How to stop a file from opening when XL starts?

[Father Guido]

Hi,

This isn't as easy as you may think.

I'm running XL2003 on Windows XP home and have a strange problem. When
I start XL it opens with a file named chart 1 gif 1.gif. I have looked
in the XLSTART folder but there's nothing in there, I do not have
anything in the folder to open files from upon starting XL either. I
have searched my hard drives for a file named as such without luck.
While testing I tried saving the file as chart 1 gif 1.guf to see if I
could find out where it was stored unsuccessfully, so now I get both
of those files opening each time I start XL, but their is no record of
either file anywhere on my system. I also tried copying a file to the
XLSTART folder to see how that worked and sure enough it also starts
when I open XL, that gives me three files that open each time I start
XL. This last file can be seen in the XLSTART folder and when I
deleted it, it no longer starts up with XL. It's as if the other two
files are in the XLSTART folder, at least they act the same way, but
somehow they're invisible to searches and viewing.

Anyone have any ideas how I can delete these 'ghost' files from
opening with XL?

Thanks,

Norm

 

[Dave Peterson]

Open excel and get that rogue file.

type this in A1 (insert a worksheet into that workbook if you need to):

=cell("filename",a1)

This should give you the path and filename of that file.

 

[Wibs]

For each file that is loaded, go into File, Properties, General Tab and
it should give you the path to the file.

When searching for files also make sure that you select the options for
searching within system folders. It is also a good idea to search the
Registry for mention of the file. Also search the registry for XLSTART,
there might be more than one location.

Wibs

 

[Father Guido]

On Tue, 06 Dec 2005 09:56:10 -0600, Dave Peterson

~Open excel and get that rogue file.
~
~type this in A1 (insert a worksheet into that workbook if you need
to):
~
~=cell("filename",a1)
~
~This should give you the path and filename of that file.

Thanks Dave, you've helped me out again. I was looking in
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE11\XLSTART but couldn't find
anything there, after putting your formula into the spreadsheet I saw
that the real path was C:\Documents and Settings\root\Application
Data\Microsoft\Excel\XLSTART to which I went and deleted the rogue
files successfully.

Thanks again!!!

Norm

 

[Father Guido]

Hi Wibs,

Another good suggestion, I'm not sure how I ended up with the first
file in C:\Documents and Settings\root\Application
Data\Microsoft\Excel\XLSTART in the first place, but I was looking for
rogue files in C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE11\XLSTART
but your method would point out the path easily.

Thanks for your help,

Norm

On Tue, 6 Dec 2005 16:34:46 -0600, Wibs

~
~For each file that is loaded, go into File, Properties, General Tab
and
~it should give you the path to the file.
~
~When searching for files also make sure that you select the options
for
~searching within system folders. It is also a good idea to search the
~Registry for mention of the file. Also search the registry for
XLSTART,
~there might be more than one location.
~
~Wibs
~
~
~Father Guido Wrote:
~> Hi,
~>
~> This isn't as easy as you may think.
~>
~> I'm running XL2003 on Windows XP home and have a strange problem.
When
~> I start XL it opens with a file named chart 1 gif 1.gif. I have
looked
~> in the XLSTART folder but there's nothing in there, I do not have
~> anything in the folder to open files from upon starting XL either.
I
~> have searched my hard drives for a file named as such without luck.
~> While testing I tried saving the file as chart 1 gif 1.guf to see
if I
~> could find out where it was stored unsuccessfully, so now I get
both
~> of those files opening each time I start XL, but their is no record
of
~> either file anywhere on my system. I also tried copying a file to
the
~> XLSTART folder to see how that worked and sure enough it also
starts
~> when I open XL, that gives me three files that open each time I
start
~> XL. This last file can be seen in the XLSTART folder and when I
~> deleted it, it no longer starts up with XL. It's as if the other
two
~> files are in the XLSTART folder, at least they act the same way,
but
~> somehow they're invisible to searches and viewing.
~>
~> Anyone have any ideas how I can delete these 'ghost' files from
~> opening with XL?
~>
~> Thanks,
~>
~> Norm