I downloaded an IQY file from a sharepoint 2010 site which runs really well, and gets our 600+ rows of data into Excel almost instantly - certainly less than a few seconds.
Conversely, when I run a web query from within Excel (Get data>from sharepoint folder) it takes a LOT longer (maybe 10 seconds on connecting, then several minutes while the query "runs" - one row at a time. Up to 15 minutes for 600+ rows!

What is the difference between these two queries?

I have a macro that needs to run on the result of the query, and I would rather this could run automatically on a schedule rather than manually by me executing the iqy file then running the macro. Is there a way I can execute the IQY file from within an existing excel macro-enabled workbook? So I can schedule the excel file to run automatically, and it will run the IQY and run operations on the resulting data?

Alternatively, can an IQY file be run from a VBScript (without excel) populating directly into an array instead of cells, for example?

Thanks
Guy