Updated April 27, 1998

The Third Time's The Charm

Patch For Calculation Bug in Microsoft Excel 97

MICROSOFT HAS finally fixed the auto recalculation bug in Excel 97 that BugNet reported a couple months ago.

According to Microsoft, "in Microsoft Excel 97, some formulas on a worksheet may not be recalculated automatically. This behavior may occur even if you choose to use automatic calculation for formulas in the worksheet."

The problems can occur when:

  1. the user creates a block of formulas all at once (e.g. using AutoFill), and
  2. new rows or columns are inserted into this range of formulas, and
  3. The same formula is entered into the newly inserted row or column

The temporary workaround is to re-fill down the formula by selecting the cells above, drag the Fill Handle Down to the cell that is not calculating correctly.

You can also correct the problem by selecting cell A1 and choosing Edit, Replace, Enter and typing "=" (without the quotes) in both the "Find What" and "Replace With" edit boxes, and then selecting Replace All.

This re-enters the formulas. Microsoft says, "Please note that by re-entering the formulas, the issue is fixed within the affected worksheet and will not occur again."

Microsoft has posted a fix for the Excel automatic recalculation error at http://www.microsoft.com/Excel/enhancements/
XL8P1.asp?prev=111111. The version of the patch dated April 22 finally fixes both the row and column manifestation of the bug.

-- Bruce Brown


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