Hi
i am new to Excel programming and not sure if i am doing somthing stupid
i wanted to average the data from several closed wb into a single cell of
open wb. i am using the following formula in the cell and it woks fine if the
wb are not protected.

=AVERAGE('C:\Haresh\[trial.xls]Sheet1!B10,'C:\Haresh\[Courses.xls]Sheet1!E10)

if the wb are protected then it asks for password for each of the closed wb.
the problem is the no. of closed wb from which i may need to copy data may be
10 15 20 or more which means the user will have to enter password for every
wb before the result appears in that cell.

is ther a way to put password directly in the formula or

i know that i can open the closed wb using macro and also provide password
automatically and access the data required and then close the wb but this
flashes the wbwhich i dont really want. is there a way to access the closed
wb through a macro and providing the password automatically without having to
open the closed workbook


Thanks for help in advance!