IT edge » Office

Excel files open slow from Windows Explorer

Jason Hartley — Mon, 05 May 2008 20:33:58 +0000

I ran into a problem with Excel taking a long time to open a file from Windows Explorer. If Excel is started first and a file is opened from within Excel, the file opens immediately. This problem is unusual, but does exist on some machines. Double-clicking an Excel file to open it from within Windows Explorer, or from Outlook (Excel attachment) can take 30 seconds or more, even if its a small file size.

The first place to begin when troubleshooting this issue is the Microsoft Support article at: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/211494. If this doesn’t resolve the problem, then try the steps below.

To fix the issue in Windows XP try the following:

Open “Windows Explorer” (explorer.exe)
Select “Tools” | “Folder Options…”
Click on the “File Types” tab
Select the ”XLS” file extension (Excel 97-2003 Worksheet)
Click “Advanced”
Select “Open" from the ‘Actions’ list
Click “Edit…”
In the “Application used to perform action:” field*, change the text to:
"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12\EXCEL.EXE" /e "%1"

To add the XLSX file type (Excel 2007 Worksheet), repeat steps 4-8.

*Note: The double quotes are required around the path and the %1.

I have not seen this as a problem with Windows Vista. However, it could possibly be affected.

Fix Office / Outlook Timeouts on Vista

Jason Hartley — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 16:49:09 +0000

You may have experienced the occasional ‘timeout’ while working in Office on Windows Vista. For example, if you get the blue spinning cursor (waiting icon) in Outlook when you click on a new E-mail message in you Inbox, or try and compose a new E-mail, our in Word or PowerPoint when you open an Office document. This is more common on mobile PC’s such as notebook PC’s that are often connected through remote means to the network or are often disconnected from a network all together.

I figured out, the workaround to this Office ‘timeout’ problem. Select a local print driver as the default printer and not a network printer. This can be a driver for an actual phyiscally direct connected printer or a ‘Print to PDF”, or similar print driver installed on the system.

Outlook 2007 Calendar Print Assistant

Jason Hartley — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 16:12:53 +0000

The Microsoft Office Team has released a Calendar Print Assistant for Outlook 2007. IT allows you to customize your calendar informaiton and layout for printing. It allows you to print different views of your calendar including customizing your schedule and printing it in the traditional hanging wall calendar complete with a photo. See the details of the Print Assistant and download it directly from Microsoft.

New Search Filters for Microsoft Products

Jason Hartley — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 16:17:30 +0000

Microsoft has published a new installation package of iFilters (allows the indexing of the contents of different files types) for its line of search products. The search products supported are:

Office SharePoint Server 2007
Search Server 2008
Windows SharePoint Services v3.0
SharePoint Portal Servicer 2003
Exchange Server 2007
SQL Server 2005, SQL Server 2008
Windows Desktop Search 3.1, Windows Search 4

The iFilters register the following file types with the Windows Indexing Services: .docx, .docm, .pptx, .pptm, .xlsx, .xlsm, .xlsb, .zip, .one, .vdx, .vsd, .vss, .vst, .vdx, .vsx, and .vtx.

You can downlaod the installation pack for x86 and x64 platforms directly from Microsoft Downloads.

Service Pack 1 for Office 2007, MOSS 2007, WSS 3

Jason Hartley — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 14:06:56 +0000

December 11, 2007 – Microsoft released Service Pack (SP) 1 for Office 2007 Suite, Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) 3.0, and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) 2007 . There are over 600 bug fixes across the Office Suite that SP1 addresses. This SP should be tested in and applied to any Office 2007 installations as soon as possible.

Specific information on the fixes is found at:

You can get the update from Windows Update or from the Office Online site. The direct link to the download SP1 for WSS 3.0 and MOSS 20007 is here.

Automating Desktop Deployment without SMS or ConfigMan

Jason Hartley — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 21:32:44 +0000

Microsoft has a Solution Accelerator in the form of “Business Desktop Deployment (BDD)” 2007 which is a set of best practice guidance and toll set developed to help you deploy Windows to client desktops. BDD 2007 contains a new MMC and a task sequencer that originates from System Center Configuration Manager 2007. BDD tools and end-to-end guidance reduce deployment time, standardize desktop and server images, limit service disruptions, reduce post-deployment help desk costs, and improve security and ongoing configuration management.

One of the less understood features of BDD 2007 is its ability to function as a full deployment solution. BDD can help you create and maintain desktop images in a manageable and repeatable way, and gives you the capability to build a scalable deployment solution by combining BDD with Windows Deployment Services (WDS), SQL Server, and the Windows Server 2003 Distributed File System Replication (DFS-R). The November 2007 issue of TechNet Magazine addresses this scenario. You can read the complete article on Microsoft’s TechNet Magazine website at: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/technetmag/issues/2007/11/ExtendingBDD/default.aspx The fourth generation BDD deployment accelerator, renamed “Microsoft Deployment”, adds integration with recently released deployment technologies to create a single path for image creation and automated installation. Download the latest version of “Microsoft Deployment” from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=3bd8561f-77ac-4400-a0c1-fe871c461a89&displaylang=en&tm

If you already have an SMS 2003 or Configuration Manager 2007 infrastructure, work towards using Microsoft Deployment, SMS 2003 or ConfigMan 2007, and the OSD Feature Pack for deployment. This is currently the most comprehensive way to achieve zero-touch deployment, and it can really drive down the costs of configuring, installing, and managing Windows in your organization.

Office Communications Server 2007 Deployment Validation Tool

Jason Hartley — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 01:56:31 +0000

Diagnose audio issues within your Office Communications Server 2007 environment using the Office Communications Server 2007 Deployment Validation Tool.

A common issue in VoIP deployments is that administrators find out about problems with audio quality only after a user reports a problem. The Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 Deployment Validation Tool simulates audio traffic so that you can proactively identify and resolve audio issues.

Download the Tool from Microsoft Downloads.

Winodws Vista patches for stability – not on Windows Update

Jason Hartley — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 01:35:07 +0000

There are a couple Vista patches that improve stability, reliability and compatibility of the OS. Interestingly, these are not pushed down from Windows Update.

Get the stability/compatibility update from – http://support.microsoft.com/kb/941649
Get the reliability update from – http://support.microsoft.com/kb/941600
Get the Vista Media Center from – http://support.microsoft.com/kb/941229

Applying these patches have reall improved my experience with Vista on my home machine and work machines. I especially noticed the difference in Vista. Media Center. Before the update the streaming video was very choppy and unreliable, now the video caching is improved and I have smooth streaming video without any timeouts.

There is also a Outlook 2007 performance patch that does not come through Windows/Office Update. I blogged about it a month or two ago.

Windows Vista Hardware Assessment 2.0

Jason Hartley — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 23:34:17 +0000

Windows Vista Hardware Assessment (WVHA) 2.0 is available for download. WVHA 2.0 allows you to scan upto 25,000 (yes, 25,000) computers on your network. It can also integrate with Active Directoy to allow you to target scans to specific OU’s and you can also scan workgroups. The result can be stored in an Excel file (great for smaller networks) or in a SQL Server Express instance on the scanning machine (great for large networks).

The WVHA tool provides guidance on the level of performance you would get with the current hardware, and what to upgrade on each machine to provide a better user experience. The new tool also provides guidance for the performance of an Office 2007 deployment on the machines.

Access the Solution Accelerator for Windows Vista Hardware Assessment on Technet
Download the WVHA 2.0 tool from Microsoft.
Learn all about WVHA 2.0 by listening to the July 24, 2007 TechNet Radio podcast.

Speed Up Outlook 2007 Performance

Jason Hartley — Fri, 04 May 2007 19:36:51 +0000

Microsoft released an update to Outlook 2007 which fixes performance issues that occur when you work with items in a large .pst file or .ost file. I have installed this update and Outlook is tons faster.

The update also fixes a problem in which a calendar item that is marked as private is opened if it is found by using the Search Desktop feature.

Download the update from Microsoft here.