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Need computer help--(vanity)
me | October 23, 2012 | me

Posted on 10/23/2012 7:47:47 PM PDT by Smokin' Joe

I have apparently picked up a virus which disables excel. I'm running Excel 97 in Windows XP (ser. pack 3) on an older Toshiba laptop, and suddenly when I click on a different worksheet in a workbook it puts up the little sheet mini icon but I can't move the sheet. If I open a new workbook, and click on a space, it will not 'let go', whether I click on it again or hit 'enter'. Whatever happens, the first thing I do is the last, I can't even close the program using the 'X" at the top right of the window, but have to right click on the taskbar and click 'close'.

I have a lot of data in this computer in Excel spreadsheets, and don't dare move any of it to another computer for fear of infecting another computer. I use the others to make a living, and can't take that chance.

I would appreciate any suggestions from FReepers who may have run into the same problem or similar who know of a 'fix'.

I have run Norman Malware cleaner, but did not get rid of the problem.


TOPICS: Computers/Internet
KEYWORDS: excel
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To: Smokin' Joe

Why does everyone think they got a virus when their computer starts acting up, especially when It is just one program like Excel?

It is most likely a corrupted Excel, or a buggy worksheet macro, or just a combination of settings you didn’t expect.


21 posted on 10/23/2012 8:47:32 PM PDT by justlurking
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To: Smokin' Joe

I don’t think it’s a virus at all. What happens when you right-click the “mini-icon”?


22 posted on 10/23/2012 8:49:18 PM PDT by rockrr (Everything is different now...)
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To: Kirkwood

I run Apples Numbers, which cost about $10 and works with Excel files. You seem to lead a sheltered life.


23 posted on 10/23/2012 8:53:16 PM PDT by Yasmar
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To: JCBreckenridge

I can never find a Windows user. They are always on the phone with Indian tech support for Norton Anti-Virus.


24 posted on 10/23/2012 8:54:23 PM PDT by Yasmar
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To: Arthur McGowan; RightOnline; Yosemitest; ThomasThomas; Bellflower; Slump Tester; Dan Nunn; ...
Thanks, all for the tips! System Restore got it.

Norman Malware Remover didn't, and AVG usually gets these, so I figured while it may be a virus, I'd likely have got it with a scan. Still, you never know.

As for Apples, we often have these computers tied into a net where I work, even though this particular one is personal. The result of having an Apple (whose owner thought they were immune to viruses) tie into a windows based net is often mayhem, and that's a no-no on an oil rig. Apple might run one of the later versions of the software I run, but those are five times the cost of the version I purchased years ago, do little more that I haven't figured out how to do myself, and come with a quarterly tab for an electronic key close to the price I paid for the software when I bought it (annually), 'cause now there's a boom on.

That dog won't hunt, and I've become not only a fair laptop mechanic, but pretty good at scrounging the right part...

If my old Win98SE machine hadn't died in a puddle from a leaking window seal I might be using it yet. (8^D)

(I still have working Win 3.11 and Win95 machines...kept mainly as a curiosity for when the kids complain about these booting up slowly.)

25 posted on 10/23/2012 9:00:29 PM PDT by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly. Stand fast. God knows what He is doing)
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To: TStro

I’ve used the sytem you discribed two or three times.

It’s almost a perfect fix. Pick a restore point as far back as you can, and whem everything is running again install virus protection pronto


26 posted on 10/23/2012 9:02:29 PM PDT by Balding_Eagle (Liberals, at their core, are aggressive & dangerous to everyone around them,)
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To: Yasmar

True. Tech support for the mac amounts to “buy a new computer”.


27 posted on 10/23/2012 9:04:01 PM PDT by JCBreckenridge (Texas, Texas, Whisky)
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To: Smokin' Joe

Does this only ever happen with Excel? It kind of sounds like you may have a mechanical problem like a stuck key or mouse button or similar. If you eat and drink around your laptop this can happen, and laptop keyboards are naturally more fragile, too. I really doubt that this is malware, though it’s worth running some of the tools folks have suggested.

You might try reinstalling Excel.


28 posted on 10/23/2012 9:06:46 PM PDT by Sparticus (Tar and feathers for the next dumb@ss Republican that uses the word bipartisanship.)
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To: JCBreckenridge

Right. Every 10 or 12 years.


29 posted on 10/23/2012 9:09:46 PM PDT by Yasmar
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To: Sparticus
System Restore got it.

Reinstalling Excel was on the list, but I figured I'd check here first. The keyboard is pretty new (about a month old), and I checked for stuck keys (none).

I make it a habit of keeping food and drink at least an arm's length from the computer (laptop) preferably on an unconnected surface, an old habit from the days of drafting geological well logs on velum.

30 posted on 10/23/2012 9:10:59 PM PDT by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly. Stand fast. God knows what He is doing)
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To: Yasmar

Thanks for proving my point. You’ve never actually used spreadsheets for data management.


31 posted on 10/23/2012 9:12:53 PM PDT by Kirkwood (Zombie Hunter)
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To: justlurking
Why does everyone think they have a tumor when they get a nasty headache? Tumors aren't contagious, as far as we know, but computer viruses are...given a chance.

Macroviruses used to be the big thing, and Excel was particularly susceptible.

The laptop went into 'isolation' when the glitch was discovered, just because the 9 other computers around here are enough of a headache without 'sharing' problems.

I'm glad the problem appears to have been as you said, just a glitch, but under the circumstances, to not take precautions and assume the worst would be inviting disaster.

32 posted on 10/23/2012 9:17:06 PM PDT by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly. Stand fast. God knows what He is doing)
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To: Kirkwood

No, I use spreadsheets for data management all the time. What do you use them for?


33 posted on 10/23/2012 9:25:07 PM PDT by Yasmar
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To: Kirkwood

Seriously, you should really take some community college courses on some of the things that have happened in computing in the last five years. It would help you in your career.


34 posted on 10/23/2012 9:25:26 PM PDT by Yasmar
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To: Smokin' Joe

Step 1 - support.microsoft.com/fixit/
Step 2 - windows.microsoft.com/mse
Step 3 - update.microsoft.com


35 posted on 10/23/2012 9:33:42 PM PDT by ExxonPatrolUs ("Trizzle, trazzle, trozzle, trome, time for this one to come home" - Mr Wizard)
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To: Yasmar

“Seriously, you should really take some community college courses on some of the things that have happened in computing in the last five years. It would help you in your career.”

I’ve never considered community college. Is that where you got your training?


36 posted on 10/23/2012 9:52:57 PM PDT by Kirkwood (Zombie Hunter)
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To: Yasmar

How’s that power mac workin’ out for you?


37 posted on 10/23/2012 9:57:03 PM PDT by JCBreckenridge (Texas, Texas, Whisky)
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To: Yasmar

Do they really teach people in community college to use ipads for database management these days? I’m curious where you learned that.


38 posted on 10/23/2012 10:08:25 PM PDT by Kirkwood (Zombie Hunter)
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To: Yasmar

$$$$ You are using a non-supported operating system $$$$

ROTFLOL!!! You just set off my idiot alert.


39 posted on 10/23/2012 10:18:01 PM PDT by Valk Rider
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To: Smokin' Joe
I understand your attachment to Windows and your fear of Apple.
My brother is an electronics expert, and a trained bank robber (his specialty is bank vaults, security systems, money drop machines, and fire alarms).
His company software pretty much demands Windows.
But any large apple can handle it, and it there becomes a problem with the Windows side, you just delete it, and reload it.
It's not that hard to learn the Apple OS, and it doesn't take much time.
Problem solved.
40 posted on 10/23/2012 11:08:24 PM PDT by Yosemitest (It's simple. Fight ... or Die !)
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