I am experiencing the same condition, and went thru your instructions below.
However, everything was already set properly. Any other ideas ?

"Stephane Quenson" wrote:

It may be a problem with the file type and the action to take when such file
is double-clicked.

Open My Computer, then go to the menu Tools Folder Options then the tab
File Types. Wait for the new list box "Registered File Typs" to be loaded,
then type on your keyboard the letters "x", "l" and "s" quickly to point to
this file association (if this does not work for you, use the "lift" on the
right to find xls). Now click the button Advanced, then on the new window
select Open and click on Edit. "Use DDE" should be checked, and the first
text box should contain "[open("%1")]" (without surrounding quotes). If not,
type it there and save everything.