I had this happen before, usually with big EXCEL files. I change some cells
and a cell that depends on them doesn't change. I have to go into the cell,
take out the last character and put it back in, and then it updates. hitting
F9 alone does nothing.

I am not on manual recalc or iterations. I forgot to try but I bet, if I
saved the file and re-opened it, or closed EXCEL and reopen EXCEL, it would
probably have fixed it too.

Does anyone know why this happens and if it is indicative of an unstable
worksheet, or is it my computer being overloaded?

It's really scary! Thanks for your educated help!
Dean

Dean
F9 just does a limited calc try using ctrl Alt F9 - full recalc for big
workbooks.

see here for more info
http://www.decisionmodels.com/calcsecrets.htm

cheers
Simon

"Dean" wrote:

I had this happen before, usually with big EXCEL files. I change some cells
and a cell that depends on them doesn't change. I have to go into the cell,
take out the last character and put it back in, and then it updates. hitting
F9 alone does nothing.

I am not on manual recalc or iterations. I forgot to try but I bet, if I
saved the file and re-opened it, or closed EXCEL and reopen EXCEL, it would
probably have fixed it too.

Does anyone know why this happens and if it is indicative of an unstable
worksheet, or is it my computer being overloaded?

It's really scary! Thanks for your educated help!
Dean

Try Ctrl+Alt+F9

Are you using any User Defined Functions in the worksheet (functions written
in VBA). Possibly one of them has bad error handling and causing the
calculation loop to be interrupted.

--
Regards,
Tom Ogilvy

"Dean" wrote in message
...
I had this happen before, usually with big EXCEL files. I change some
cells
and a cell that depends on them doesn't change. I have to go into the
cell,
take out the last character and put it back in, and then it updates.
hitting
F9 alone does nothing.

I am not on manual recalc or iterations. I forgot to try but I bet, if I
saved the file and re-opened it, or closed EXCEL and reopen EXCEL, it
would
probably have fixed it too.

Does anyone know why this happens and if it is indicative of an unstable
worksheet, or is it my computer being overloaded?

It's really scary! Thanks for your educated help!
Dean

No, I'm not. No visual basic in this either. I have seen this kind of
instability several times, on different computers, over the years.

I appreciate the advice for a full recalc, but the danger is that one
doesn't think to hit full recalc after every change
and is susceptible to bad cells. The question is why it happens in the
first place. Do you know if it computer overload, EXCEL overload, or a
possible defective file?


Thx.
Dean
"Tom Ogilvy" wrote in message
...
Try Ctrl+Alt+F9

Are you using any User Defined Functions in the worksheet (functions
written
in VBA). Possibly one of them has bad error handling and causing the
calculation loop to be interrupted.

--
Regards,
Tom Ogilvy

"Dean" wrote in message
...
I had this happen before, usually with big EXCEL files. I change some
cells
and a cell that depends on them doesn't change. I have to go into the
cell,
take out the last character and put it back in, and then it updates.
hitting
F9 alone does nothing.

I am not on manual recalc or iterations. I forgot to try but I bet, if I
saved the file and re-opened it, or closed EXCEL and reopen EXCEL, it
would
probably have fixed it too.

Does anyone know why this happens and if it is indicative of an unstable
worksheet, or is it my computer being overloaded?

It's really scary! Thanks for your educated help!
Dean

http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;243495
The Calculate message may remain in the status bar when you enter formulas
that include cell references


Other wise browse these articles:
http://tinyurl.com/65fjo

Check Charles Williams' site
http://www.decisionmodels.com



--



Regards,
Tom Ogilvy


"Dean" wrote in message
...
No, I'm not. No visual basic in this either. I have seen this kind of
instability several times, on different computers, over the years.

I appreciate the advice for a full recalc, but the danger is that one
doesn't think to hit full recalc after every change
and is susceptible to bad cells. The question is why it happens in the
first place. Do you know if it computer overload, EXCEL overload, or a
possible defective file?


Thx.
Dean
"Tom Ogilvy" wrote in message
...
Try Ctrl+Alt+F9

Are you using any User Defined Functions in the worksheet (functions
written
in VBA). Possibly one of them has bad error handling and causing the
calculation loop to be interrupted.

--
Regards,
Tom Ogilvy

"Dean" wrote in message
...
I had this happen before, usually with big EXCEL files. I change some
cells
and a cell that depends on them doesn't change. I have to go into the
cell,
take out the last character and put it back in, and then it updates.
hitting
F9 alone does nothing.

I am not on manual recalc or iterations. I forgot to try but I bet, if
I
saved the file and re-opened it, or closed EXCEL and reopen EXCEL, it
would
probably have fixed it too.

Does anyone know why this happens and if it is indicative of an
unstable
worksheet, or is it my computer being overloaded?

It's really scary! Thanks for your educated help!
Dean

I don't have any of this complicated functionality mentioned (such as pivot
tables, manual calcs, etc) and there is no "calculate" message showing
either.

Hasn't anyone else had this kind of problem? I've had it multiple times, on
multiple computers.

Though you've told me how to fix it, assuming I know it exists, I'd like to
know what is causing it.

Dean


"Tom Ogilvy" wrote in message
...
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;243495
The Calculate message may remain in the status bar when you enter formulas
that include cell references


Other wise browse these articles:
http://tinyurl.com/65fjo

Check Charles Williams' site
http://www.decisionmodels.com



--



Regards,
Tom Ogilvy


"Dean" wrote in message
...
No, I'm not. No visual basic in this either. I have seen this kind of
instability several times, on different computers, over the years.

I appreciate the advice for a full recalc, but the danger is that one
doesn't think to hit full recalc after every change
and is susceptible to bad cells. The question is why it happens in the
first place. Do you know if it computer overload, EXCEL overload, or a
possible defective file?


Thx.
Dean
"Tom Ogilvy" wrote in message
...
Try Ctrl+Alt+F9

Are you using any User Defined Functions in the worksheet (functions
written
in VBA). Possibly one of them has bad error handling and causing the
calculation loop to be interrupted.

--
Regards,
Tom Ogilvy

"Dean" wrote in message
...
I had this happen before, usually with big EXCEL files. I change some
cells
and a cell that depends on them doesn't change. I have to go into the
cell,
take out the last character and put it back in, and then it updates.
hitting
F9 alone does nothing.

I am not on manual recalc or iterations. I forgot to try but I bet,
if
I
saved the file and re-opened it, or closed EXCEL and reopen EXCEL, it
would
probably have fixed it too.

Does anyone know why this happens and if it is indicative of an
unstable
worksheet, or is it my computer being overloaded?

It's really scary! Thanks for your educated help!
Dean

A possibility...check the formatting of the cell that is not being
updated. I think I've seen this before when the cell is converted to
Text format and back to a numeric or general format.

Jake

Dean wrote:
I don't have any of this complicated functionality mentioned (such as
pivot
tables, manual calcs, etc) and there is no "calculate" message
showing
either.

Hasn't anyone else had this kind of problem? I've had it multiple
times, on
multiple computers.

Though you've told me how to fix it, assuming I know it exists, I'd
like to
know what is causing it.

Dean


"Tom Ogilvy" wrote in message
...
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;243495
The Calculate message may remain in the status bar when you enter
formulas
that include cell references


Other wise browse these articles:
http://tinyurl.com/65fjo

Check Charles Williams' site
http://www.decisionmodels.com



--



Regards,
Tom Ogilvy


"Dean" wrote in message
...
No, I'm not. No visual basic in this either. I have seen this
kind of
instability several times, on different computers, over the years.

I appreciate the advice for a full recalc, but the danger is that
one
doesn't think to hit full recalc after every change
and is susceptible to bad cells. The question is why it happens
in the
first place. Do you know if it computer overload, EXCEL overload,
or a
possible defective file?


Thx.
Dean
"Tom Ogilvy" wrote in message
...
Try Ctrl+Alt+F9

Are you using any User Defined Functions in the worksheet
(functions
written
in VBA). Possibly one of them has bad error handling and
causing the
calculation loop to be interrupted.

--
Regards,
Tom Ogilvy

"Dean" wrote in message
...
I had this happen before, usually with big EXCEL files. I
change some
cells
and a cell that depends on them doesn't change. I have to go
into the
cell,
take out the last character and put it back in, and then it
updates.
hitting
F9 alone does nothing.

I am not on manual recalc or iterations. I forgot to try but I
bet,
if
I
saved the file and re-opened it, or closed EXCEL and reopen
EXCEL, it
would
probably have fixed it too.

Does anyone know why this happens and if it is indicative of an
unstable
worksheet, or is it my computer being overloaded?

It's really scary! Thanks for your educated help!
Dean

Nope. that's not it. But that is a great suggestion, I have also had
troubles with text formatting, just as you describe.

Anyone else have any ideas?

Thx

Dean
"Jakeman" wrote in message
oups.com...
A possibility...check the formatting of the cell that is not being
updated. I think I've seen this before when the cell is converted to
Text format and back to a numeric or general format.

Jake

Dean wrote:
I don't have any of this complicated functionality mentioned (such as
pivot
tables, manual calcs, etc) and there is no "calculate" message
showing
either.

Hasn't anyone else had this kind of problem? I've had it multiple
times, on
multiple computers.

Though you've told me how to fix it, assuming I know it exists, I'd
like to
know what is causing it.

Dean


"Tom Ogilvy" wrote in message
...
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;243495
The Calculate message may remain in the status bar when you enter
formulas
that include cell references


Other wise browse these articles:
http://tinyurl.com/65fjo

Check Charles Williams' site
http://www.decisionmodels.com



--



Regards,
Tom Ogilvy


"Dean" wrote in message
...
No, I'm not. No visual basic in this either. I have seen this
kind of
instability several times, on different computers, over the years.

I appreciate the advice for a full recalc, but the danger is that
one
doesn't think to hit full recalc after every change
and is susceptible to bad cells. The question is why it happens
in the
first place. Do you know if it computer overload, EXCEL overload,
or a
possible defective file?


Thx.
Dean
"Tom Ogilvy" wrote in message
...
Try Ctrl+Alt+F9

Are you using any User Defined Functions in the worksheet
(functions
written
in VBA). Possibly one of them has bad error handling and
causing the
calculation loop to be interrupted.

--
Regards,
Tom Ogilvy

"Dean" wrote in message
...
I had this happen before, usually with big EXCEL files. I
change some
cells
and a cell that depends on them doesn't change. I have to go
into the
cell,
take out the last character and put it back in, and then it
updates.
hitting
F9 alone does nothing.

I am not on manual recalc or iterations. I forgot to try but I
bet,
if
I
saved the file and re-opened it, or closed EXCEL and reopen
EXCEL, it
would
probably have fixed it too.

Does anyone know why this happens and if it is indicative of an
unstable
worksheet, or is it my computer being overloaded?

It's really scary! Thanks for your educated help!
Dean

Try:
Edit|replace
what: = (equal sign)
with: = (equal sign)
replace all

There have been a couple posts that say that this "wakes up" excel. Maybe it'll
work for you.

Dean wrote:

I had this happen before, usually with big EXCEL files. I change some cells
and a cell that depends on them doesn't change. I have to go into the cell,
take out the last character and put it back in, and then it updates. hitting
F9 alone does nothing.

I am not on manual recalc or iterations. I forgot to try but I bet, if I
saved the file and re-opened it, or closed EXCEL and reopen EXCEL, it would
probably have fixed it too.

Does anyone know why this happens and if it is indicative of an unstable
worksheet, or is it my computer being overloaded?

It's really scary! Thanks for your educated help!
Dean

--

Dave Peterson

Perhaps, my original question got lost. Once I find such a "defect", all
that I seem to have to do to fix it is to either edit the cell, backing out
its last character and then putting it back, or close EXCEL (maybe just the
file and reopen it). I know how to fix it.

The problem is that, a few times a year, I stumble on such. Who knows how
many times such defects are present? Hence the title of this e-mail is
"SCARY"! I was asking if anyone knew why this happens or what could be
causing it. To date, the problems all relate to macros, manual recalcs, and
other stuff that doesn't seem to be the case with me.

I don't think I can even save the file and then get the problem to reappear.
It's quite fleeting - just enough time to print results and hand them to a
boss or client while they're wrong!

Thanks
Dean



"Dave Peterson" wrote in message
...
Try:
Edit|replace
what: = (equal sign)
with: = (equal sign)
replace all

There have been a couple posts that say that this "wakes up" excel. Maybe
it'll
work for you.

Dean wrote:

I had this happen before, usually with big EXCEL files. I change some
cells
and a cell that depends on them doesn't change. I have to go into the
cell,
take out the last character and put it back in, and then it updates.
hitting
F9 alone does nothing.

I am not on manual recalc or iterations. I forgot to try but I bet, if I
saved the file and re-opened it, or closed EXCEL and reopen EXCEL, it
would
probably have fixed it too.

Does anyone know why this happens and if it is indicative of an unstable
worksheet, or is it my computer being overloaded?

It's really scary! Thanks for your educated help!
Dean

--

Dave Peterson

When you find one defect and fix that, then all defects (found or not found) are
fixed?

I have no idea why it happens. I've seen posts that have tried the edit|replace
all thingy and I'm not sure if it fixes it forever or just for some period of
time.

Dean wrote:

Perhaps, my original question got lost. Once I find such a "defect", all
that I seem to have to do to fix it is to either edit the cell, backing out
its last character and then putting it back, or close EXCEL (maybe just the
file and reopen it). I know how to fix it.

The problem is that, a few times a year, I stumble on such. Who knows how
many times such defects are present? Hence the title of this e-mail is
"SCARY"! I was asking if anyone knew why this happens or what could be
causing it. To date, the problems all relate to macros, manual recalcs, and
other stuff that doesn't seem to be the case with me.

I don't think I can even save the file and then get the problem to reappear.
It's quite fleeting - just enough time to print results and hand them to a
boss or client while they're wrong!

Thanks
Dean

"Dave Peterson" wrote in message
...
Try:
Edit|replace
what: = (equal sign)
with: = (equal sign)
replace all

There have been a couple posts that say that this "wakes up" excel. Maybe
it'll
work for you.

Dean wrote:

I had this happen before, usually with big EXCEL files. I change some
cells
and a cell that depends on them doesn't change. I have to go into the
cell,
take out the last character and put it back in, and then it updates.
hitting
F9 alone does nothing.

I am not on manual recalc or iterations. I forgot to try but I bet, if I
saved the file and re-opened it, or closed EXCEL and reopen EXCEL, it
would
probably have fixed it too.

Does anyone know why this happens and if it is indicative of an unstable
worksheet, or is it my computer being overloaded?

It's really scary! Thanks for your educated help!
Dean

--

Dave Peterson

--

Dave Peterson

I'm not sure. Once again, my experience is that EXCEL gets overloaded and
if you save the file and close EXCEL (maybe reboot the computer, don;'t
recall) and re-open the file, all will be well. Perhaps that ctrl-alt-F9
would even do it, just editing the problematic cell equation and then
hitting enter seems to work (just hitting F9 doesn't)

Once again, it's the fear of never knowing if all your spreadsheet data has
reacted to changes. The fix is easy, but only if you know you have a
problem, which is unlikely most of the time.

If I knew the real cause, perhaps I could find ways to avoid putting myself
in that situation.

Dean

"Dave Peterson" wrote in message
...
When you find one defect and fix that, then all defects (found or not
found) are
fixed?

I have no idea why it happens. I've seen posts that have tried the
edit|replace
all thingy and I'm not sure if it fixes it forever or just for some period
of
time.

Dean wrote:

Perhaps, my original question got lost. Once I find such a "defect", all
that I seem to have to do to fix it is to either edit the cell, backing
out
its last character and then putting it back, or close EXCEL (maybe just
the
file and reopen it). I know how to fix it.

The problem is that, a few times a year, I stumble on such. Who knows
how
many times such defects are present? Hence the title of this e-mail is
"SCARY"! I was asking if anyone knew why this happens or what could be
causing it. To date, the problems all relate to macros, manual recalcs,
and
other stuff that doesn't seem to be the case with me.

I don't think I can even save the file and then get the problem to
reappear.
It's quite fleeting - just enough time to print results and hand them to
a
boss or client while they're wrong!

Thanks
Dean

"Dave Peterson" wrote in message
...
Try:
Edit|replace
what: = (equal sign)
with: = (equal sign)
replace all

There have been a couple posts that say that this "wakes up" excel.
Maybe
it'll
work for you.

Dean wrote:

I had this happen before, usually with big EXCEL files. I change some
cells
and a cell that depends on them doesn't change. I have to go into the
cell,
take out the last character and put it back in, and then it updates.
hitting
F9 alone does nothing.

I am not on manual recalc or iterations. I forgot to try but I bet,
if I
saved the file and re-opened it, or closed EXCEL and reopen EXCEL, it
would
probably have fixed it too.

Does anyone know why this happens and if it is indicative of an
unstable
worksheet, or is it my computer being overloaded?

It's really scary! Thanks for your educated help!
Dean

--

Dave Peterson

--

Dave Peterson

Dean

I read this thread because you asked me to, but with the likes of Tom and
Dave involved, there's not much for me to add. Whenever I see stuff like
this I just "know" it's user error. That is, Excel is operating properly
and it's your expectation of what the data should be that is wrong.

I don't say that to diminish your point of view, I've just seen quite a few
cases of "bugs" that turned out to be user error. It's so difficult to
troubleshoot unless you can reproduce it. Maybe your computer is right next
to an x-ray machine. Maybe you had your elbow on the control key and didn't
know it. Maybe the woman at the IT help desk at your company is super hot,
and your brain is forcing you to see errors so you have an excuse to call
her.

There are instances were workbooks become corrupted, but it seems in those
cases that the workbook won't open, not that it appears to act normally some
of the time and abnormally other times. This situation just doesn't sound
like corruption cases I've seen before. We both know that doesn't mean the
problem doesn't exist. The Name error you brought up was something I'd
never seen before, so there are undiscovered bugs out there to be sure.

Sorry I don't have anything constructive to add. Here's what I would do if
this happened to me: First, be hypersensitive to the situation when you're
in Excel, even if that means you have to work a little slower than you're
used to. You definitely want to be in a position to catch every single time
this happens. When it does happen, immediately stop what you're doing and
write down what's happening, what the state of your computer is (which
programs are open, etc.) and anything else you can think of. Don't do the
things that you know fix the problem. First, see how much you can get away
with before it rights itself. Try to replicate the problem you see in
another cell exactly. Then try to replicate it, but change a couple of
things, always documenting what you're doing. Do that five times and see if
you can see a pattern of some sort. Also, make sure your hard drive is
healthy - up to date virus definitions, no adware, no spyware, that kind of
thing.

--
Dick Kusleika
Excel MVP
Daily Dose of Excel
www.dicks-blog.com

Dean wrote:
I'm not sure. Once again, my experience is that EXCEL gets
overloaded and if you save the file and close EXCEL (maybe reboot the
computer, don;'t recall) and re-open the file, all will be well. Perhaps
that ctrl-alt-F9 would even do it, just editing the
problematic cell equation and then hitting enter seems to work (just
hitting F9 doesn't)
Once again, it's the fear of never knowing if all your spreadsheet
data has reacted to changes. The fix is easy, but only if you know
you have a problem, which is unlikely most of the time.

If I knew the real cause, perhaps I could find ways to avoid putting
myself in that situation.

Dean

"Dave Peterson" wrote in message
...
When you find one defect and fix that, then all defects (found or not
found) are
fixed?

I have no idea why it happens. I've seen posts that have tried the
edit|replace
all thingy and I'm not sure if it fixes it forever or just for some
period of
time.

Dean wrote:

Perhaps, my original question got lost. Once I find such a
"defect", all that I seem to have to do to fix it is to either edit
the cell, backing out
its last character and then putting it back, or close EXCEL (maybe
just the
file and reopen it). I know how to fix it.

The problem is that, a few times a year, I stumble on such. Who
knows how
many times such defects are present? Hence the title of this
e-mail is "SCARY"! I was asking if anyone knew why this happens or
what could be causing it. To date, the problems all relate to
macros, manual recalcs, and
other stuff that doesn't seem to be the case with me.

I don't think I can even save the file and then get the problem to
reappear.
It's quite fleeting - just enough time to print results and hand
them to a
boss or client while they're wrong!

Thanks
Dean

"Dave Peterson" wrote in message
...
Try:
Edit|replace
what: = (equal sign)
with: = (equal sign)
replace all

There have been a couple posts that say that this "wakes up" excel.
Maybe
it'll
work for you.

Dean wrote:

I had this happen before, usually with big EXCEL files. I change
some cells
and a cell that depends on them doesn't change. I have to go
into the cell,
take out the last character and put it back in, and then it
updates. hitting
F9 alone does nothing.

I am not on manual recalc or iterations. I forgot to try but I
bet, if I
saved the file and re-opened it, or closed EXCEL and reopen
EXCEL, it would
probably have fixed it too.

Does anyone know why this happens and if it is indicative of an
unstable
worksheet, or is it my computer being overloaded?

It's really scary! Thanks for your educated help!
Dean

--

Dave Peterson

--

Dave Peterson

1. It happens to one of my Worksheets.
2. When the Worksheet gets relatively large (but still a tiny
percentage compared to 256 X 65536 cells available), it happens that
one of the (last) cells is not updated. That's rather noticeable when
the worksheet is being tested. Otherwise, how could one readily
anticipate an error (out of the many wonderful things that Excel can
do, an error such as a missed calculation is the least expected) ?
3. The lesson learnt is that there are too many formulae deployed on
the worksheet albeit it's hardest to tell how many would tentatively
become too many.
4. Also, the array formulae are long and winding hence, complicated.
Filled-down in a column, the formulae work well in other cells except
one (as mentioned above).
5. Neutrally speaking, there's apparently a case of overburden imposed
upon the part of you-know-what.
6 Regards.