What I would do is check to make sure your File Registration information is
correct. File Registration is what tells the OS which application opens
which files based on their file extension.

Open up Windows Explorer, choose TOOLS, FOLDER OPTIONS, FILE TYPES. I would
compare the settings for DOC files (assuming you have Word on this computer
too) to the XLS files settings to make sure they are similar.

You may find something there that doesn't look right. But I wouldn't "play
around" in there unless you know what you're doing.

I just did a Google search on "double-click file opens excel but not
document" and came up with this that sounds like I was on the right track:
http://blog.edogg.com/index.php?/arc...le-doesnt.html


"Mike Reemsnyder" wrote:

When one of my teachers, running Windows XP Professional and Office 2003,
double clicks an Excel spreadsheet file, it opens Excel but not the file.
She has to go to File, Open, and choose the file. It just started doing
this, and she believes she hasn't changed anything.

Thanks for any help,
Mike