CrossOver Support - Community Forums

Getting to grips with Linux Mint as I move away from Windows, however I have a particular Excel spreadsheet that I wish to use in .xls form.

Installed CrossOver using the trial offering, then MS Office XP choosing to install only Excel, not Word or the other main applications.

All went well but when trying either my particular .xls file or trying to create a brand new .xls file
the file opens looking as I would expect then as soon as I try to do anything I get
"Please wait whilst the wizard initialises."

This is such a fundamental problem I feel I must have done something wrong and would welcome suggestions.

Tony

I would suggest that you try to install the most default way, without choosing components or paths. Then finish the installer without running Office.

I looked at https://www.codeweavers.com/compatibility/crossover/rating-breakdown/microsoft-office-2002-xp and found very different ratings, ranging from 1 to 5 stars. You may try to copy the conditions and program versions that people who rated 5 stars used.

From what I could see, looked like you were runnning Excel 2002...., that said, I'm running 2003, the entire suite...word, excel, PP..., anyway, all three run flawlessly and I set it up to run from XP as well.... Whenever I run, I first get the msg that the antivirus is running, and then it comes up and it's just like being in windows.
Steve

Thanks for the responses.

I did remove the initial Office "bottle" in CrossOver and did a fresh install of the whole of OfficeXP version 2002.
Sorry to say with the same result of getting the message "Please wait whilst the wizard initialises." in which ever application I tried including "Activate Product". (The wizard never initialises and I have to "force" a close of the file.)

When looking at the suggested CodeWeavers rating breakdown I see that the majority of the Linux versions listed start with a 15, with the "best" being 15.1.0.

Could it be my version of Linux Mint 18.2, Sonya is the problem?
As a very new user of Linux I'm not sure what to do next.

Tony

Those 15.x.x versions are the versions of CrossOver itself. I don't think using Mint is the problem. It looks more like a regression of some kind that passed unnoticed because fewer people are using the older versions of MS Office. I suggest that you try to open a ticket with Codeweavers' staff.

In the meantime, if the most important application for you is Office XP, then you could give older versions of CrossOver a try from (I'm not sure you will be able to access them):

https://www.codeweavers.com/account/downloads/archive

Also, how did you install Office XP? Did you choose "Microsoft Office 2002 (XP)" from the applications list in "Select an Application to Install"?

Tony...sorry, I think I now understand what is happening. Office 2003 itself is a standalone product from Microsoft...., the version you have, 2002 was not a standalone product, but was tied in to XP distribution and therefore simply will not run (which is what's happening to you). There was also a 2002 version that was standalone and that is the confusion as evidently that one works (one rated as garbage, the other as 'silver')
Only two suggestions, one is load up Virtualbox and install your version of XP ...that MAY work, but no guarantee. The other is simpler and should work with no issues, that is, use Libreoffice Calc. There are a few differences, and a very few that won't work, but I doubt you would ever hit them as the only time I found an issue was with some very high end math that ran in excel, but never could in Libre...and that was 8 years ago....
Steve

Thanks to you both for prompt replies.

Silvio
I did check https://www.codeweavers.com/account/downloads/archive but assume, as I was running only a trial of Crossover, I was not able to access the files.

Stephen
Looks like you explanation could be the reason for my MS Office not running. The CD case clearly says MS Office Standard XP, with small print in the corner Version 2002.

Initially, prior to experiments with Crossover, I had trouble getting Virtual Box to install, however, yesterday afternoon I had another go, this time with success and now have WindowsXP and Office running. The particular .xls file that caused me to start all this does not run properly under Libreoffice Calc, nothing clever in the file but a lot of small macros doing sorting and shifting data about.

Initial trials in Virtual Box seem OK but I have yet to install a printer and get the USB drive to work. To get at the .xls file I had to burn it to a CD, as without the USB drive and a lack of knowledge as to how to get at files in Linux whilst in the Virtual Box it seemed the quickest way to check the file.

My move towards Linux continues and I now have a way to "hang on" to this one particular file, so thanks to you both for your help.

Tony

I have a few questions here:

1) Does your file run with newer versions of Office? Office 365, online, runs fine under Linux I hear. If not, consider that this file will undoubtedly be inaccessible at some point in the future. You will have to find a solution.

2) Have you ever tried WPS office from Kingsoft? I hear it has near 100% compatibility. I only deal with letters and very simple spreadsheets, so I can't say myself. There's a free version to try it with. www.wps.com

3) Do you need to share this file? It would seem to me that if it is not necessary to share the file, you are in front of a spreadsheet that has taken the place of a database as "a lot of small macros doing sorting and shifting data about" seems very much like what is done with a database. Libreoffice does have database facilities...

Thanks J-P Simard for your interest.

You said:-
2) Have you ever tried WPS office from Kingsoft? I hear it has near 100% compatibility. I only deal with letters and very simple spreadsheets, so I can't say myself. There's a free version to try it with. www.wps.com

I had not tried or known about this before and have just installed, experimented and suspect I might prefer it to LibreOffice. However I discovered that "We don't support vba/macro for Linux version. :( The vba is mircrosoft's you know" Weitian Leung Official Developer.

It was the fact my files macros failed In LibreOffice that started this enquiry in the first place when I had trouble running my version of Office in Crossover.

Your points about " the file will undoubtedly be inaccessible", "sharing the file" and it being "close to a database" are all quite valid but it is part of my moving towards Linux that has caused me to come up with the query as I was seeing how close to my previous way of working I could be under, what for me, is a new operating system.

So far it has taken me to Crossover, I have got a Virtual Machine installed and have been introduced to WPS Office, so thanks to all for the help.

Tony