Well thank you both, but the same error still comes up using either code. "Input past end of file."

on Armbrewsters code the error is hitting on the line in red

Open "c:\matrix.txt" For Input As #10
'get # or rows
Input #10, strTemp
intRow = Val(strTemp)
'get # of columns
Input #10, strTemp
intCol = Val(strTemp)

On Joacims code the same error is hitting on the line in red:

'Never use a constant file handle number, always use FreeFile
'to get an available file number instead
hFile = FreeFile
Open "c:\theFile.txt" For Input As #hFile

'first line is the number of rows
iRows = CInt(sText)
Line Input #hFile, sText