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How do I configure Excel to open a new instance of Excel each time I open an existing spreadsheet. I am sure I have done this once but I think network settings have removed this functionality. I am using Office 2010 on Vista.
A family of Microsoft spreadsheet software with tools for analyzing, charting, and communicating data.
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To resolve this, go to 'excel options' > click on the 'advanced' tab > scroll down to general > check the ignore other applications that use 'Dyanamic Data Exchange (DDE)'
excel 2007
This is a reply by Brian Tilman to a similar problem with 2007. I anticipate it will work with 2010 as well:
Open Windows Explorer and click Tools>Folder Options>File Types. Locate the XLSX file type and select it. Click Advanced. In the Actions pane, select Open and click Edit. Record what you see in the "Application used to perform action" and "DDE Message" fields because you'll need it if you ever want to restore the current behavior.
Remove the "/dde" from the end of the string in the "Application used..." field and insert "%1", being sure to include the quotes as well. Uncheck the "Use DDE" box. Click OK. Uncheck "Browse in same window" if you want Internet Explorer to open a spreadsheet in an Excel window instead of a browser window. Click OK, then OK. Double-clicking a worksheet should now create a separate Excel window.
Brian Tillman [MVP-Outlook]
The command line parameter was /dde, but deleting this and using the registry settings noted without the /e worked great for Windows-7. Thank you.
Better? That is relative depending on various factors - such as how often a user needs to open files in different instances. For a heavy user, it's a pain to frequently go through the windows menu structure.
For a light user, Brightner's approach might be more reasonable - especially for those who are fearful of registry mods.
I thin k it's great that the OS/applications are still flexible enough to allow different solutions to meet a need (or preference) such as this. It just seems odd to me that MS doesn't facilitate a selection directly in the application's Options menu...
I used this method for about a year but I had to turn it off when opening a .csv file. The answer from Brightner below is better if your are working with different types of data sets.