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HomeTroubleshootingAll Products: StartupFind and Fix Startup Conflicts (Excel 2003 and Earlier)

2.6. Find and Fix Startup Conflicts (Excel 2003 and Earlier)

Disponible en español: Buscar y corregir Conflictos de inicio (Excel 2003 y anteriores)
Disponível em português: Procurando e reparando conflitos na inicialização (Excel 2003 e anteriores)

Applies to:
All Palisade products running as add-ins to Excel 2003 or earlier
If you have Excel 2007 or later, please see Find and Fix Startup Conflicts (Excel 2007–2016).

Problem:
If you get an error message or a series of error messages when starting the software, you may have a conflict with one of your add-ins or startup files. Some possible messages include "Palgraph5 server error" or a runtime error with a long number.

Solution:
First try searching for the particular message in the Knowledge Books, but if you don't find it then you may be able to diagnose any conflicts by starting Excel in Safe Mode. (Excel Safe Mode is different from Windows Safe Mode.  You do not need to restart your computer.)

This procedure applies to Excel 2000 through Excel 2003, but not Excel 2007 or later.

  1. Close Excel if it's already running.

  2. Press and hold the Ctrl key, then click the Windows Start button and select Programs or All Programs » Microsoft Office » Microsoft Excel. Continue holding the Ctrl key down.

  3. When the prompt appears asking whether you want to start Excel in Safe Mode, release the Ctrl key and answer Yes.

    If the above doesn't open Excel in Safe Mode, please see Microsoft's Knowledge Base article How to troubleshoot startup problems in Excel (accessed 2014-01-08) and scroll down to "Let me start it myself".

  4. When Excel has loaded, click Tools » Add-ins. Remove the check marks from all third-party add-ins.

    If you have any Palisade add-ins checked (ticked), remove the check marks.  Our add-ins are designed to run without the check marks, except as explained in Opening Palisade Software Automatically Whenever Excel Opens.

    Excel's own add-ins such as Analysis Toolpak, Conditional Sum Wizard, Internet Assistant, Lookup Wizard, and Solver are not a problem.

  5. Click the Windows Start button, then Programs or All Programs, then Palisade DecisionTools, then the shortcut for the Palisade software tool you are having trouble with.

If the Palisade software now functions correctly, there was a conflict with another add-in or one of your own startup files. These can be specified in several places, so find them all and then eliminate them one by one till you find the conflict:

Removing Excel Add-Ins if Excel 2003 Won't Start:

  1. Click Start » Run, type REGEDIT, and press the Enter key.  (You will probably need administrative rights for this.  If your IT department does this for you, they must log in as you with administrative rights, because this procedure must be performed within your user profile.)

  2. In the left-hand panel, navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Options.

  3. For safety, make a backup copy of this entry:  Right-click Options and select Export.  Chose any file name and location, but keep the file type as .REG.

  4. In the right-hand panel, right-click on each OPEN value and select Delete.  Answer Yes to the confirming prompt.

  5. Click File » Exit to close Registry Editor.  Excel should now start without add-ins.  (Any COM add-ins, and any startup files in your XLSTART folders, will still be loaded.)

last edited: 2014-01-08

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