Strange Error Message when trying to insert column

[Yepper]

Hello. In an Excel 97 file, I had copied a worksheet, grouped the two identical worksheets, and then tried to insert a column. I immediately received the following "Program Error" message on my screen: "EXCEL.exe has generated errors and will be closed by Windows. You will need to restart the program. An error log is being created." The file and Excel close automatically. I tried to insert a column in the same file from another PC, and the same error message appeared. The worksheet has external references but no names.

Questions: How can I determine what the problem is? What is an "error log" and where do I locate it?

Thank you!

 

[Damon Ostrander]

Hi Yepper,

With this type of problem the log file is generally of no help, except for the Excel developers. This problem is one that the Excel developers didn't foresee occurring and therefore didn't write any error handling or prevention code for it. All that said, in this particular case in which you have described what you are trying to do, I'm virtually certain the problem is because you are applying a paste or insert operation to the grouped set of sheets, and that the problem will go away if you insert the columns into the sheets one at a time (using a For..Each loop, for example).