Opening Excel Files (2003 / 2007)

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I have both Excel 2003 and 2007 on my computer. Up until a few days ago when I double clicked on an Excel file (.XLS), Excel 2003 would open it up. Then all of a sudden out of the blue Excel 2007 horned in and started opening up these old files. How do I “reset” this so that Excel 2003 opens these files? Thank you.

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In Windows Explorer, navigate to any .xls file. Right click on the .xls file and in the popup window choose “Open With”, and then in the fly out window select “Choose program.” In the dialog box, scroll down until you find Excel 2003 and select it. Make sure that “Always use this program to open these files” has a tick mark next to it. Click OK. Double clicking on .xls files should now use Excel 2003.

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Thank you for responding so quickly. You hit on the problem. When I go to the “open with” part, the only Excel program there is 2007. Somehow 2003 got booted off the street. I can’t find out how to put Excel 2003 back in there. I’ve gone to “browse” and clicked on the Excel.exe file for 2003, but it won’t enter it into the list of files – it keeps Excel 2007 there instead. There has been no change to Excel 2003 that I know of, and when I have it running it’ll open the .XLS files correctly. It’s only when I double click on a file that Excel 2007 jumps in. Something (other than me) changed things.

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Try this:
– Open Windows Explorer (or My Computer).
– Select Tools | Folder Options…
– Activate the File Types tab.
– Type XLS or select XLS in the list.
– Click Advanced (this assumes you’re using Windows XP, might be slightly different in Windows Vista).
– Select Open and click Edit…
– In the Application (…) box you’ll see

“C:Program FilesMicrosoft OfficeOffice12EXCEL.EXE” /e

– Change this to

“C:Program FilesMicrosoft OfficeOffice11EXCEL.EXE” /e

– OK your way out.

(Office11 = Office 2003, Office12 = Office 2007)

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Thank you Hans, that did it. I wonder why Microsoft would so indiscriminately change my settings without asking, or without even bothering to mention that it happened? Oh wait, that’s Microsoft, never mind.

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This often happens if you install two versions of Office – the version you run may “hijack” the file association.

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Yeah, I kind of figured that was the problem also. The darn thing ran just fine for a couple of months before the “hijack” took place though. Thanks again for the help.

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