Hi Sam- Maybe it is a bad File Association.

Control Panel, Folder Options, File Types tab.
Locate Extension, Delete it.
Open problem file. At prompt for Program, select Excel.

Same?
Repair Excel- Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs, MS Office, Change, Repair.

PB

"Sam" wrote:

Excel 2K on Win XP Pro. If I open Excel first and then a sheet, it works
fine. If I try opening excel sheet from my desktop it takes much more longer
than open excel and then opening same sheet. Any idea?