Can't Open .xls file
 

I can NO longer open .xls files from explorer. A new instance of excel does
open, but I get an error that my personal.xls file is open (by me) and then
when I say read-only, it just hangs and the file does not open. What is
causing this? Word is doing the same type of thing with .doc files. I can
open them from within the app however.