XL97: Calculation Stops at Zero Percent or Occurs Very Slowly

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This article was previously published under Q172066

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SYMPTOMS

When formulas in a workbook are calculated, the status bar displays "Calculating 0%" and appears to stop responding (hang) or takes several minutes to finish calculating. If you press CTRL+ALT+F9 to recalculate formulas in the workbook, the formulas are not completely calculated.

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CAUSE

This problem occurs when you create a complex workbook with many formulas that contain references to other worksheets in the workbook. For example, the problem occurs when a formula in Sheet1 refers to Sheet2 in a formula similar to the following:

   =Sheet2!A1

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WORKAROUND

To correct this problem, install Microsoft Excel 97 Service Release 1 (SR-1).

To work around this problem and fully calculate the workbook and speed up the calculation time, rename the sheets in the workbook. To rename the worksheets, follow these steps:

With the workbook open, double-click the sheet tab name for the first worksheet.
Type a new name for the selected sheet.
Follow steps 1 and 2 for each of the worksheets in the workbook.

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STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Microsoft Excel 97. This problem was corrected in Microsoft Excel SR-1.

For additional information about SR-1, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

172475 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/172475/EN-US/ ) OFF97: How to Obtain and Install MS Office 97 SR-1

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APPLIES TO

Microsoft Excel 97 Standard Edition

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kbbug kbfix KB172066

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Retired KB Content Disclaimer

This article was written about products for which Microsoft no longer offers support. Therefore, this article is offered "as is" and will no longer be updated.

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