Peter and Dave,

Thanks for your suggestions.

Unfortunately I had already tried both those options, but without success.
It appears to be some other odd, well hidden, cause.

Cheers,

John

"Dave Peterson" wrote in message
...
maybe...

http://www.contextures.com/xlfaqApp.html#ReadOnly

From Debra Dalgleish's site.

John Taylor wrote:

Hi to all,

I'm using Excel 97 SR-2 with Win XP SP2 on a home computer that's linked
to
another computer, and experiencing an intermittent problem for which I
would
like a solution.

Sometimes, when I double click an Excel file I get the message:

"File Reservation

'filename.xls' is being modified by

Username

Open as read-only, or choose Notify to be alerted when it is available"

There are three buttons - Read Only, Notify, and Cancel.

If I click 'Cancel' then double click the file again it opens normally.

When it happens the second computer is not running Excel.

It can occur both with files containing macros and those without macros.
If
it occurs with files containing macros I get the macro warning prior to
the
'File Reservation' message.

Any hints as to the cause, and a possible remedy, will be more than
welcome.

Cheers,

John

--

Dave Peterson