He figured it out folks - and posts his finding in another thread he started.

"Jal" wrote:

I haven't had any classes in the Vista version of Excel. We got this version
with our Dell about 6 months ago and I'm relying on how well I knew an older
version of Excel at work before I retired almost 3 years ago.

I'm not positively sure how I "unhooked my worksheet window from my Excel
window", but that's what "Excel Help" said I did. I was using the Border tool
to make changes in a grid I had made earlier. All of a sudden, the tools are
gone! I can click the name of the tab (Home, Page Layout, etc) and the tools
reappear. But as soon as I click one, they disappear again. For example, in
Print Preview, I have to click on "Print Preview" again to be able to see and
click on "Next page".

I've tried everything "Help" suggested - arranging all tabs; showing sheet
tabs; restoring the worksheet window. My son even reinstalled Excel. Nothing
I've tried has made (the contents or tools of) the tabs remain visible so I
can click on them without first clicking the name of the tab.

My Excel still works, it's just time-consuming to have to keep clicking on
the tab like this. And I was just getting to feel pretty comfortable with the
new version!

Can anyone help me?! Please! Thank You so much!