If the missing reference actually exists in the machine having the
problem, you can make note of what file is being referenced (listed
as the Location in the References dialog), uncheck the reference, and
then click Browse to navigate to the file and re-establish the
reference. If the reference is not needed by the workbook, you can
just uncheck it and leave it be. If it is a core reference (e.g.,
Office or OLE), you can start Excel and instruct it to recreate its
registry keys and references. Close Excel, then go to the Windows
Start menu, choose Run and enter the following and click OK.
Excel.exe /regserver
Note that there is a space before the / character. If you get a "File
not found" error, you'll need to provide the full path location to
Excel. typically
"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office11\Excel.exe" /regserver
You might also try running the Detect And Repair function from the
Help menu in Excel. You may need your Office installation DVD for
this.
See also
http://www.cpearson.com/Excel/StartupErrors.aspx for other
techniques for diagnosing and fixing start up errors in Excel.
Cordially,
Chip Pearson
Microsoft MVP
Excel Product Group
Pearson Software Consulting, LLC
www.cpearson.com
(email on web site)