Excel Contents Disappear

[scott_hanebutt]

XP Pro SP3, Office 2003 Basic Edition

My user has used Excel on a daily basis at work for years. While he is not by any means an advanced user he does understand the basics.

Over the past year he has had the contents of several Excel files disappear a total of about 8 times. The file still exists with the same name but when it is opened it only has three blank tabs. He typically opens the file through Excel. In most cases I have a backup of the file from the previous night. When comparing the file sizes, the "blank" file is much smaller then the earlier version that contains the data. This suggest to me that the data is actually gone and not just hidden or corrupted somehow. I also do not think that any of the files used macros or had external links in them.

Due to the age and speed of his computer (not to mention this issue), it was replaced recently. Amazingly enough this did not fix the issue. His new PC also has the file contents disappearing. Office was however installed from the same disk on the new PC as his old one. I have about 30 users who use Excel. None of the others have reported a problem. His Excel files and just about everyone else’s are stored on the same server.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,
Scott

[ConneXionLost]

Hi Scott,

A couple of random theories:

- Disgruntled Employee / Other network user. Does your user know of anyone who might/could be deleting these files on purpose? An unhappy coworker might be trashing the files in this manner in order to try and trick the network backup program. Check the file properties to see who last edited the files; or

- Old Macro/Code stored in the users default template intended to delete old records.

Just wild guesses.

[scott_hanebutt]

Thanks for the suggestions.

I can't tell who edited the files last because they all are either blank or just have our company name. I also can not think of anyone who would want to intentianaly mess up the file.

I am fairly confident that it is not due to a macro. My user would not have the first clue how to set that up and in at least one case the file contents dissapeared the same day he created it. Just to make certain though, how can I check for this template code?

Thanks,
Scott

[ConneXionLost]

The quickest way (on his logon) is just to open a blank worksheet, then select "Tools > Macro > Visual Basic Editor". The macro code usually resides in Module1. If it's empty, then you can probably rule out that theory.

Unfortunately, that leaves you with only the disgruntled employee theory. Sorry!