Moving Excel 2003 to Vista

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I have Excel set up exactly how I want it on my XP machines. When I launch Excel, I always have my custom toolbars, my one worksheet instead of three, etc. I’m pretty sure that all these settings, etc. are in Book.xlb (I don’t know for sure, since I set ’em up months and months ago and never have to deal with them.)

I have a new laptop running Vista Home Premium, and I can’t figure out how to get my Book.xlb (I think) settings moved over there. I’ve put the file in a few different places, but it never seems to take.

HELP!

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Custom toolbars are stored in a file named Excel.xlb or Excel11.xlb (11 is the internal version number of Office 2003).

Do a search on your Vista machine for the .xlb file, then copy the one from your old PC to the folder where you find it. You can overwrite the new one.

Make sure that hidden files and folders are displayed.

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I’m having a heck of a time with Vista’s search. I added a little toolbar and closed Excel. When I reopened it, the new toolbar was there, so I must have an .XLB file somewhere. Yet Vista refuses to find it.

Maybe I don’t have hidden file search turned on. I don’t know how to do that yet.

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Perhaps someone who has Windows vista can tell you. I’m still using Windows XP both at home and at work.

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I’ve got two Vista computers, and the biggest problem for me is that very few people seem to know much about it. Sources of tremendous expertise on XP related matters are often completely in the dark about anything having to do with Vista.

So far, I haven’t seen much advantage to Vista. Some things seem to work a bit better, but the unfamiliarity of it is a big drawbask. Too bad.

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So far, I haven’t seen much advantage to Vista. Some things seem to work a bit better, but the unfamiliarity of it is a big drawbask. Too bad.

Wait ’til you get a load of XL07!

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I’ve finally found where to put Excel11.XLB and (I think) PERSONAL.XLS. My custom toolbars show up regularly on the screen. One problem remains:

My custom toolbar has a few icons that are associated with macros. The macros are in PERSONAL.XLS.

My trouble is that Excel thinks that the path to PERSONAL.XLS is the path that exists on the XP machine from which I moved PERSONAL.XLS.

There isn’t a Browse command to make it easier for me to tell Excel where PERSONAL.XLS now resides. Is there any way to do that other than to laboriously enter the very long path name to the new PERSONAL.XLS (and to do it for every single macro that I have)?

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My trouble is that Excel thinks that the path to PERSONAL.XLS is the path that exists on the XP machine from which I moved PERSONAL.XLS.

That’s strange – Excel should “know” where Personal.xls resides (it’s a registry setting). Perhaps other Loungers who use Excel 2003 on Vista can comment.

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Hey Lou –

Rather than moving personal.xls, why not just copy (and paste) the contents from your personal.xls to the new one? I’m not certain that would work, but if Vista expects to find it in a particular place, then leave it there. It would only take you 2-3 minutes to test it; if it doesn’t work out, you could delete the macros you just pasted – no harm done.

Just seen your new post… You can edit the toolbar buttons, to lead them to your new personal.xls location.

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This is interesting. Excel CAN find the macros in Personal.XLS. I can run them from the Tools > Macro > Macros dialog box. When I record a new macro, it appears in Personal.XLS along with the others that are already there. But when I click the toolbar icon to run one of the macros, I get the message that Excel can’t find the macro (in the path from the XP machine).

I’m guessing this has to do with Excel11.XLB

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With Excel open | right-click in the toolbar area | select Customize… (at the bottom of the list).
With the Customize dialog open | click on the actual toolbar button that needs editing | then (on the open dialog), click Modify Selection.
From the resulting menu, select Assign Macro…
In the Assign Macro dialog box, lead it to the correct macro and click OK and Close

This is interesting. Excel CAN find the macros in Personal.XLS. I can run them from the Tools > Macro > Macros dialog box. When I record a new macro, it appears in Personal.XLS along with the others that are already there. But when I click the toolbar icon to run one of the macros, I get the message that Excel can’t find the macro (in the path from the XP machine).

I’m guessing this has to do with Excel11.XLB

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My guess was right. I had to redo my custom buttons. I copied the button image to another place on the toolbar, then right clicked it and assigned the macro (this time from the new Personal.xls). I tested it, then deleted the old button (the one linked to the old Personal.xls) from the toolbar.

So many times, just discussing a problem with others leads to the solution, not necessarily FROM them, but BECAUSE one discussed it with them.

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I fixed it before I saw the suggestion from Tricky the Caveman. His solution was a little easier, I guess. Thanks to everybody for their help. Tricky: Do you have any friends who are geckos?

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Actually, I see more scorpions and spiders. Oh, and ticks (it’s a hair thing)! People often confuse me with the caveman from popular TV commercials and assume I know some geckos…

Glad you got your buttons fixed.

I fixed it before I saw the suggestion from Tricky the Caveman. His solution was a little easier, I guess. Thanks to everybody for their help. Tricky: Do you have any friends who are geckos?

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