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I've had this problem with Excel 2007 and 2010 on two different PCs, both running Windows 7.

My computer has 3 displays, with the center monitor primary. When Excel is open in one of the non-primary displays (the left or right), comments and some other elements in Excel are rendered as completely black:

enter image description here

enter image description here

When Excel is moved back to the primary monitor, everything displays properly.

The problem is intermittent, with no obvious changes contributing to the behavior. Sometimes comments appear normally on all monitors for a while, then the issue returns with no obvious impetus. In fact, after taking the screenshots for this question, the issue went away. But it will be back tomorrow, I'm sure of it.

What I've tried:

  • It is not a problem with the graphics hardware, as the black elements render correctly regardless of which monitor is primary. I can change the left monitor to primary, for instance, and the elements render correctly there.

  • I have tried disabling hardware acceleration in Excel, to no avail.

  • I have tried reinstalling Office, upgrading Office from 2007 to 2010, reinstalling Windows, and completely replacing the computer. The issue is persistent across all these changes.

Update:

It seems that the problem is occurring not only in Excel; the window previews in the taskbar are also appearing all black on non-primary monitors:

enter image description here

Any ideas?

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  • 1
    What happens if you use a non-Aero Windows theme? Were you using Aero on the other computer?
    – CharlieRB
    Dec 12, 2013 at 18:55
  • 2
    What is your video card and have you checked on the manufacturer's website if a newer driver version exists?
    – harrymc
    Dec 12, 2013 at 19:49
  • In the past couple weeks, the problem actually hasn't occurred again. If it happens again, I'll poke around both of your suggestions.
    – user201262
    Dec 16, 2013 at 23:40

1 Answer 1

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It sounds like you're having an issue with Windows Aero's handling of ToolTips.

ToolTips are a built-in way in Windows for programs to display comments, alt-text, mouse-over previews, etc. The style for those ToolTips is determined by your Windows Aero theme. Depending on the theme, you may have compatibility issues with some graphics cards or graphics drivers. Here is what you can try to fix it.

  1. Run the Aero troubleshooter

    Click on Start, then Control Panel. Open Troubleshoting and click on Display Aero desktop effects. This requires Admin authority on the computer. Here is the path in Windows Explorer to get to that page: Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Troubleshooting. The Troubleshooter may resolve your problem.

  2. Change to a different Aero theme

    It may be the Aero theme you are using that has an issue. Switching to another theme could resolve your problem completely. Right-click on any empty space on your desktop and choose Personalization at the bottom of the drop-down list. There are several Aero themes to choose from. Try a different one than you are using now.

  3. Use the Windows 7 Basic theme or an Ease of Access theme

    Changing your theme to Windows 7 Basic will disable Aero effects. You will still be able to view ToolTips and all other elements. You just won't have the fancy fade effects and transparency effects. Once you've chosen a non-Aero theme, you can change the display settings for ToolTips through the aero.msstyles file located in the C:\Windows\Resources\Themes\Aero folder.

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