Opening a file

[Rose]

When I double-click an Excel .xls file it does not automatically open the
workbook. I get a blank Excel screen instead and have to browse to find the
file. Also, if I right click and select Open, the same thing happens.

This occurred suddenly for some unaccountable reason. Previously, the
double-click worked just fine.

Thanks for your help,

Rose

 

[Tushar Mehta]

This is a typical symptom that somehow the Windows setting for the .xls
extension have gotten messed up.

The easy way to fix the problem should be to use the /regserver switch
as documented in http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?
scid=http://support.microsoft.com:80/support/kb/articles/Q211/4/81.ASP&
NoWebContent=1

If that doesn't work, it is still possible to reassociate the xls
extension double-click behavior through Windows itself. It isn't
difficult, just tedious. So, post back if the above fails and someone
should be able to provide the necessary details.

--
Regards,

Tushar Mehta, MS MVP -- Excel
www.tushar-mehta.com
Excel, PowerPoint, and VBA add-ins, tutorials
Custom MS Office productivity solutions

 

[Rose]

I couldn't find the the documented fix, but this is what worked using the
regserver...

Open Start/Run
Browse to the excel.exe file and select it so it enters as a command in the
Run dialogue box (it will have quotation marks around it which is important)
followed by a space and "/regserver" (without the quotation marks). Click
OK.

It goes through some brief installation stuff for Front Page and then
closes.

Subsequently, a double-click opens the worksheet. Voilà!

Rose

Thanks for the clues

 

[Hans Näslund]

I am having the same problem: Excel does not open files by double-clicking
(see my separate post). I did find the MS webpage about the switches, and I
tried both the /regserver switch and the /o switch - but the problem still
persists. Does it help to reinstall Excel? (I am using Office 2000 and
Windows 2000.)

Hans Näslund