Windows 10 and MS Office 2007

Hi all - I have run into an unusual problem and would like to know if you'd have a suggestion (I have used the Search function but nothing useful turned up).

I just got a new laptop with Windows 10 (Build 18363.1379), with all required updates as of 2/21/21.
I installed MS Office 2007 on it.
I put shortcuts for Word and PowerPoint on my desktop and they work fine.
The shortcut for Excel does not work and gives me an error which basically says that Excel cannot launch because file msvcr80.dll is missing.
Double-clicking on an existing Excel file returns the same error.

So I Google the problem and re-install Office 2007, then download and install the required versions of MS Visual C++;
Excel still won't launch.

Poking around the 'net, somebody suggested doing a Windows key + R, then type "Excel" and hit OK.
Surprisingly, it works and Excel opens up.

Has anybody run into this problem, or would you have an explanation for this behavior?
Thank you for any advice or guidance.

Try to create a new shortcut
Go to C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office12 find exel.exe right click, create a shortcut. Move the shortcut to the desktop.

Thanks, I deleted the old shortcut and created a new one. The problem is still there.

Thanks. I ran the diagnostics and it found no problem.

What is puzzling to me is that Excel can be launched (Windows key + R), so it does have all the underlying dll and associated stuff to run properly. But why would it not work, through a desktop shortcut? Still scratching my head on this one...

If I am right the run box will run a executable directory, so basically it sounds like using the exe directly it runs, but using a shortcut it wants a dependancy.

To confirm this theory, please navigate to where excel is installed and double click on it, however I am not very confident on this, because double clicking excel spreadsheets would also work, it seems a very strange problem.

The problem you will have is office 2007 is no longer supported, so getting a solution will become harder.

When you launch Excel by (Windows key + R), is it running Excel 2007?
I am asking as you may have a office demo in your computer (like try and buy).

@Chrysalis: I did try navigating to the sub-directory where excel.exe is located to double-click on it. No dice, same error message.

@Megahertz: Excel works normally when it's launched through (Windows key + R);
The strange thing is Word and PPoint can be launched through the desktop shortcuts, and they work fine (this is not a demo version).

Oh well, as long as Excel works for me, I am ok... Just a couple of extra keystrokes to launch it. And it's probably time to upgrade to a newer version anyway.

Thanks for your help and advice!

Megahertz said:

When you launch Excel by (Windows key + R), is it running Excel 2007?
I am asking as you may have a office demo in your computer (like try and buy).

Makes a lot of sense, as run will search the paths on the system added to the %path% variable. I will stand back after my silly suggestion, and hopefully he follows yours up.