White Screen of Death

[MikeDBMan]

I frequently get a whited out screen along with the title bar adding the text (Not Responding) most frequently when loading a file but at other times as well. I can't figure out how to get rid of the problem except to close Excel and restart it. This is particularly annoying when I have unsaved VBA code that I then lose. Anybody have any suggestions of how to either stop this from happening or how to deal with it when it does happen? Thanks!

 

[Gerald Higgins]

For me, the solution was to get a new computer. Obviously I'm not saying you need to do the same, but think about it . . .

 

[Mohammad Basem]

I always save the file before running/testing macros to avoid losing the code. It became a habbit pressing Ctrl+S.

In case I have to make major changes (add or modify), I use copy of the file.

When developing a project, I end up having many files; one for each major change.

 

[MikeDBMan]

Well gosh and shucks. So if I always backup I won't lose any data. Wish I'd thought of that. Unfortunately sometimes this happens when I just load a file. And sometimes I forget to save when my boss walks in and says, "open file x".

 

[krausr79]

I got this sometimes if I made code that has an infinite loop in it. If you put DoEvents inside of the places you are looping then excel will remain responsive enough to ctrl-break out. Once the loop works perfectly you can choose to get rid of it, but sometimes if I know a loop will always take a long time I just leave it in.

 

[MikeDBMan]

So just a line with doevents?

 

[Norie]

Try holding down Shift when you open the file.

 

[xenou]

I always save the file before running/testing macros to avoid losing the code. It became a habbit pressing Ctrl+S.

In case I have to make major changes (add or modify), I use copy of the file.

When developing a project, I end up having many files; one for each major change.

It is the right course of action.

 

[shg]

Well gosh and shucks. So if I always backup I won't lose any data.

The people here who give their time freely to help others have no way of knowing what you know. I think my daughters are pretty smart, but each required a bad experience before understanding how to avoid unnecessary losses of data.

They took suggestions with good grace.

 

[xenou]

With regard to the "white screen of death", meaning the application freezing up on you, I don't know of any general solutions. It is usually the result of (worst case) an infinite loop or a crash that leaves the application stuck, or (less severe but just as troublesome) a program that needs improvement. Unfortunately, that can only be taken on a case by case basis as you optimize each poorly performing solution, so I guess you could say the devil is in the details. It might be possible to list some culprits though:

• code that requires frequent re-calculation of the worksheet
• heavy lookup formulas
• looping through many hundreds of thousands of cells
• page setup code (this is said to work better in recent versions of Excel)

I'm sure I could probably think of some other common culprits if I put my mind to it.