I have a similar kind of problem.

This is my situation:

Excel 2003 SP2
worksheet with Autofilter set in Row 1
Shared file
Shared file protected
Freeze pane for heading (Row 1)
File saved in a filtered state

The file works fine until I save it in a filtered state. When I reopen the
file, I can unfilter the worksheet, but the freeze pane boundary moves from
just below the heading to just above the first item that was filtered.

I create these files once a year for a large number of people. I didn't have
this problem last year, but I don't remember which version of Excel I was
using to create the files, probably Excel 2000.

I have created and distributed about 50 such files in the last 2 weeks to
distribute to unsophisticated computer users. What a pain to have to now
teach them how to deal with this bug.

Do you have any idea what the problem might be, or how I can prevent it from
happening?

Thanks so much!