Excel failed to start correctly last time

[fistral13]

? Excel failed to start correctly last time. Starting Excel in safe mode will help you correct or isolate a startup problem in order to successfully start the program. Some functionality may be disabled in this mode.

Do you want to start Excel in safe mode?

Options are "Yes" or " "No"

If one selects "Yes" then a blank Excel worksheet comes up in safe mode.
Opening a recent worksheet and saving it, or saving it under another name, does not overcome the startup problem.


If one selects "No" then another window appears:

>> Microsoft Excel has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience.
>> If you were in the middle of something, the information you were working on might be lost.
>> Check Box which gives option to Restart Microsoft Excel.
>> Please tell Microsoft about this problem.
>> We have created an error report that you can send to help us improve
>> Microsoft Excel.
>> We will treat this report as confidential and annonymous.
>> To see what data this error report contains CLICK HERE link
>> Three options are "Debug", "Send Error Report" and "Don't Send".

After sending the error report, one gets the original error message again.

 

[RoryA]

On the Commands tab when customising the menus, select Tools in the left hand list and COM Add-ins should be about halfway down the right-hand list.
I am baffled as to how you can fail to open Excel using the Excel.exe but it works from Explorer, since Explorer has to use Excel.exe! Do you only have one version of Excel/Office installed? Have you tried Help->Detect and Repair?

 

[fistral13]

To the best of my knowledge I have only one version of Excel/Office installed.

I searched D:\ for excel.exe, and found one failing Application File in D:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10, and a PF file excel.exe-28297C59.pf in D:\WINDOWS\Prefetch.
There was also a Shortcut File in D:\Documents and Settings\Username\Application Data\Microsoft\Office\Shortcut Bar\Office, and that brought up the original Excel failure.

I searched for files with "excel" in the file name, and found 47 files, three of which were Word documents relating to my excel failure. Of the other 44 files there was no clue as to the existence of another copy of Excel/Office.

 

[fistral13]

I searched the other partition C:\ for excel.exe, and found one older Application File which still works OK in C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10, and a PF file excel.exe-2C971FD7.pf in C:\WINDOWS\Prefetch.

 

[fistral13]

On the Commands tab when customising the menus, and selecting Tools in the left hand list I found COM Add-ins about halfway down the right-hand list. Is there something I should check having found that entry?

 

[fistral13]

Can a Windows Prefetch file such as "EXCEL.EXE-2C971FD7.pf" call up an error message like "Excel failed to start correctly last time".
If not then what other file could call up the error message?

 

[RoryA]

On the Commands tab when customising the menus, and selecting Tools in the left hand list I found COM Add-ins about halfway down the right-hand list. Is there something I should check having found that entry?

You need to add the command to a menu (drag and drop) and then click it to see what, if any, COM add-ins are being loaded.

I am extremely confused by your computer set up - how is D your operative drive when you have a C: drive? Have you cloned a disk or something? It sounds as though Explorer is pointing at the copy of Excel on C, which is working, whereas your shortcuts are pointing at D, where it does not work.
It probably couldn't hurt to clear out everything in the Prefetch directory - Windows will simply rebuild the items as you use programs.

 

[fistral13]

History of Drives C: and D:
When computer was first set up Drive C: had Windows 98. Drive D: was for data files.
At the time XP was purchased it was loaded on Drive D:, and soon afterwards all data files were moved to an external hard drive. Drive D:was used for the main programs, including Windows XP Professional. Drive C: was used rarely, and eventually XP was loaded there as well.

What I have now done is to look for Microsoft Office XP Professional in Drive C: using ..\Control Panel\Add or Remove Programs. It was shown in the list of Currently installed programs, so I deleted all of Office XP from Drive C:

Then I sent C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office and all of its contents to the Recycle Bin.

On rebooting to Drive D: I find that Excel will not boot from the Icon on the Microsoft Office Toolbar, or from D:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10\EXCEL.EXE

Gone away for a day or two - everything shut down !!!

 

[RoryA]

It sounds to me as though you need to reinstall Office completely, I'm afraid. Something seems to have gone very wrong. If you did a default Office install, it would install to C: not D: I think, regardless of where the OS is.