When I launch Excel 2002 (Excel XP), it automatically opens every .xls
file in the default folder.  How do I turn off this obnoxious feature?
 I want to launch Excel without opening any file.
Thanks, WEB7

Hi there,

I found this article in Microsoft's Knowledge Base
(http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q291218) that
describes Excel startup folders. It describes setting up files to
automatically open, so you should be able to solve your problem by
doing the opposite of what the article says.

Summarized for your case, here's what you need to do to get rid of
that feature. Open up Excel's options sheet by clicking on Tools and
then Options and then click on the General tab. On that tab you should
see a box labeled "At startup, open all files in". I'm pretty sure
this is where your problem is. Try clearing the box so nothing is
there and restarting Excel. That should solve it!

If not, there's two other locations where files will auto-launch from.
For Windows XP (for other OS's, see the MS article above.) they are:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10\Xlstart
C:\Documents and Settings\User name\Application
Data\Microsoft\Excel\XLSTART
You'll want to make sure those folders are empty. 

Hope that helps! If you need further clarification on this answer,
please feel free to ask and I'll continue searching for you.
Deadlychiapet-ga

Search strategy:
Searched the MS KB (http://support.microsoft.com) advanced search
under Excel 2002 for default folder

Your first suggestion solved my problem!  I tried Tools > Options,
but, obviously, I missed the proper dialog.  Thanks very much. This
was my first time, but I'll certainly use Google Answers again. web7