word & excel open each file twice !

[NickA]

I have just installed office 97 on a windows 2k machine.
Everything is well except when using explorer to open word or excel files.
If the relevant program is already running then the file opens ok.
If the relevant program is not running then it loads as normal, opens the file then tries to open it again ! i.e error message like "xyz.doc is in use by user abc. do you wish to make a copy" (MS Word) or in excel it just opens twice, replacing the first file opened.

This problem occurs from windows explorer and using shortcuts from desktop/start menu etc.
If using 'file' then 'open' within the program and browsing to the same file then it also opens just once.
Powerpoint and access files open just once regardless of how I do it.

anyone had this issue before and know the solution !
thanks a lot

Nick

 

[NickA]

an update on the above - I have installed Office 97 SR-2b which has fixed the problem in Word but still occurs in Excel - any ideas would be greatly appreciated !
Thanks

 

[joegz]

Check your file associations and see if DDE is being used.

The command line to open a file for instance with an .xls extension would look something like

"C:\program files\microsoft office\office\excel.exe" "%1"

The "%1" tells windows to open the file name you are double clicking. However if DDE is also being used and also contains the command for %1 then this could be calling the file twice. If so you may just want to uncheck DDE (but write down the DDE information first before you uncheck it in case you want to put it back). joegz
"Sometimes you just need to find out what it's not first to figure out what it is."