BorisS wrote:
> All, thanks for educating the uneducated. I am sometimes curt with my
> terminology, not remembering that what I see is something I should
> describe better.
>
> Problem is with Outlook (not express) and windows explorer, not
> internet explorer. Here are the two scenarios:
>
> A
> Open Xl, or open Word. Then go to Open dialogue, find file, open.
> File opens instantly.
>
> B
> Double click attachment in Outlook, or Windows Explorer, and whether
> or not Excel or Word are running (meaning it has nothing to do with
> startup time of either), a file will take about 3-5 minutes to load
> into the program.
>
> In other words, an 'external' opening of an xls or doc file will take
> horribly long, whereas opening from within either program takes no
> time, as it should.
>
> No virus software installed, so that cannot be it. And I have not
> recently changed anything in Windows firewall settings (it is on), so
> that would not be the trigger event.
>
> Any ideas to try are welcome and appreciated.
>

Because you have no virus software, it may very well be a virus that's
sending a copy of the selected document to the mother ship (or trying to do
so). Have you checked your credit rating lately?

Download and watch the "Process Monitor" (or "FileMon") window to see
what's going on.