How to stop Excel from opening several workbooks connected to it

[DrBacon]

Hello!

I have a workbook with connections to 4 seaparate workbooks. All of a sudden when I open the main workbook, it opens all of the files connected to it. This did not happen before.

How could I stop Excel from doing this, while refreshing the connections as it used to?

Cheers

 

[DrBacon]

I see what causes the problem, but I am still unable to fix it. Even though the file is opened as read only, the files connected to the main file, when anyone else tries to open them, they are opened as read only.

Also, when other person opens the main file, while another person has the file opened, it not only opens the main file, but it opens all the secondary files as well.

My questions are:

-How can you make for the main file to update from the other files, without opening them. This works when only one person opens the file.
-How can you make the secondary files stop opening as read only when the main file is open.
-Is there a way for the main file (opened as read only) update from the secondary files, without locking access to the secondary files (it prompts the window "someone is using the file")

Many thanks.