Mysterious File Corruption

  • Thread starter Thread starter Yisroel Markov
  • Start date Start date
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Yisroel Markov

Some time ago, while still on Excel 97, I encountered the following
problem.

I had a workbook that grew by a tab (sheet) every month. (The previous
month's tab would be copied, renamed, and some formulas linked back to
the previous tab.) At approximately the 50th sheet it quit - the Move
or Copy command was still available, but produced no results.

Examination revealed no abnormalities except sheet names - in
Microsoft Visual Basic, sheet numbers looked very weird. They went
Sheet1, Sheet2, Sheet3, but after Sheet4 came Sheet 41, then Sheet411,
Sheet 4111, etc. The last one (where the copy function broke) was
Sheet4111111111111111121 (note the 2 - it did try to restart normal
incremental numbering, but not for long).

Copying the last sheet into another workbook passed the problem on. I
had to create a brand-new one, and copy only the contents. Also, the
problem manifests in file size. I have another such workbook that so
far hasn't refused to add new tabs - but it grows about 3 times faster
than its uncorrupted sister.

What the heck might be going on?

Thanks,
Yisroel
 
An error can occur in Excel 97 if you copy a sheet many times. Excel
appends a one to the codename of the worksheet, and the name eventually
reaches a limit and causes Excel to error.

To change the name:

1. Open the VBE (Alt+F11)
2. Open the Property window (F4).
3. Select the worksheet, and change its (Name) property.

There is some information in the following MSKB article:

XL97: Copy Method of Sheets Object Causes Invalid Page Fault
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?id=177634
 
Debra Dalgleish said:
An error can occur in Excel 97 if you copy a sheet many times. Excel
appends a one to the codename of the worksheet, and the name eventually
reaches a limit and causes Excel to error.

To change the name:

1. Open the VBE (Alt+F11)
2. Open the Property window (F4).
3. Select the worksheet, and change its (Name) property.

There is some information in the following MSKB article:

XL97: Copy Method of Sheets Object Causes Invalid Page Fault
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?id=177634
Click to expand...

Wonderful! An end to the plague of non-duplicating/crashing
worksheets! Many thanks.

(I forgot to mention this originally, but it may be of use to others -
simply going to Excel 2000 doesn't fix the problem.)

Yisroel
 
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