I cant open files unless I open the Excel program first

[Guest]

I cant open up my excel files by clicking on them. I have to open up the
excel program and then look for my files to open

 

[George]

Sounds like registry trouble
I'm sure I've seen something like this before and
I'm sure someone here knows how to repair this.

But as a last resort goto add/remove programs
Select change from the MS Office and choose repair.

That's suppose to fix broken registry settings etc.

George

 

[wjohnson]

Right click on any EXCEL file icon on your desktop and then select
propeties - and read the screen - it will tell you what program is
registered to OPEN the file - if it is not EXCEL - then select CHANGE
and select EXCEL from the list.

 

[Dave Peterson]

Sometimes one of these works when you're having trouble with double clicking on
the file in windows explorer:

Tools|Options|General|Ignore other applications (uncheck it)

--- or ---

Close Excel and
Windows Start Button|Run
excel /unregserver
then
Windows Start Button|Run
excel /regserver

The /unregserver & /regserver stuff resets the windows registry to excel's
factory defaults.