I'm running Win XP Pro, with Office 2003, SP2
Recent problem with Excel and Word (but not Outlook, Publisher or
PowerPoint) has developed the last three weeks.


When clicking a folder (or icon on the desktop) both Excel and Word will not
open for close to 2 minutes (to get to the splash screen...yes, I timed it
several times) and the file ultimately opens about 30 seconds later.


Yet, if I go startexcel (or word)fileopenthen locate the folder and
file, any file I choose will open instantly.


I have poured through these messages looking for a similar issue.
Here is what I have tried so far:

-disconnected all mapped drives to/from this pc
-uninstalled programs that were added recently
-disabled norton antivirus
-renamed normal.dot
-removed all macros
-downloaded/installed/ran through the Word Support Template
-checked my RAM (it's 2 GB and there wasn't any big run up in CPU usage when
opening)
-there are no "personal.xls" files
-removed Excel Security Update KB925257 (downloaded 1/10/07)
-renamed the two "verclsid.exe" files (except the third file, found in
pre-fetch)

A few other items of note:
I do have the Professional version of Adobe (and ver 8 of Reader) installed,
along with Dragon Naturally Speaking, ver 9.0. Dragon does make the pc
sluggish (even with 2 GB) but has not affected excel or Word like this
previously.


I am desperate for help, as I use Excel and Word all day long in my
practice.
Any ideas/thoughts/comments are greatly appreciated.