Getting VBA error when opening Excel 2007 on new computer

Question

I have a user with a new computer that whenever Excel is opened gives the error message

Opening the VBA project in this file requires a component that is not currently installed

The message is the same as that which appears in this MSKB help article, but this is a brand new computer and this happens any time Excel is opened, even if it is opened from the Excel shortcut in the start menu. So it shouldn't be trying to load any old VBA stuff.

The error message pops up 4 times, referencing different files, then goes away, leaving the box saying that VBA projects were stripped out of the file and generating an error log message like this

  <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes" ?> 
- <recoveryLog xmlns="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/spreadsheetml/2006/main">
  <logFileName>error032280_04.xml</logFileName> 
  <summary>Errors were detected in file 'C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12\xlstart\PP.XLA'</summary> 
- <additionalInfo>
  <info>This workbook has lost its VBA project, ActiveX controls and any other programmability-related features.</info> 
  </additionalInfo>
  </recoveryLog>

All that's been done with Office on this computer was activating it, and applying all the updates from Microsoft Update.

I haven't been able to dig up anything in Google or the MSKB that isn't related to VBA projects that actually exist. Anybody know what's causing this?

Answer 1

Remove PP.XLA from C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12\xlstart. It looks like it's a third-party add-in. I couldn't say exactly where it came from, though, but most likely from some other software installed on the machine.

If that fails, check also the following folders:

• %APPDATA%\Microsoft\AddIns
• %APPDATA%\Microsoft\Excel\XLSTART

If both are empty, try (with Excel closed) renaming or deleting Excel12.xlb.