Word and Excel would open just fine when using the program icon. The trouble only appeared when attempting to open a document or spreadsheet without opening the respective program first. After 5 to 30 seconds of "nothing" the program would open, followed by the document 2 to 10 seconds later. The fix was simple enough, but took a little while to find.

The following is directly quoted from this page ...

Go to the Control Panel, Folder Options, File Types. Highlight the XLS extension and then click Advanced. Click Open from the list, and then click Edit. Add "%1" (quotes are needed) to the end of the Application used string (which will probably end with /e for the Excel XLS extension example.) Also uncheck the DDE box.

 

 

( Microsoft Office 2003 2007 )