Most bizarre issue I've ever encountered...

[JG]

I've worked with computers for nearly 30 years, I'm in the IT field so
not a complete noob <g>, but this one has me baffled. I'll do my best
to explain this bizarre issue in hopes that someone could offer
advice. FYI: I'm running Office 2003 on an XP Pro box. Both are
fully patched and up to date.

The Problem: virtually every non-system, application executable on my
machine (e.g. Word, Photoshop, Notepad, itunes, Outlook, etc.) behaves
as though it was a file of type .XLS. Any attempt to launch the app
or double-click an associated file, instead launches Excel in an
attempt to open it as an XLS file and ultimately returns an error like
the following: "The file is not in a recognizable format."(for files)
or "Winword.exe is locked for editing by 'another user' Click 'Read
Only' or 'Notify'...etc."(for executables.) After moving past the
error dialog an attempt is made by Excel open and display the file,
resulting in a screen full of control characters.

To further clarify and give examples, double-clicking Word.exe,
MyDocument.doc, BeachPhoto.PSD, Notepad.exe, Flyer.PDF or similar non-
windows or non-system EXE's or files all launch Excel and attempt to
open the EXE or file inside Excel.

I can open the control panel and any resources within without
problem. I have no issues with admin tools like Services, IIS, Remote
Desktop, etc. (hence my non-windows/system comments.) Internet
Explorer still works just fine, but most of my installed apps and
their files are useless.

I've checked countless file associations for their apparent switch
from the registered app to Excel, but all my file associations look
fine. The bottom line was I had to completely uninstall Office and
reinstall (repair did not do the trick) to fix this problem once
before, but now the problem is back and I have traced its introduction
to one specific XLS file.

There's an Excel file on our corporate network. If I UNC to this
spreadsheet and open with my local copy of Excel I can use it just
fine since it actually IS an Excel file, but after opening and using,
this problem comes back.

I know it sounds crazy. Why in the world would opening a certain XLS
file somehow alter the "perceived" associations of EXE's and their
files?

The only other clue I can provide is what took place on the very first
day I experienced this problem over a month ago. I was looking at
this same, questionable Excel file one day, though I made no changes
to it and thus didn't save. I did however; want a shortcut to it
since I use it often and am too lazy to type the full UNC path every
time. I created a shortcut to it on my local machine and tested the
shortcut; it launched the file just fine. And the very next app I
tried to run from that point forward resulted in this weird behavior.
BTW, the file has no VBA or code in it of any kind.

....now which of those 2 things (opening or making a shortcut) if any,
had something to do with this issue I don't know, but it seems pretty
coincidental that one day everything's fine, and the next day I use
the file, create a shortcut and from that point forward every app
thinks it's an Excel file. So today is the first time I have used
that file since reinstalling Office, and the problem's back.

I am dreading the constant removal/reinstall of Office every time I
need this file and copies of it seem to be plagued with the same
behavior on my machine (It doesn't affect anyone else in our company.)

Does anybody have ANY clue or suggestion as to why this would happen
or how to prevent in the future??

Thanks,
Jim

 

[Leo Rod]

Not so long a go I had a similar problem with an old laptop, somehow the
file association system got corrupted and the files were either without an
association or wrongly matched to a program: MS Word.
It does not mean that there is a virus/spyware/malware doing it, I did not
have any at that time, however researching trough the internet I find out
that some "malicious code" maigh trigger this dissasociation.
The fact that it associates with an XLS might be chance, but look into this
and find a "file associator pack" to update your windows registry or try to
associate a fex and see how it works.

Good luck

Leo
MIA, FL, USA

 

[JG]

Thanks Leo. I have attempted to reassociate the files, but since they
show up through the windows UI as already properly associated all I
can do is associate to something else (like Notepad) , restart and
test but still it tries to open in Excel. So I reset back to the
proper app restarted again and - no surprise, it still tried to open
in Excel. The only thing that appears to reset things is to
completely uninstall office and then reinstall...but that's only
temporary. As soon as I have to open the XLS file that is somehow
related to triggering this problem (and I must work with it several
times per month) all hell breaks loose and I'm back to everything
thinking it's an excel file.

I'm looking for a workaround that won't require a full office removal/
reinstall every time.

And FWIW I have full anti-virus, spyware and firewal in effect; and
nothing reports as having been infected on this machine.

 

[JG]

New update: Perhaps the aforementioned Excel file is not really to
blame (and frankly I couldn't see any logical reason why it would have
been except that opening it was the ONLY time the problem would arise)
but still suspicious.

However, today I right-clicked on my desktop to choose properties and
adjust settings on one of my monitors and that launched Excel.

....it's sounding like a full format and reinstall for this pc is
inevitable.

 

[Leo Rod]

That would be the easy way to fix it unless you want to live with a computer
infected with ECD or "Excel compulsive disorder...."


New update: Perhaps the aforementioned Excel file is not really to
blame (and frankly I couldn't see any logical reason why it would have
been except that opening it was the ONLY time the problem would arise)
but still suspicious.

However, today I right-clicked on my desktop to choose properties and
adjust settings on one of my monitors and that launched Excel.

....it's sounding like a full format and reinstall for this pc is
inevitable.