don’t open in new instance? (xl2003sp2)

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I don’t know if this is an Excel or Firefox challenge…
Ihave two open workbooks in one instance of excel.
I download from the internet two bank statements, which come in as .csv, that’s ok.
Trouble is, each opens in its own new instance of Excel, which is messy.
This used not to be so. I did nothing (knowingly) to provoke it.
The download settings in Firefox tell it to cause csv’s to open in Excel, which it does.
What’s the fix, please?
Firefox Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-GB; rv:1.8.0.1) Gecko/20060111 Firefox/1.5.0.1
Thanks
John

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Do you download the files to your PC, then open them, or do you open them directly from your browser?

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>>open them directly from your browser?

Yes, Hans. (having done today’s again, just to make sure that I know what I do! Usually done on autopilot.)
Clicking the ‘download now’ button on the web page cranks up an instance of excel and populates it with the downloaded workbook.
But the workbook remains if the browser is closed down, so tt that extent I suppose it’s downloaded to my computer, as you put it.
Does this help, or merely confuse?

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Try this:

– Quit Excel.
– Select Start | Run…
– Type

"c:program filesmicrosoft officeoffice11excel.exe" /regserver

– Press Enter or click OK.

See if this makes a difference when opening CSV files from your browser.
If not, what happens if you open the same CSV files from Internet Explorer?

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Thanks, Hans.
1. The Run trick didn’t help.
2. I’ve tried on some other boxes, with these results:
a. On this box, but in IE6 not Mozilla, the download files open in the browser window, not in excel (although the menus are very excel-oid). I can copy and paste into what I want. BTW the performance is a lot slower than in Firefox.
b. On another box, with Excel 2002 and an un-updated version of Firefox, it does what I want, ie loads the downloaded files into a new window in the same instance of excel as alreadt contains two open workbooks.
c. On updating Firefox on that box to the latest version, this behaviour persists.
d. On a lapdog with Firefox and Excel 2000, behaviour is the same as in b & c above.
So I surmise that the behaviour I don’t want is a ‘feature’ of Excel 2003, although I would call it a pain.
There seems no option in Tools | Options to force the behaviour I want.
To say this is a Microsoft plot would be ungrateful and possibly actionable, and nothing could be further from my thoughts.
I’m tempted to revert this box to 2002 or 2000, unless anyone can give me strong reasons why not to.
Although I don’t really ‘do’ Word, I’m not too impressed with the ‘improvements’ in 2003 over 97, which I sort of vaguely ‘do’.
Thanks again, Hans, and if anyone else would like to chip in, I’d be interested.

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It’s not a feature of Excel 2003 – I tested with Excel 2003 and Internet Explorer 6.

Open Windows Explorer.
Select Tools | Folder Options…
Activate the File Types tab.
Select CSV.
Click Advanced (Windows 2000/XP) or Edit (earlier versions of Windows).
Make sure that ‘Confirm open after download’ is ticked and that ‘Browse in same window’ is clear.
Also select the Open action, then click Edit…
Make sure that ‘Use DDE’ is ticked.
OK your way out.

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No luck, Hans.
>>Make sure that ‘Confirm open after download’ is ticked and that ‘Browse in same window’ is clear.
Both these were as stated, although the ‘Browse in same window’ was greyed out (but clear, ie not ticked)
The DDE bit was ticked, like you specify.
I’m flummoxed. English for confused, puzzled, etc.
BTW I couldn’t find a way to un-grey out the ‘same window’ non-option.
Any more ideas, please?

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Don’t worry about the greyed out check box for ‘Browse in same window’ – it’s the same on my PC (I hadn’t actually checked this)

I’m afraid I’m out of ideas – if ‘Browse in same window’ is clear, the files shouldn’t open in a browser window. Reinstalling your PC seems a bit drastic for this problem, so I’d probably live with it.

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My only remaining idea is that it’s an AMD plot – the box has an Athlon processor…. **grin** **grin** **grin**
Thanks so much for your interest

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By any chance is the Ignore other Applications box checked in Excel under Tools-Options on the General tab?

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It is unchecked, Rory.
Honest.

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That was one of the first things that occurred to me, but it would affect all files opened by Excel from Windows Explorer or a browser, not just to .csv files opened in a browser.

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Yeah, I thought it was a long shot but John said it was a recent occurrence and he might not have opened any files through explorer recently.

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It was worth a try.

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