Frequent Excel 2013 crashes under Win 7 in Parallels are getting unbearable ...

Discussion in 'Windows Virtual Machine' started by Andy_G, Aug 2, 2013.

  1. Andy_G

    Andy_G Bit poster

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    please can anyone help me ...

    Excel 2013 is giving me frequent crashes (both in big spreadsheets and small). Periodically several times a day it just hangs then crashes when I insert or delete columns but also when I just type plain text into a cell.

    Using it on a Macbook Pro Retina 13" on 10.8.4 (2.9Ghz i7, 8Gb RAM) and problem today is crashes on a 410Kb file with 1 sheet and no pivot tables or charts ....

    Any ideas gratefully received but you might need to talk me through the steps of identifying the problem ....

    Many thanks in advance

    Andy
     
    Last edited: Aug 2, 2013
  2. Seashoregirl

    Seashoregirl Bit poster

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    Hi Andy,

    I am also having the same problem. No idea of a solution. I am running a Macbook Pro Retina 15" using OS X 10.8.4 (27 GHz i7, 16 GB Ram). I am using parallels Desktop 8 Build 8.0.18608, Windows 7 Pro and am running Excel 2013. I have two apple Cinema displays running and generally shift the parallels window onto one of them. I have also run in Coherence - same issue. I spent an afternoon downloading all the windows updates - seemed to cure the problem for the rest of the day, but the issue came back the very next day. It doesn't seem to matter if I am in a complex or simple workbook, or if the file has a single sheet or multiple sheets. It is happening with both brand new unsaved workbooks with only a couple of cells being used (I know this as that is how fast the freeze up happened) as well as workbooks I have been using successfully for several months. This is a new problem for me within the last week or so. I have had great success working this way for several months. I have not changed anything in the op system or parallels set up - it just simply started happening without any changes to anything on the MAC, Windows or Parallels sides.

    Would sure love to fix this issue - hate the idea of having to resort to bootcamp and partitioning the drive. Tried Excel for the MAC - hated it so would prefer not to go there. I love my MAC and do not want to go back to having to run a PC for Excel. I also run Quickbooks Accountant 2013 for the Windows under the same setup and it is rock solid stable - seems to be an issue specifically with Excel for me. I have also tried having nothing else open under Windows and still the same result.

    Hopefully someone out there can help us out. I am also not super technical and a MAC newbie.

    Beth
     
  3. JanUser

    JanUser Bit poster

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    Hi Guys

    I also want to second your problem. It is getting redicilous, the same goes for word if you have imbedded charts. This is the main reason for buying Parallels in the first place and now it does work! I run a 2013 MacBook Air.

    Please help!
     
  4. tcld00

    tcld00 Bit poster

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    I am also having this issue and it is getting extremely frustrating. My primary use for Parallels is for Office 2013, but am experiencing very frequent crashes, mostly in Excel, but also Word.

    I am running a 2012 MB Pro Retina, with Windows 7, Office 2013 under Parallels 9, though the issue was also present under Parallels 8. I have tried various things to fix this, such as disabling the visual effects and hardware acceleration features in Office, but nothing has worked.
     
  5. BigLou

    BigLou Bit poster

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    I echo everything above. My set-up includes the latest MacBook Pro 16 GB of RAM, Parallels 9, Maverick, Windows 8.1 and Office 2013. Excel locks up every time I start to re-size the window or do any cut and paste. I use Parallels/Windows 8.1 for work, I could really use some help here. Office 2011 for Mac is subpar at this point.
     
  6. mwille64

    mwille64 Member

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    You may want to check this threat of mine...

    http://forum.parallels.com/showthre...-9-with-Mavericks-in-coherent-mode-a-disaster

    and

    http://forum.parallels.com/showthre...ode-crashes-since-Mac-OS-upgrade-to-Mavericks

    where I reported mouse problems and crashes of Parallels. The above first link has a posting that suggests workaround stopping both issues.

    Maybe you should try this out and see if your issue is related to this too.


    I also face another issue with OSX frequently crashing after waking up from sleep mode. I suspect it happens only when a Parallels VM is running. Since today I suspend my VM before placing OSX into sleep mode. If my suspicion is confirmed I will post a main threat about it.

    Kinda funny, that I have seen more "white screens of death" of OSX in the last 2 years, then I have ever seen the blue version of it in Windows :-(
     
  7. MichaelKunshan

    MichaelKunshan Bit poster

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    I've been having a similar problem with frequent & seemingly random crashes in Excel 2013 on Win 7 Ultimate SP1 (32 bit). They all seem to happen in Coherence mode (but I almost always use Coherence mode). Excel itself is crashing (ie. Program not responding), not Parallels or Windows. I can exit Excel & restart it, but it often crashes again later on.

    Running Parallels 8 (latest version) on MacBook Pro 2012, OS X 10.8.5, 16GB RAM. Win7 VM has 1.5GB RAM.

    I'm not using an external monitor or external mouse or Mavericks, so the workarounds don't apply to my situation.
     
  8. MichaelKunshan

    MichaelKunshan Bit poster

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    I tried installing the new Intel drivers, but it hasn't fixed the problem.
     
  9. robbierob

    robbierob Junior Member

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    I have a MBA2013 with mountain lion and am having regular Excel 2013 performance issues under win pro 8.1 VM in parallels 8, delayed input, mouse clicking not registering and files loading with most of the ribbon menu not appearing. Frankly, it's a pain and I can't tell if its a microsoft or parallels issue. I'm also having major issues when using coherence mode with an external display (issue posted separately) and issues with behaviour of some third party software....
    I don't have any of these issues with parallels 7, win pro 7 and Excel 2010 on my imac.
    Who is the culprit? Parallels, microsoft, me??
    The number of occurrences just leads me to want to go all mac and ditch parallels altogether, irrespective of who's to blame.
     
  10. robbierob

    robbierob Junior Member

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    Update to my post of last week. When I lose mouse control in excel, I've discovered that by selecting view > full screen from the parallels drop down menu resolves the issue and mouse control comes back, then if I exit full screen the mouse control remains. Not ideal but it seems to work.

    I haven't tested this in the instances where the ribbon menu doesn't fully appear but will advise once I know.

    It also seems that I'm more likely to lose mouse control if I alt-tab or command-tab between windows, so go figure. Any one experiencing similar issues?
     
  11. Andrew Dailey

    Andrew Dailey Bit poster

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    I am having the same issue as everyone else here (and have been having it for quite a long time) running Office 2013 on Parallels 8.

    One thing I had noticed early on was that this issue happened much more frequently when I was using files from my mac HD as a network drive, (Z: for me) versus using files saved within the VM file system. The issue still happens, but happens less frequently.

    Would love to understand why this is happening and make it stop... were any of you other posters able to solve the issue?
     
  12. Andrew Dailey

    Andrew Dailey Bit poster

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    BIG UPDATE:

    I finally made a change that seems to have stopped Excel 2013 from freezing up. Disabling hardware acceleration!

    Check the box:
    File -> Options -> Advanced -> Display Section -> Disable hardware graphics acceleration

    Please post if you try this and it fixed your problem as well. There are probably similar options in the other office products too but I haven't tried them yet.
     
  13. robbierob

    robbierob Junior Member

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    Andrew, early days yet but I have tried your fix and so far so good! Will report back again after a few more days to see if any issues. If the fix holds I ow you one as the issue was driving me mad!
     
  14. marcym

    marcym Bit poster

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    Success!

    Your suggestion has worked thus far! After months of frustration with Excel "Not Responding"--sometimes after just one minute of spreadsheet work--I thank you for this solution.


     
  15. MylanD

    MylanD Bit poster

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    <<Check the box:
    File -> Options -> Advanced -> Display Section -> Disable hardware graphics acceleration>>

    I am afraid I am not experienced to know where to find these settings - if anyone could point me in the right direction I would be most appreciative. The crashes are unbearable.
     
  16. ChantellC

    ChantellC Bit poster

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    SUCCESS w/ FILE/OPTIONS/DISPLAY fix!

    Same as everyone above - just confirming that it seems to be working great now. Thank you.

    -CJ

     
  17. dmh9282

    dmh9282 Bit poster

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    Checking this box seems to have worked for me. Now when I type in a Word Doc the cursor lags by a couple of letters to whole words and jumps back and forth over the last few letters.

    As for the person who asked where to look for the path, start in a Word Doc up in the upper left hand corner at FILE.
     
  18. BoilermakerU

    BoilermakerU Member

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    Is there a more global setting somewhere that would disable hardware acceleration for all applications? I am having a similar issue with Primavera P6, which is one of the very few reasons I even use Windows anymore. Wasn't having many issues in Parallels 8, but so far, Parallels 9 is full of issues. Would be nice to resolve some of them so I can get back to work! LOL
     
  19. robbierob

    robbierob Junior Member

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    I've been mostly on a break since my last post of late December but can confirm now that Andrew's suggestion continues to work a treat!
     
  20. tonyr100

    tonyr100 Bit poster

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    Hi - unfortunately this solution doesn't work for me. Whenever i have multiple excel files and when some of these are on the large side, ie > 2 or 3MB, i end up crashing sooner or later. The disable hardware graphics acceleration option is "ticked" in excel, as well as the other office apps ie word and ppt.

    Would be great to hear from anyone who has suggestions on how to resolve.

    thanks!
     

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