I've read the post a couple of times (its getting late !!!!) and I have a couple of suggestions that you might find useful...

Instead of using 'SaveChanges:=True' , try using Application.Displayalerts=fals

And as far as opening a file from PP or from XL - investigate using the code to follow a hyperlink - its a much simpler way of doing it than envoking the application

These bits may or may not be what you are after - but hope they are of some use...