Knowledge Base

XL2002: Excel Appears to Stop Responding While Converting Text to Columns in Earlier Version Worksheet

Article ID: 812668

Article Last Modified on 2/1/2007

APPLIES TO

Microsoft Excel 2002 Standard Edition

SYMPTOMS

After you open an Excel worksheet that was created in an earlier version of Excel (for example, Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows), you may experience one of the following scenarios.

Note In both of these scenarios, Excel uses 100 percent of your CPU resources.

Scenario 1

If the worksheet contains a macro to convert text to columns, Excel may appear to stop responding (hang) when you run the macro.

For example, when you run a macro created in an earlier version of Excel that is similar to one of the following examples, Excel may appear to stop responding:

Sub ConvertTextToColumns()
   
   Selection.TextToColumns Destination:=Range("A2"), _
        DataType:=xlFixedWidth, FieldInfo:=Array(Array(0, 1), _
        Array(11, 1), Array(19, 1), Array(44, 1), Array(71, 1))

End Sub

-or-

Sub ConvertTextToColumns()
    
    Selection.TextToColumns Destination:=Range("A2")

End Sub

Scenario 2

If you use the Text to Columns command, Excel may appear to stop responding. To convert text to columns, select the cells that contain the text that you want to convert to columns. Then, on the Data menu, click Text to Columns.

RESOLUTION

Service Pack Information

This problem is corrected in Office XP Service Pack 3.To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Microsoft Office XP. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

307841 How to obtain the latest Office XP Service Pack

Hotfix Information

A supported fix is now available from Microsoft, but it is only intended to correct the problem described in this article. Only apply it to systems that are experiencing this specific problem. This fix may receive additional testing to further ensure product quality. Therefore, if you are not severely affected by this problem, Microsoft recommends that you wait for the next Office XP service pack that contains this fix.

To resolve this problem immediately, contact Microsoft Product Support Services to obtain the fix. For a complete list of Microsoft Product Support Services phone numbers and information about support costs, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;EN-US;CNTACTMS

Note In special cases, charges that are ordinarily incurred for support calls may be canceled if a Microsoft Support Professional determines that a specific update will resolve your problem. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for the specific update in question.
The English version of this fix should have the file attributes (or later) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in coordinated universal time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time tool in Control Panel.

   Date         Time         Size       File name
   --------------------------------------------------------------
   03-Feb-2003  21:09       15,012,152  Excelff.msp
   03-Feb-2003  20:26       12,959,024  Excel.msp

After the hotfix is installed, the English version of this fix will have the file attributes (or later) that are listed in the following table:

   Date        Time     Version     Size        File name     
   -------------------------------------------------------
   31-Jan-2003 20:15:58 9,177,672  10.0.4929.0  Excel.exe

This fix is a post-Office XP Service Pack 2 (SP-2) fix. To install the fix, you must have Office XP SP-2 installed. For additional information about Office XP SP-2, click the following article number to see the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

325671 OFFXP: Overview of the Office XP Service Pack 2

Additionally, you may have to install Windows Installer 2.0 to install this fix. For additional information about the Windows Installer requirement for post-Office XP SP-2 fixes, click the following article number to see the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

330537 OFFXP: Office XP Updates and Patches Released After September 2002 May Require Windows Installer 2.0

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 Office XP Service Pack 3.

MORE INFORMATION

Microsoft provides programming examples for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and/or fitness for a particular purpose. This article assumes that you are familiar with the programming language being demonstrated and the tools used to create and debug procedures. Microsoft support professionals can help explain the functionality of a particular procedure, but they will not modify these examples to provide added functionality or construct procedures to meet your specific needs. If you have limited programming experience, you may want to contact a Microsoft Certified Partner or the Microsoft fee-based consulting line at (800) 936-5200. For more information about Microsoft Certified Partners, see the following Microsoft Web site:

https://partner.microsoft.com/global/30000104

For additional information about the support options available from Microsoft, visit the following Microsoft Web site: