Hi Andy!
The most likely cause is that a vital area of the system used by Excel
is full of junk and needs clearing out.
Close down and re-open the computer just to make sure that all
installations are complete.
Find and Select C:\Documents and Settings\<user>\local settings\temp
They are left behind by installing programs but Excel needs the space.
Try again with Excel.
Bloated xlb File (A possibility but not previously noted with Office
XP)
Next is that with pre 2002 versions of Excel there is a tendency for
the toolbar file to bloat in size and eventually this can cause
crashes on opening. It is usually preceded by Excel being noticeably
slower than before in opening and in performance generally. Generally
this means deleting the bloated file.
Next:
Using Start > Search > For Files and folders
Locate the Excel.xlb or Excel10.xlb file. If it is above around 30kb
rename
it Excelxlb.old and move it somewhere. If it's very large you probably
won't
be able to do much with it anyway. This is the toolbar file and Excel
will
create a new one for you.
Now try again.
--
Regards
Norman Harker MVP (Excel)
Sydney, Australia
(E-Mail Removed)