XL2000: New Workbooks Open Repeatedly Starting Excel

When you start Microsoft Excel, new workbooks may open repeatedly.

This behavior occurs if the Msexcel4.xlm file, installed by WinFax Pro version 4.0, is located in your Xlstart folder. WinFax Pro installs this file, along with the Msexcel5.xls file, so that you can fax worksheets directly from within Microsoft Excel.

By default, Excel loads files from the following folders on your hard disk at startup:

1. C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Xlstart
   
   C:\Windows\Application Data\Microsoft\Excel\Xlstart
   
   C:\Winnt\Profiles\User name\Application Data\Microsoft\Excel\Xlstart
   
   where User name is your user name.
   
   The folder specified in the Alternate startup file location box (on the General tab of the Options dialog box).
2. C:\Windows\Application Data\Microsoft\Excel\Xlstart
   
   C:\Winnt\Profiles\User name\Application Data\Microsoft\Excel\Xlstart
   
   where User name is your user name.
   
   The folder specified in the Alternate startup file location box (on the General tab of the Options dialog box).
3. C:\Winnt\Profiles\User name\Application Data\Microsoft\Excel\Xlstart
   
   where User name is your user name.
   
   The folder specified in the Alternate startup file location box (on the General tab of the Options dialog box).
4. The folder specified in the Alternate startup file location box (on the General tab of the Options dialog box).

Microsoft provides programming examples for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied. This includes, but is not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. This article assumes that you are familiar with the programming language that is being demonstrated and with the tools that are used to create and to debug procedures. Microsoft support engineers can help explain the functionality of a particular procedure, but they will not modify these examples to provide added functionality or construct procedures to meet your specific requirements. To resolve this problem, remove both the Msexcel4.xlm and Msexcel5.xls files from the Xlstart folder.

Note that if you experience this problem, you have a large number of workbooks open in Microsoft Excel. When you close Microsoft Excel, you can avoid being prompted to save the changes in these workbooks by running the following Visual Basic for Applications macro:

The macros contained in the WinFax Pro files Msexcel4.xlm and Msexcel5.xls are not compatible with Microsoft Excel 2000.

The problem described earlier also occurs if you open the Msexcel4.xlm file in Microsoft Excel, even if the file is not located in the Xlstart folder. The Msexcel5.xls file does not affect Microsoft Excel 2000; however, it does not work in Microsoft Excel 2000 because it is designed for a 16-bit program.

The third-party products that are discussed in this article are manufactured by companies that are independent of Microsoft. Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding the performance or reliability of these products.