XL2000: CPU Usage Spikes at 100 Percent When Excel Is Running in the Background

View products that this article applies to.

This article was previously published under Q305949

SYMPTOMS

When Microsoft Excel is running in the background, CPU usage may spike to 100 percent. If Excel is hosted on a terminal server, the server's CPU usage may spike, which slows the response time for everyone on the server.

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CAUSE

This problem occurs when the File Now Available dialog box or the AutoSave dialog box is displayed.

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"File Now Available" Dialog Box

The File Now Available dialog box appears when the following conditions are true:

You open a file that another user already has open.
In the File in Use dialog box, you click Notify, to be notified when the other user closes the file.
You switch to any other program, so that Excel is running in the background.
The other user closes the file.
You receive the "File name is now available for editing" message in the File Now Available dialog box.

The CPU usage remains at 100 percent until you respond to the File Now Available dialog box.

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AutoSave Dialog Box

The AutoSave dialog box appears when the following conditions are true:

You select the AutoSave Add-in check box. (On the Tools menu, click Add-Ins.)
You select the Prompt Before Saving check box in the AutoSave dialog box. (On the Tools menu, click AutoSave.)
You make a change in the active workbook.
You switch to any another program, so that Excel is running in the background.
The AutoSave time interval passes, and the AutoSave dialog box appears, asking you to save the files.

The CPU usage remains at 100 percent until you respond to the AutoSave dialog box.

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RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Microsoft Office 2000. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

276367 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/276367/EN-US/ ) OFF2000: How to Obtain the Latest Office 2000 Service Pack

The English version of this fix should have the following file attributes or later:

   Date         Time      Version   Size       File name     
   -----------------------------------------------------
   27-SEP-2001  20:49:50            1,849,336  Excel.msp

After the patch is installed, the application will have the following file attributes:

   Date         Time      Version   Size       File name     
   -----------------------------------------------------
   11-SEP-2001  14:52:38  9.0.5706  7,159,853  Excel.exe

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Temporary Workaround

To temporarily work around this problem, use the appropriate method for your situation.

Method 1: If the "File Now Available" Dialog Box Causes the Problem

Share the workbook, so that multiple users can have read/write access. To do this, follow these steps:

Open the workbook.
On the Tools menu, click Share Workbook.
On the Editing tab, click to select the Allow changes by more than one user at the same time check box.
Click OK.

NOTE: Shared workbooks have limited functionality. For more information about about the limitations of shared workbooks, click Microsoft Excel Help on the Help menu, type limitations of shared workbooks in the Office Assistant or the Answer Wizard, and then click Search to view the topic.

Method 2: If the AutoSave Add-in Causes the Problem

Clear the Prompt Before Saving check box. To do this, follow these steps:

On the Tools menu, click AutoSave
In the AutoSave dialog box, click to clear the Prompt Before Saving check box.
Click OK.

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STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article. This problem was first corrected in Microsoft Office 2000 Service Pack 3 (SP-3).

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