Can anybody tell me why I get this error and crash

[DaLook]

Receive error

The instruction at "0x300606b7" referenced memory at "0x0000000"
The memory could not be "read"

 

[Jack in the UK]

referenced memory

Hpyerlinks and email addresses and WEB site addresses spring to mind here - poss over 255 characters long.

Do you have any of these refered to in a cell?

 

[MarkHenri]

This could be one of many possibilities--registry entries, custom menu/toolbar files, addins or xlstart items may be causing the problem. Try Excel in safe mode and see if the problem goes away. To run Excel in safe mode, click on Start | Run and type 'excel /s' (without the quotes) and press OK. If it works, Excel has minor configuration problems.

Since you get two free support calls with the Office suite, I'd call Microsoft Support at 425-635-7056 for assistance.

If you have any further questions, you can contact me directly.

 

[XL-Dennis]

DaLook,

Do You recieve the error during opening, doing something in the workbook or when closing it?

Kind regards,
Dennis
------------------------------------------

Off Topic (My apologize to the Board

Mark H:
1. Your answer seems to be open-ended answers which I totally disagree on.

After reading several identical statements from You I wonder if this is the answer we get if calling MS US Support....

BTW, when the calls have been made and no solution available what's next step?
Buy StarOffice?

 

[MarkHenri]

I target these kinds of questions specifically because I've been trained to resolve them. However, they can get involved and I think that it's better to let Microsoft support help than frustrate the user by saying having them try 20-30 things to isolate the issue back and forth on a BBS post. The dialog goes something like "try this, what happened, ok try this... etc.". This only takes a few minutes on the phone but could drag on forever on a BBS like this. Since the customer has two free support incidents with their office purchase and I immediately recognize this as an Excel configuration issue, why aggravate them further? We're here to support Excel and repair this sort of thing and we're good at it. Besides that, I don't do well with interuptions when I'm working through a problem like this and it would be way too easy to loose my train of thought posting back and forth here with other people chiming in and confusing things for the user.

 

[MarkHenri]

We (The Microsoft Excel Support Group) can and will solve this issue so there's no need to consider another product. I think that if you were to call, you will be amazed at the level of commitment and tenacity that we have. We WILL resolve the problem if it lies with our product and often even if it doesn't. From what I've been told by our customers who have gone to other companies (and I could name names) for assistance with their product or software, our support experience and results are overwhelming good by comparison. Also, we live or die on customer satisfaction and if I can't solve an issue like this, I wouldn't be kept around for long.

Back to the issue... this sort of thing is like when a car breaks down and it arrives at the shop not running. The mechanic has to check a bunch of routine stuff such as gas, gas line, fuel filter, ignition, wires all in a well established order. Soon he'll isolate the issue and have the repair underway. We work in exactly the same way.

Since you want steps here's what I'd be doing...

1. try excel in safe mode (Start|Run 'excel /s' does the problem go away. If so, it's simple configuration files interfering with Excel.

2. what version/os? I need this just so I know how to ask the customer to do stuff.

3. are the menu configuration files corrupt? To find out, search for *.XLB and delete them. Try excel in normal mode. If it works I'll ask if the customer installed Adobe or Palm software which may have corrupted our menus when they tried to put their icon on our toolbar.

4. are the toolbar cofiguration files corrupted? search for *.pip files for excel and only remove the excel ones. check software again.

5. check the addins and alternate startup folders for files that may be starting with Excel and blowing it out. Remove them and test.

6. check the xlstart folders and make sure nothings loading that's causing the problem.

7. Delete the correct registry key for this version of Excel and let the installer re-initialize them. (And I definitely need to make sure the customer is with me on this one for obvious reasons.)

8. If safe mode didn't correct the problem way back at step 1, I'll need to try it in OS safe mode. This knocks out services and background apps that can crash Excel. We know of many and there's new ones popping up from time to time. This also breaks the network connection which is also the source of all sorts of problems opening files and starting Excel.

9. If this didn't work, we might try a repair installation of Excel. I'd be starting to make subtle checks for telltale signs of viruses on the customer's system without panicing them. Also, I'd be looking for previous installation remanents that may be messing the current version up.

10. Next, I'd be looking at video and print drivers. Did the user install a new printer? Those all in one types are constantly causing us grief. Now I've got to do some damage control because often their drivers aren't compatible with XP for example. I might try a different printer driver. (I know this seems weird to some but here's the reason--Excel is actually a raster graphics program as opposed to say Word which uses vector graphics. The printer driver is crucial to the display of the spreadsheet. The video driver can also come into play but not as often.)

11. At this point I'm smoozing the customer really good because they are getting pretty frustrated and I've got to keep them on track and working toward the goal. This requires quite a bit of diplomacy on my part and I can say with certainty that we earn our $35 per incident charge (if they've already used up their two free incidents that is). I may also, conference in HP or one of our OS support people for assistance with selective startups or troubles that appear to be OS related.

12. OK, so if I still haven't found the solution, I escalate this to a person that will continue work the case to resolution.

So as you can see, I don't believe that a forum can do an issue like this justice as it can easily become overwhelming to the user. That's why I try to gently point them to our support. Chances are it's going to be free for them because if they already knew about us, they wouldn't hestiate to call in; therefore, they still have free support.

Anyway, thanks for your comments about my previous posts. I will refine the verbage so it doesn't leave the customer thinking that I don't know how to solve the problem.

Just for fun, here's an email I received from on of the members here that tried our support--

"Thanks Mark - I did not know about the 2 free support incidences. I called and Martha was able to fix (it) for me.

Thanks again - DH"

Sincerly,

 

[XL-Dennis]

Mark H

Hat of for Your replies

Now I can more understand and accept the way You act.

Your "error-debugging" list/guide should be addressed to this board FAQ.

>7. Delete the correct registry key for this >version of Excel and let the installer re->initialize them.
Do You mean to unregistry excel.exe and re-registry excel in windows database?

>So as you can see, I don't believe that a >forum can do an issue like this justice as >it can easily become overwhelming to the >user.
OK, but I do not agree with You. From my point of view MS Support, MS Knowledge Base, MSDN and boards like this (and MS newsgroup etc) are complement to each other. After all, they are all target to help users

BTW, when will You add more articles on this issue, hardware/software conflict, in the KB?

>That's why I try to gently point them to >our support.
Thanks for Your clarifications.

Once again thanks for taking Your time to explain and I´´m looking forward to continue to discuss with You on the board.

All the best from Östersund, Sweden
Dennis

 

[MarkHenri]

Thanks.

At least the Excel safe mode should be more widely known than it is.

Yes, I'm talking about deleting the Excel key under HKCU/software/microsoft/office/[8,9,10].0 and letting the Windows installer restore it when Excel is started up. Make sure to back up the registry before doing any kind of pruning operation like this.

I am allowed to submit articles that have the potential of becoming available to the public but they go through a comprehensive review process that can take some time.

Yeah, this forum is great. I tell my customers about it all the time.