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General discussion

Virus Scan in Excel

by Schokers Jan 7, 2004 1:41PM PST

I have an Athlon 1400 with 512MB running Windows 2000 Pro.
Today, with no system changes, software additions etc, I have a problem opening Excel (Office XP) files. When I try to open a file, the hourglass comes on for about 17 seconds and then a message in the bottom left of the blank worksheet saying "requesting virus scan" for another approx 15 seconds. The file then opens and Excel works normally.
I use Norton AV 2003 and have run a full scan and it shows no viruses.
What program is driving the "requesting virus scan " - Excel or Norton AV and how do I stop it?
A secondary concern, possibly related, is that when I attempt to copy a file in Windows Explorer from a folder in one drive to another folder in a backup drive, the hourglass comes on also for about 17 secs before I can paste the file. This happens with all files, not only Excel.

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7 Posts
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Re:Virus Scan in Excel
by Kees Bakker Jan 7, 2004 8:33PM PST

This simple (note the quotes however) google-search will certainly help you with the first problem: http://www.google.nl/search?q=%22requesting+virus+scan%22&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=nl&btnG=Google+zoeken&lr=

The second problem might be related. Just a few questions that might help somebody else to tackle it.
- Did you try to disable the anti-virus (if that's possible with Norton) and see the effects of that?
- Did you properly uninstall earlier anti-virus programs before installing this one?
- If you copy 10 files with one drag-and-drop operation, does it take 10 times as long?
- Does it happen also when you copy files on the same drive (be it on your c:, or on your backup drive)?

Hope this helps.


Kees

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Thanks Kees
by Schokers Jan 8, 2004 5:54AM PST

The Google link solved the virus scan problem. There is an Office Plug-in in the Miscellaneous section of Norton AV which I unchecked. Now there is no virus scan when opening Excel files (and presumably all Office files)
However, both problems I listed had mysteriously corrected themselves not long after posting. Even while I still had the virus scan, the Excel files were loading quite quickly, and my copy actions in Explorer was instantaneous (as it had been).
I still don't know what caused the slowed action in opening the Excel files and also in the cut and paste operations (and also what changed to correct the problem).

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Re:Thanks Kees
by Tufenuf Jan 8, 2004 10:42AM PST
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Thanks Larry
by Schokers Jan 8, 2004 3:22PM PST

Some interesting reading in the forum the link sent me to. Fortunately, My Norton AV 2003 seems to be working OK and the icon is showing in the System Tray, and all the usual processes are on. However, in the last couple of days when I had my original problem, Norton did take some time to open from the System Tray, then said "Refreshing" for all the main processes for some time and then finally changed to "On" for all the processes.
It appears that Norton AV (and its Live Updates) may have been part of the problem, although, touch wood, everything appears OK at the moment.

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Re:Thanks Larry
by NancyR Jan 8, 2004 9:23PM PST

Thank you for posting this. I am suddenly having the exact same problem and have tried in vain to fix it. I noticed this morning when I turned my computer on that the problem "fixed" itself during the night although I tried turning it off many times yesterday and it didn't help. I feel sure that during the day today something will trigger the problem. I also notice that NAV itself takes a veeeeeeery long time to come up (when I click to turn the control panel on). Did you download an applet from USPS recently? I signed up to ship online and it required some Java applet. Although I uninstalled it I am suspicious that may have triggered the trouble.

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No Nancy
by Schokers Jan 9, 2004 5:38AM PST

I have not downloaded any applet from USPS. In fact, the only downloads prior to the problem starting were probably Norton's own Live Updates, which from reading posts in other forums may have been causing problems.
As I post this response everything seems to be OK. If I open Norton AV from the systems tray, it flashes "Refreshing" for a brief moment and then changes to all processes "On".

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Re:No Nancy
by NancyR Jan 9, 2004 6:14AM PST

Well, evidently I uninstalled a lot of things including that USPS applet unnecessarily. I found this link (http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/sharedtech.nsf/pfdocs/2004010810205113) from another thread that describes our problem. It would indicate that it was related to Jan 7 & 8 which would explain why my system works today......does yours? Hopefully all is now fixed. I'm looking for another virus checker ;&gtSad

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