Hi JLatham -- Alas, that was one of the "fixes" I already tried --- to no
avail. Very frustrating to have the goofy Template Help pane show up each
time I open one of these workbooks. Thanks for the response, though --
appreciate it.

tmc

"JLatham" wrote:

Excel 2003: Tools | Options | [View] tab. Clear the box labeled "Startup
Task Pane"

Hope this helps.

"TMC" wrote:

Each time I open an Excel workbook (.xls) that has been built from a
template downloaded from sources such as Microsoft Downloads, the Template
Help pane in Task Pane automatically opens. How can I prevent this from
opening?