Excel problems after winXP sp3 update

[jamoldover]

After I updated my copy of WinXP Pro with sp3, I began experiencing a series
of problems that seem to be related to running Excel, in that they only occur
when Excel is open. These problems include: delayed screen refreshes, slower
performance, occasional system freezes, particularly when trying to copy
information from one spreadsheet to another, etc. In short, the system is
acting like it has a "memory leak". However, using the Task Manager to
monitor active processes and resources doesn't show any problems, and seems
to show everything running normally. Specs of the system are as follows:
CPU: Pentium D CPU 2.80GHz
RAM: 2048 MB
OS: XP Professional, ver 5.1.2600
Excel 2003 ver 11.8211.8202 (SP3)
HD1: 148GB; 121GB available
HD2: 232GB; 232GB available

Any suggestions on the cause and ways to solve the problem? It's getting to
the point where long-term use of Excel is almost impossible, and since I need
to use it on a daily basis to do my job, that presents some problems...

 

[thishon]

Did you receive an answer to this? I have been experiencing similar
problems since updating winxp. In addition to the screen refresh issue you
mention, Excel has been fairly unstable; changing formats by itself (number
to currency), inconsistently handling subtotals in filtered data (sometimes
it does subtotals sometimes it does sum), deleting filtered amounts deletes
the whole list, etc. Its annoying to say the least.

Thanks

 

[cjbarron5]

I have been running xpsp3 for several months now(beta tester) and have not
ran into this problem. what happens when you do a system shutdown and restart?

 

[thishon]

Have exited Excel but not rebooted the system. When I go out and back into
Excel it remains unstable. Recently converted to Office 2007 (from 2003) and
use Excel extensively. While it has a lot of features I like, I find it
unpredictable.

Thanks

 

[jamoldover]

I reboot my system every night (complete shutdown and restart). The system
is fine after a reboot, until I start running Excel. If Excel is in use for
more than a few minutes, the problems start again.