Mike

This from help

This procedure clears all ways in which a workbook could be loaded.

 1.. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the General tab.
 2.. Clear the contents of the At startup, open all files in box.
 3.. Remove workbooks stored in the XLStart folder.
 4.. In Windows Explorer, remove the icon of the workbook you want to open
to an XLStart folder.
 5.. Remove a startup switch from the Excel icon.
 6.. Right-click the Excel icon that you want to use to open Excel, and
clear the contents of the Target box.