Unable to open an excel file on desktop, must open excel first

When I try to open an .xls on my desktop I get an error message that says
"Cannot find the file blah blah blah... ( or one of its components). Make
sure the path and filename are correct and that all req'd libraries are
available. " However, I can open the file by opening Excel first and
then opening the file in Excel. Any ideas ? I have rebooted and re -
installed Excel and this did not help.
Thanks in advance. Smitt

Sometimes one of these works:

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.

Smitt wrote:
>
> When I try to open an .xls on my desktop I get an error message that says
> "Cannot find the file blah blah blah... ( or one of its components). Make
> sure the path and filename are correct and that all req'd libraries are
> available. " However, I can open the file by opening Excel first and
> then opening the file in Excel. Any ideas ? I have rebooted and re -
> installed Excel and this did not help.
> Thanks in advance. Smitt

--

Dave Peterson