scope for confusion.

I would certainly prefer to use Access for a task that required
multiple people to have update access to the same set of data - since
Access is designed to do that.

Having said that, it may not be a trivial task to convert your existing
application. As an alternative, you could make your workbook unshared
and save it with the Read-only recommended option (Tools / General
Options on the File / Save As dialog). Then people who only want to
look at the schedule will open it read-only. If you know you want to
make changes you can over-ride that and attempt to open it for
read-write - which you can do as long as no-one else has it open for
writing. Otherwise you can ask to be notified when it becomes free.

Bill Manville
MVP - Microsoft Excel, Oxford, England

Dear Bill,

Thank you for your input and advice! Unfortunately, this file must be
accessed by at least 2 individuals simultaneously through the entire day, so
the unshared option will not work for me. I will, however, try and learn how
to convert my schedules worksheet into an Access file. As I said to Jan, I
am not Access savvy, so this might take a little research and learning on my
part, but it is worth it if I can get our schedules set on the server so that
all of us can be in it at the same time (viewing, adding or changing) without
gumming up my computer!

Thanks again!
Heather



"Bill Manville" wrote:

> Like Jan Karel I distrust Shared Workbooks.
> I have seen too many reports of problems from people using them.
> They also restrict what operations are permitted.
> Since other peoples' changes only become visible to users when they
> save their copy of the workbook there is scope for confusion.
>
> I would certainly prefer to use Access for a task that required
> multiple people to have update access to the same set of data - since
> Access is designed to do that.
>
> Having said that, it may not be a trivial task to convert your existing
> application. As an alternative, you could make your workbook unshared
> and save it with the Read-only recommended option (Tools / General
> Options on the File / Save As dialog). Then people who only want to
> look at the schedule will open it read-only. If you know you want to
> make changes you can over-ride that and attempt to open it for
> read-write - which you can do as long as no-one else has it open for
> writing. Otherwise you can ask to be notified when it becomes free.
>
> Bill Manville
> MVP - Microsoft Excel, Oxford, England
>
>