Error messages when using MS office XP

I have a new Dell Latitude laptop with Office XP Pro installed on it. When Excel is started it tries to install some component, it doesn’t say what just that it needs to install something, and then I get a MS Visual basic error. It says: Compile error in hidden module: Auto Exec New. When Excel is closed it says: Compile error in hidden module: Auto Exit. What does this mean and why is it doing this? Is this a problem that can be fixed, or am I out of luck? How do I fix this?