OK I've found the answer. I have had this problem on multiple
computers and I kept thinking that there was a better way to fix this
than to disable the DDE or applying the %1 fix.

Try this

Enable an add-in... It has fixed the issue on over 15 computers that I
have tried it with.

Click the Microsoft button
Excel Options
Add-ins
make sure the pull-down window says excel add-ins and click go

I chose to enable the look-up wizard.

This is the solution and it explains why everyone is not suffering
from the same thing. Just give it a shot