Office Excel 2003
Setup:
I am using ODBC to download data from a backend database into my
spreadsheet.

The number of rows is upward of 10k and the number of adjoining
formula columns is 39. "Fill down formulas in columns adjacent to
data" is turned on. The operation is run multiple times as needed by
the logic within the workbook.

Problem:
The operation of updating query, subsequent to the first time, is very
slow.

Comment:
I assertained that turning off "Fill down formulas in columns adjacent
to data" option speeds up the operation significangly suggesting that
the execution of deletion and filling of the adjacent columns is the
bottleneck.

Question:
Is there a way to speed up the operation without losing the
functionality?