In excel Check; tools, options, general, make sure "ignore other
applications" is unchecked.

"Eric at DHS" wrote:

When the user opens an excel spreadsheet, the part of the screen where the
cells should be displayed is blank gray. All else is displayed normally,
including the cell location, formula bar, tool bars -- everything. All views
have been tried, it's not a minimized sub-window, everything is in full view
-- just that the spreadsheet is a blank gray area.