I have now had this reply from my friend

"Due to the help from Dave Paterson I have achieved part success where he
pointed out that two X's will appear in the top-right corner - one below the
normal one - and I am able to delete the second one as he suggested. The
screen then goes blank but I can recall the file from the bottom toolbar. I
don't know what it really does as the same thing still happens every time I
open My Documents but it at least gets rid of the mystery 'other' file when
the file is opened.

I tried Dave Paterson's main suggestion to help solve the problem but when I
followed his directions I failed to complete the final part of his coded
instruction where a 'regserver' entry was required and I tried all sorts of
answers for that but without success."

Could you solve what his problem is ? I think he may mean regressive?
Blair

"Dave Peterson" wrote in message
...
Maybe this from Debra Dalgleish's site will help:
http://www.contextures.com/xlfaqApp.html#AlreadyOpen

Blair wrote:

A friend has a problem. When he wants to open a file in Excel he finds
the
file already open with a message which says the file cannot be opened as
it
is already open.
I have tried to simulate this condition on my own PC but failed to do
so.
Can anyone explain what is happening and how to stop it?
Blair

--

Dave Peterson