Every time I try to open up an Excel file by double clicking on the file name, I get the following error message: Windows cannot find 'C:\My Documents\Spreadsheets\Practice.xls'. You may have typed the name incorrectly in the Run dialog, or another program cannot find the system file. To search for a file, click the Start button, and then click Search. Excel shows up in my task bar following this error message and I am able to do a "File/Open" to get access to my Excel files but I would prefer being able to open them by double clicking. I am able to open files in Word and Powerpoint by double clicking - Excel is the only application I'm experiencing this problem with. I have already tried the right click "Open With" and checked the "Always use this program to open these files" box, but this didn't solve the problem. Another person suggested I run C:\WINDOWS\OTUNEUP.exe and see if the Office Tune-Up wizard would repair the program since it is supposed to be able to repair the entire Office suite - but that didn't work either. I would appreciate any suggestions to correct this.

A wild shot but...go to control panel>folder options>file types. Verify that .XLS is listed and if so verify the open with settings as well as the advanced settings. Good Luck Robbie

I've seen this problem many times before. Launch Excel and go to Tools, Options. Click on the General tab, and take the checkmark out of "Ignore other applications". You can now access excel files from Explorer.

Thanks so very much Roger The Scrubber - your suggestion fixed my problem with opening Excel files from Explorer. You have no idea how many hours I have spent trying to figure out why that was happening.