I created a global macro that's stored in personal.xls.  Since I
created personal.xls, Excel 2002 now opens with book1.xls, and the
task pane goes away.  I tried the excellent suggestion made by Debra
in http://www.*-*-*.com/ %40contextures.com,
but then the task pane always stays up, even if I open Excel by
clicking on a document, or after I open a document.

Is there any way to get the combination of:
1. Old task pane behavior
    1a. If I start the excel app from the start menu,
        the task pane comes up.  It goes away when I
        open a document.
    1b. The task pane does not come up if I launch excel by
        opening a doc.
2. No automatic "book1.xls" when I start Excel from the start menu
3. A globally-available macro.

Thanks,
Bob

I don't have a guess for #1.

But I think #2 is more of a coincidence than because of the personal.xls file.

Next time you start excel, make book1.xls the active workbook.  Type this in any
cell:

        =cell("filename",a1)

It'll tell you where this file is coming from.  (My guess would be your XLStart
folder or a folder specified in Tools|Options|General|"At startup, open all
files in:" box.)

If it's in your xlstart folder, delete it (if you don't actually need it)
If it's coming from the other folder, then I bet that you just want to clear out
the value in that box.  (I don't think most people actually use this feature.
But if you do, you can just move it out or delete it from there, too.)

If it's coming from a different spot, post back.

========
And if you actually typed in the .xls stuff in error (should have been book1 w/o
.xls), then you can modify your shortcut to excel to avoid opening a new
workbook.

Append " /e"  (w/o the quotes, spacebar, slash, E) to the shortcut.

===
Not sure about what #3 means, either.  

Maybe someone else will chime in for those other questions.

--

Dave Peterson