Office 2003 factory-installed by Dell. Opening a new file with Excel (or
Word) yields a Visual Basic error message: 'Compile error in hidden network:
AutoExec' and then the PC hourglass runs. I used the Office 2003 Installation
CD provided with the new laptop to repair Office. It ran quite a while. I
then updated Office from the MS website to ensure I had the latest. This did
not solve the problem and Dell disavows my existence. I'm wondering if it
might be an operating system interaction? I am loath to re-install the XP
operating system. Any thoughts?

Take a look he

http://support.microsoft.com/default...;EN-US;q307410
OFF: "Compile Error in Hidden Module" Error Message When You Start
Word or Excel

It points at PDFMaker.xla as being the culprit.

dozer wrote:

Office 2003 factory-installed by Dell. Opening a new file with Excel (or
Word) yields a Visual Basic error message: 'Compile error in hidden network:
AutoExec' and then the PC hourglass runs. I used the Office 2003 Installation
CD provided with the new laptop to repair Office. It ran quite a while. I
then updated Office from the MS website to ensure I had the latest. This did
not solve the problem and Dell disavows my existence. I'm wondering if it
might be an operating system interaction? I am loath to re-install the XP
operating system. Any thoughts?

--

Dave Peterson