Excel files open very slowly

[Dr. Dos]

Win XP Pro SP3
MS Office 2007
Toshiba Tecra M5 1.56GBt RAM. 80GBt HDD free space, 2.0GHz
Centrino Dual Core CPU.

Each and every time I receive an .xls file from any source,
Excel takes at least 30-45 seconds to open it, regardless of
file size. I have turned off AV to test. AV has no bearing.
Once I saw a notice that Excel was operating in
compatibility mode. What do I have to do avoid this problem?

 

[CTURNER82]

This may not be exactly what you're looking for, but I open Excel first, then
the desired workbook. It doesn't hesitate that way. (I do think my issue is
AV but I can't do anything about it.) An alternate way is to open the
workbook and then when you see it's not opening click on the Office button.
I don't know why that works, but it does for me. Best wishes!

 

[Dr. DOS]

This may not be exactly what you're looking for, but I open Excel first, then

Thanks for the reply

Yes, strangely, solution 1 works. The program opens up in
less than five seconds, and the files/workbooks, when
selected afterward open almost instantaneously.

Your solution 2 (office button) did not work for me.

But I have solution three:
After selecting an xls file from file manager or an e-mail
attachment, when Excel opens, I click on the minimize
button, top right. That immediately kills the blank solid
blue workbook area screen and reveals the file(s)/workbooks
I have called up behind it. That blank blue screen is NOT
actually minimized, it totally disappears. Clicking on the
program icon in the task bar, instead of the minimize
button, causes Excel to crash/stop responding.

I propose this establishes that something is broken in my
installation or the program. Since you have had a similar
problem with a similar set of solutions, I propose a bug in
Excel 2007. No it has nothing to do with the AV.