excel 2002 hangs after 2 hours work

[Dutch Derek]

Hi , i have this recurring problem with excel 2002.
After working in it for an hour or 2 everything seems ok , if left alone ( screensaver active) and then returning to do some more work, it hangs . The mouse cursor becomes a black plus sign , just like you would get when selecting one or more cells , and it will not let go. you can drag the mouse all over the screen but the selection just varies to where you place the mouse .
STRANGE !! ctl-alt-del does nothing and only a Hard shutdown using the on-off switch ,then restarting , gets excel usable again , The CPU usage during this strange annomily sits at 100%.
I have updated Office( 2002 ) and also xp home to service pack 3.

any tips or pointers would be appreciated

Derek

[duthiet]

Not an answer; however you may try the below to recover from the lock up:

Its from the MicroSoft Office Web.

1. On the Microsoft Windows Start menu, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Office Tools, and then click Microsoft Office Application Recovery.
2. In the Application list, click the program or document that is not responding.
3. Do one of the following:
• To attempt to recover the files you were working on, click Recover Application.
• If you just want to close the program, and lose recent changes to the files, click End Application.
4. The error that caused the problem can be reported to Microsoft for use in improving future versions of the program. Click Send Error Report or Don't Send.
NOTE If you are not connected to the internet you can click Send Error Report Later to be prompted to send the report the next time you connect.

Regards,

TD