Excel and latest MS "upgrades"

[124194]

Hi, after two overnight (non-optional) upgrades by MS earlier this week, I can no longer use Excel. I can't create new s/sheets. I can open and view existing s/sheets but can't make any changes; any attempt to change a cell (or to tab or use arrows to move between cells) results in (i) creation of a new version (copy) of the existing s/sheet, and (ii) closure of the XL programme. I'm using Windows 10 and Office XP.
I spent over an hour on a live chat to MS yesterday, the outcome of which was that they just wanted to sell me a monthly subscription to MS Office. Not very useful. Has anyone else had the same problem and/or have any possible solution ? Many thanks in advance for all your help.

[strollin]

You could try setting up a VM using VirtualBox or other free virtualization software and running Excel XP there using Windows XP or Windows 7.  Of course you will need a copy of Win XP or 7 in order to do that.

Another possible solution is to install LibreOffice which is a free, open source office suite that can read/write Excel, Word, Power Point, etc... documents.

You can't really blame MS, Excel XP is really ancient (2002).

[Mark.]

yep, sounds like it's bite the bullet time.
if Office XP is more important, undo those couple of MS updates and wear the cost of losing whatever feature they gave you.or if Windows 10 is more important, keep the updates and finally take the plunge and update Office.
if you are like me and use Excel features like a demon, then sadly going to an alternative like LibreOffice has never been a viable choice as their list of inbuilt functions is ridiculously limited compared to Excel's.

[124194]

Thanks for the quick responses. Seems like I don't have much choice !! Something that was working perfectly on Monday now needs to be replaced by purchasing a replacement from the organisation that broke it in the first place. Feeling like I've just been mugged.

[soybean]

Don't know whether you might want to try a freeware alternative to MS Office.  I've been using WPS Office, with Windows 10.  But, as Mark said, these freeware alternatives may lack some of the more advanced features found in MS Office.  The free version of WPS Office does display an ad when you first open it a file.  You can close the ad after 5 seconds.  They also have a paid version, which is ads-free. 

[patio]

Libre' Office is a nice alternative as well...and fully compatible with Office so you can use your existing work with no issues...

[Computer_Commando]

I'm a little late to this thread, but...

1.  I've been using Office XP Pro (Excel 2002) for 15 years.
2.  This issue is all over the internet forums.
3.  It's been reported many times on the Insider Hub.
4.  It's a problem with Excel 2002 & 2003 versions.
5.  Some are able to "fix" 2003 by enabling "Update Other Microsoft Products"; this has no effect on 2002.
6.  This problem is only an issue with Windows 10 Version 1803 (OS Build 17134.xx), 64-bit version only.  No issue with 1709.
7.  There is no issue at all with 32-bit version which indicates a Windows problem, not an Excel problem.
8.  I've tried both LibreOfice & OpenOffice; both work but they change the colors of the graphs.