Multiple instances of excel 2007

[tomhd]

Hi
I just installed excel 2007 and encounter a strange problem. When I open 2 or more excel instances from windows explore by double-clicking excel icons, those instances are not linkable, they seem absolutely independent to one another (in View/switch windows only sees one workbook). However when I open second file from within the first instance (Ctrl+O), I see 2 in the view/switch windows and it works fine.

What is the problem and how can I fix it? Many thanks

 

[RoryA]

For 2000, it's Tools-Options-General tab (second Setting from the top).

Yes, the Send DDE should be ticked and the box below should have:

[open("%1")]

in it.

 

[Steven Taylor]

For 2000, it's Tools-Options-General tab (second Setting from the top).

Ah, the 'Ignore other applications' option. I completely overlooked that! I guess it should be unticked but it already is. Ticking it retains the behaviour (new instance per file)

Yes, the Send DDE should be ticked and the box below should have:

[open("%1")]

in it.

Thanks! I take it the rectangular brackets are part of what should be in that box?

 

[Steven Taylor]

Thanks! It does work now! (At first I though it didn't but *after* I closed Excel and opened two files I had them in one instance.)

Thumbs aloft...


Cheers!

 

[scotawful]

Sorry for the extended delay in response. I've been ignoring this annoyance in windows 7 for the last few months and finally sat down today to rekindle my efforts to get rid of it. I first tried the suggestion of simply modifying the default program to something like Notepad and then switching back to Excel, but that didn't work for me. I then downloaded the Creative Elements Power Tools and followed the directions by rorya and voila! Fixed. Now when I open multiple excel files they are all in the same instance. No more issues with moving tabs from workbook to workbook, weird copy/paste behavior, not being able to use keyboard shortcuts to move among workbooks, etc.... Thanks for the solution. Now I'm curious about what other annoyances this Power Tools can modify/get rid of, but I'll explore that later.

Thanks again!

 

[sabinezp]

Thank you so much for the tip with Creative Element Power tools! Using Windows 7 and Excel 2003, 2007 and 2010 next to each other, it was so an annoyance that while dubbleclicking on a xlsx of xlsm file opening another Excel 2010 session instead of using the current Excel 2010 session! Only the Creative Element Power Tools let me edit the DDE settings!!!

I posted the same question in a Dutch forum, but can answer my own post now with this excellent link!

Sabine

 

[bluejade7707]

So just to clarify.... there is no way to link two sessions of excel. So you can not do vlookup, move tabs, etc. between two seperate sessions? The reason i ask is because recently some of my co-workers have received dual monitors and to put one workbook on each page they were opening two sessions but then their vlookup wouldn't work. I tried to explain the expand excel over both screens to fix the issue but that is more difficult for some of them. I just wanted to make sure there was no way to link the two seperate sessions.

Thanks for any help.