Microsoft KB Archive/95729

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Excel: Copy and Paste Slow with OS/2 Version 2.0

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The information in this article applies to:


 * Microsoft Excel for Windows, versions 2.x, 3.0, 4.0, 4.0a, 5.0

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SUMMARY
If you are running Microsoft Excel for Windows with OS/2 version 2.0, you can increase the speed of the Copy and Paste operations by setting the WIN-OS/2 clipboard Option to Private.

MORE INFORMATION
OS/2 version 2.0, has access to two clipboards: the OS/2 clipboard and the WIN-OS/2 clipboard. The OS/2 clipboard accepts information from OS/2 window sessions, Presentation Manager sessions, MS-DOS sessions, one or more programs in a WIN-OS/2 session, or any combination of these; the WIN-OS/2 clipboard exchanges data between WIN-OS/2 sessions. Under OS/2 version 2.0, clipboards have a Public or Private option setting which affects an application's ability to copy and paste data between sessions. By default, the setting for the WIN-OS/2 clipboard is Public--this setting allows data to be passed through the WIN-OS/2 clipboard to the OS/2 clipboard. However, this functionality slows down the Microsoft Excel Copy and Paste operations.

To increase the speed of Microsoft Excel Copy and Paste operations, set the WIN-OS/2 clipboard option to Private. When the WIN-OS/2 clipboard is set to Private, only programs that are started during that session will be able to copy, cut, or paste to the clipboard. If you want to exchange data between sessions, choose the Import or Export commands from the File menus of each clipboard.

To set the WIN-OS/2 clipboard to Private, follow the appropriate procedure below.

If Microsoft Excel is set to run in Full Screen mode:


 * Minimize Excel and activate the WIN-OS/2 clipboard.
 * From the clipboard Option menu, clear the Public Clipboard option.

If Microsoft Excel is set to run seamlessly or in Windowed mode:

 Modify the SYSTEM.INI file to disable the Public Clipboard option. (The SYSTEM.INI file, under OS/2 2.0, is located in the OS2\MDOS\WINOS2 directory.)

 Open the SYSTEM.INI file in a text editor and search for the [Boot] section.  Remove the &quot;!clipwos2&quot; parameter from each of the following lines:

        SAVDMApps=!gopm,!clipwos2,!ddeagent MAVDMApps=!gopm,!clipwos2,!ddeagent,!printman WOS2VDMApps=!clipwos2,!ddeagent These lines should now appear as:         SAVDMApps=!gopm,!ddeagent MAVDMApps=!gopm!ddeagent,!printman WOS2VDMApps=!ddeagent  Save the SYSTEM.INI file and restart Microsoft Excel for Windows. 

An alternate method is available by simply closing the clipboard on the Windows Shell. Select the clipboard and choose close when the menu comes up. This forces it to use the OS/2 clipboard. This can still copy to Win/OS2 applications and to OS/2 applications.