Excel files not opening by clicking on them

[Adam Raff]

Good Day,



One of my users called me with a problem which I have not seen before.



When I click on an Excel sheet that is on her desktop the program opens but
there is no data/sheet. Just a blank page.



When I try to open an attached file the program says file not found.



If I open Excel and click on open file and point to the file, the file open
with no issues and I see the data/sheet.



If I double click on the same file the program open but no sheet shows up.



I looked at the file types and I noticed that XLS was off so I clicked on
reset and it pointed back to Excel but the same problem still is there. I
cannot open an excel file by clicking on it. I need to use file open to get
the data/sheet to show.



We are using Office 2003 SP2 on Windows XP SP2 with latest updates. I have
tried running repair with no luck in fixing the problem.



Thank You
Adam Raff

 

[Leon Hao [MSFT]]

Hi Adam,

Such scenario can be caused by many reasons. I have listed some of them and
the suggestions are also provided:

* Situation 1:
===========

This behavior can occur because of conflicts with the file permissions. I
suggest you remove the XLS Microsoft Excel Worksheet from the registered
file types. Please try the following steps:

1. Double-click My Computer.
2. On the Tools menu, click Folder Options.
3. Click the File Types tab.
4. Under Registered file types, click XLS Microsoft Excel Worksheet, and
then click Delete.
5. Click Start, and then click Run.
6. In the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK.
7. Locate the following registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0
8. Right-click the Excel key, and then click Rename.
9. Type OldExcel.
10. Locate the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0
11. Right-click the Excel key, and then click Rename.
12. Type OldExcel.
13. On the Registry menu, click Exit to quit Registry Editor.
14. Start Excel, and then quit Excel.
15. Double-click the Excel workbook icon (or right-click the Excel
workbook icon, and then click Open) to open the file.
16. In the Open With dialog box, click Microsoft Excel for Windows, and
then click OK.

* Situation 2
===========

This behavior can also occur if the Open action entry for this file type
ends in %1.

To resolve this issue, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. In the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK.
3. Open the following registry key:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Excel.Sheet.8\shell\Open\command
4. In the right pane, click (Default).
5. On the Edit menu, click Modify.
6. Remove the %1 from the end of the Value data string so that the data
string reads as follows:
"C:\PROGRAM FILES\MICROSOFT OFFICE\OFFICE\EXCEL.EXE" /e (including the
quotation marks)
7. Click OK, and then close Registry Editor.

For more information, please refer to the following KB article:

KB207574 You receive a "File Not Found" error message when you open a file
by double-clicking the file name
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/207574/en-us

* Situation 3
============

This problem may occur if the Ignore other applications setting in Excel is
selected. To check the setting:

1 On the Tools menu, click Options.
2 Click the General tab.
3 Click to clear the Ignore other applications check box, and then click
OK.
4 Try to open workbooks by double-clicking them in Windows Explorer.

For detailed information, please refer to the following KB article:

KB 211494 Excel opens without displaying a workbook
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/211494/en-us


Regards,

Leon Hao

Microsoft Online Partner Support
Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security
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[Adam Raff]

Hi Leon,

Thank You, it was option 3 that fixed the problem. I looked down your list
and said to myself what could it be and since option 3 was the simple one I
looked at that first and it was checked. No body know how it got checked
but it was. I unchecked it and everything opened right up again.

If you do not mind answering one more question. What does that option do
that it prevents the Excel sheet from opening?

Thanks for the help.

Adam Raff

 

[Leon Hao [MSFT]]

Hi Adam,

To answer your question:

When you double-click an Excel workbook in Windows Explorer, a dynamic data
exchange (DDE) message is sent to Excel, instructing it to open the
workbook that you double-clicked.

If the Ignore other applications setting is selected, Excel ignores DDE
messages sent to it by other programs. As a result, the DDE message sent to
Excel by Windows Explorer is ignored, and Excel does not open the workbook
that you double-clicked. This is for the consideration of security.

As we all know, the conveniency and the security are always conflict with
each other


Regards,

Leon Hao

Microsoft Online Partner Support
Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security
====================================================
When responding to posts, please "Reply to Group" via your newsreader so
that others may learn and benefit from your issue.
====================================================
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.