Question: I can't find a proper \*.exe for Excel in the usual places:

* "C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Microsoft Office
* "c:\program files\microsoft office\office12\excel.exe"

Does anybody know where I would find the Excel executable for a Windows Vista machine? For that matter, also invoke Excel to open an existing \*.xls file using a batch file?

Incidentally, the Shortcut for Excel shows "target:" to be 

> 
> Microsoft Office Professional Hybrid 2007
> 
> 
>

Answer: 
Just add this line to your batch file:

* START "name of spreadsheet.xls"

This will use the default file association to open the file. If you need a specific version though, then you'll need to find the appropriate .EXE file which might be under a sub-directory called "Common" or "Common files" which should be somewhere under "C:/Program Files/" or "C:/Program Files (x86)/" (stuff is often scattered between both of these as applications are slowly transitioning from 32-bit to 64-bit).

Depending on the default file assocation will ensure that your batch file is portable, so you should prefer to use this approach if you can.
If you want to start excel on its own, you can use.

```
  Start Excel

```

You should be able to find the exact path by opening a command prompt and typing

```
 reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\excel.exe"

```