It sounds like there's a macro that is misbehaving.

Some links that may help with your detective work:

Chip Pearson has some notes on how to diagnose startup errors:
http://www.cpearson.com/excel/StartupErrors.htm

And Jan Karel Pieterse has more notes:
http://www.jkp-ads.com/Articles/StartupProblems.asp

tiltech wrote:

I'm having problems with a user's MS Office 2000 installation. Everytime he
tries to open either Excel or Word, he is immediately prompted to save the
blank file. I have done everything I can think of, including completely
reinstalling Office. Platform is Windows 2000, MS Office 2000SP3. I've check
the XLStart and Startup folders in Office on the local drive. Any help, or
suggestions are appreciated.

--

Dave Peterson