maybe...

OFFXP: "Most Recently Used" List Missing from File Menu and "Recently Used
File List" Option Unavailable (Q284896)
http://support.microsoft.com/default...;EN-US;q284896

Any chance you just turned on TweakUI?

pkeenan wrote:

I have version 9.0.3821 SP-1 w/2000. The recently used files list is not
showing up under the file menu; however it is for Word (ver 9.0), Viso (Pro
2003, SP-2), Power Point (ver 9.0). The entries are displayed when Excel is
running and a file is opened using other open methods, but once Excel is
closed and re-opened, the list is gone. I have checked the option to display
the list under 'Tools/Options'. I have browsed previous discussion entries
but they do not seem to relate to my situation. I looked in the registry and
found that there are four subkeys for my list - the first has an entry, but
the other three do not. The default does not have an entry.

--

Dave Peterson