Windows XP Pro ... Office 2003

My issue is very similar to the "Gandalf" issue just posted. If I open
Excel directly from a menu, and then open the desired file using File/Open,
then all is well and functional. Excel works perfectly.

However, if I seek out and choose an Excel file using Explorer and attempt
to open that Excel file with a double click, then Excel opens, but the
background is grey, there are no grid lines, and the message displaying in
the bottom left hand corner is "Ready". It is worth noting that Excel is
frozen at this point, but the mouse is not. Any and all attempts to open a
drop down from the tool bar fail. The toll bar icons are also all
unresponsive.

I have just taken the suggestions of Dave Peterson, thinking that perhaps
these ideas might solve my problem. They however did not.

Any other ideas. With my thanks!