Running Excel for Mac

wjr


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I took the leap and switched from PC. I work with large spreadsheets that are formula intensive. Some of my files are as big as 50Mb. My MacBook Pro is choking on these files. I have 8Gb of RAM with an Intel Core i7 processor. Many time the system goes into extended pinwheel mode for 15-20 minutes or crashes altogether. This only happens when I'm in Excel and have one or two of the large spreadsheets open. I took the computer to the Apple Store and they ran diagnostics on it and told me that the computer was fine. They said that it appeared to be a Windows Office problem. Said that I should check the forums or go to a Windows store.

The version is Excel for Mac 2011

Anyone having a similar problem? Appreciate any input on solutions.

Thx.

J
 

pigoo3

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- You didn't tell us what version of MS Office you're running.
- Are you running a Macintosh or Windows version of MS Office?
- If running a Windows version of office on your Mac…are you running MS Office via bootcamp or emulation (Parallels or vmWare Fusion)?

- Nick
 

vansmith

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If you are indeed running it in a virtual machine (which pigoo3 and I believe you might be doing based on the wording of your post), this is likely the problem. Virtual machines, while convenient, have some limitations and dealing with large files can be one of them. If you deal with these files on a regular basis and only have a copy of Office for Windows, you may want to think about installing Windows through Boot Camp and running Office natively. Do that or purchase a copy of Office for the Mac.
 

pigoo3

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The version is Excel for Mac 2011

Thanks for the info…although editing your initial post to include this info can be a bit confusing (flow of conversation) after folks have replied to the initial post.:)

As far as the problem…Excel 2011 is the newest version…and you have a fast computer (i7 MacBook Pro)…and 8 gig of ram (a decent amount). I guess you are working with some pretty big files (50 meg)…with lots of formulas. So it could be the files that are choking the computer.

One thing I'm thinking is (which has nothing to do with Excel)…when was the last time you rebooted this computer?…and how full is your hard drive (gigs used & gigs free)?

- Nick
 

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