It is what I would expect. As stated, there are a few things, like chrome, updates, drivers, etc. that can cause problems with your DDE. First I would start your computer and then start shutting down all the running processes and test the DDE. See if you can find one that is obviously not running in safe mode, but is running when you restart normally and causing the problems.Quote from EEUT84:
New development: excel with DDE works in safe mode. Does that mean anything to anyone?