This is an XL only problem, Word 2003 is fine and so is copying from other applications, it is not a system problem, 4GB RAM, 256Gb RAMDRIVE, plenty of space and CPU power

I get the hourglass for 10 seconds when copying even a single cell.

The item appears immediately In the Win XP Clipboard viewer, even while the hourglass is showing in XL.

In the Office Clipboard viewer, the item does not appear until the hourglass has gone.

There is the latest version of Skype Click to Call, and it is disabled.
I don't have ROXIO installed.

I saw a post suggesting detect and repair Office, resetting all customisation, but I am reluctant to lose customisation over so many years.

What do you suggest?

Thank you

Does it do this with all workbooks or just specific ones?
If with specific ones, it could be that formulas etc. within the worksheet itself are causing the slow down. Perhaps lots of volatile formulas?

Test it with blank new workbooks.

Thank you

It does it with the only open workbook being a new blank workbook.

Many moons ago when I used to use Excel 2003 I often had a slow cut/copy/paste experience if the spreadsheet was set in page break view but not if in normal view.

If that's not the case for you and you're experiencing this problem with a new blank workbook then I'm not sure what to suggest other than a fresh install or an upgrade.

I'm sure someone will be along with a more helpful solution for you.
Sorry I can't be of more help.

Hold on........ I have had this problem in EXCEL for many weeks, today it happened in Word as well, but it cleared on closing and restarting Word.

However I have currently fixed the XL problem by disabling then re-enabllng the AVG anti Virus scanner and shall post here again if any more help is needed.

"grahamg" wrote:
I saw a post suggesting detect and repair Office,
resetting all customisation, but I am reluctant to
lose customisation over so many years.

Very wise.


"grahamg" wrote:
There is the latest version of Skype Click to Call,
and it is disabled. I don't have ROXIO installed.

You have probably read of a problem with Skype Click To Call and Excel 2010,
as have I. Usually, the suggestion is to remove the feature, not simply
disable it.



"grahamg" wrote:
This is an XL only problem, Word 2003 is fine and so is
copying from other applications, it is not a system
problem, 4GB RAM, 256Gb RAMDRIVE, plenty of space and
CPU power

I get the hourglass for 10 seconds when copying even a
single cell.

Any number of complexities in Excel worksheets can cause this behavior.

When you say "plenty of ... CPU power", what do you mean?

If you have a multicore multi-CPU system, Task Manager will give you
misleading information about %system utilization. For example, in a 4-core
dual-CPU system, if Excel is 100% busy on one CPU, Task Manager will say
that the system is only 12.5% busy.

Focus on the interactions among formulas in the Excel workbooks.

Also, Excel 2003 has some defects in the recalculation engine. I found that
Excel 2003 recalculates some formulas multiple times, when we would expect
it only once. (Excel 2007 and later do not.)

For example, if I have COUNTIF(A1:A20000,"something"), and I copy-and-paste
over column A, COUNTIF is recalculated after each cell in column A is
replaced (at least sometimes). Simply eliminating the COUNTIF (temporarily)
made the copy-and-paste instantaneous.

Of course, it is a very different problem if you can reproduce the slow
copy-and-paste with a new workbook that contains just data, no formulas.