Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with MicrosoftOffice

Print highlighted text in Word 2007

notcostello — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 13:01:39 -0800

Is there a way in Word (2007) to highlight a text string and then have the highlighting print out also. In other words, I want to be able to print a document with every instance of say "Extra Strength" highlighted on the printed page. That way I can scan the document as I am reading it and see where and it what context these words appear.

I can use Find to highlight the text on the screen, but can see no way to have it print. I searched the help function and Googled it, to no avail.

Thanks.

Losing my hard-drive virginity

alona — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 05:14:56 -0800

n00bfilter: formatting hard drive, need all the help I can get! Specifically with Windows XP. everything inside... So I have a nice computer that is about 5 years old and is in dire need of a fresh start. I'm relatively tech-savvy but have never done this before.

Here is what I need:
1. My brother formatted this computer sometime in the distant past, or did something, and for this reason my computer is running an unvalidated copy of Windows XP Pro. I do not have a windows installation cd. How do I get one without paying? (Maybe this is a politically incorrect question to be asking; if so, I apologize).

2. Because of the explained reasons, my computer doesn't have Office, and I would really like to have office after I reformat, how do I do this if I don't have a CD?

3. You guys probably have a lot more experience, so other than following a lot of internet guides, what should I know going into this? What problems might I encounter and how do I know how to handle them?

4. My house is linked up with a wireless router. My computer is hooked up via cable, but there is another laptop in the house that accesses the internet wirelessly. Will it be able to surf the web even while I format my desktop computer?

5. Related internet question: How problematic is it going to be to get the internet up and running again on the computer after I format? Specifically, what are the steps to getting reconnected to the web?

Important information:
I have 512mb installed memory, 80 gig hard drive, 2.4 gigahertz Pentium 4, I have my current XP version's CD key but as I mentioned it's not a legit copy and I don't have it on a cd.
I do have all the cds for the hardware that's currently connected to my computer (mainly my printer). Also used Belarc adviser to figure out everything I need, and burned all the stuff I want to back up onto DVDs.

So, now what?

Compare and output greater value.

guptaxpn — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 04:57:05 -0800

Spreadsheet question: Display Greater Value? I know this is one of those "you-either-know-it-or-you-don't" situations, and I just don't know. Hokay, so here's ze situation:

There are two columns of numbers, A and B

A1 has a value of 10, and B1 has a value of 15.

What do I type into C1 to compare A1 and B1, and display the greater value of 15?

Help me choose a video card that is good but not too good.

4ster — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 11:36:55 -0800

I need a suggestion for a video card to create a dual-monitor setup for my assistant. I'm not as concerned with getting too little power in a card as I am paying for much more than I need. The computer is a Lenovo A61. The specs sheet describes the current card as "INTEGRADED VIDEO AMD 690G." The processor is anAMD/ATHLON64X2 4400+AM2 PR. Her second monitor would be a 19" ProView.

All she does on this computer is use MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher, and Outlook) and web.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Please let me know if I've left out any important data. Of all the technology I've purchased through the years, I've never had to shop for a video card before.

Thanks in advance.

Is there a Vista equivalent for Office 2004 Mac's "Notebook Layout View"?

zooropa — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 20:45:38 -0800

A friend of mine is a schoolteacher with the Chicago Public Schools. On his Mac, he uses Office 2004. He was showing me a feature in the Office 2004 version of Word that I really like. It allows you to open up a document in something called "Notebook Layout View" (I think) that simulates a page of ruled notebook paper as if you were writing in a spiral notebook. It even allows you to format a title and heading and other features. Anyone know if there is a Vista equivalent for Office 2007? I tried looking through the templates (both what's included with 2007 and at Microsoft Online) and I can't seem to find anything similar. (and please, no flames or exhortations to "get a Mac!" I'm stuck with I have and there's no changing for the time being) Thanks!

How do I get rid of, then keep MS Office?

edjusted — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 20:59:13 -0800

My Win XP laptop came with a trial version of Microsoft *small business* office 2007. Without really thinking about it, I imported a lot of email and Outlook data from my old laptop. Now that the trial is almost over, I bought a retail copy of Outlook 2007 and the Home/student version of Office 2007, and the product keys don't work, since I'm trying to use the product key on the Small Business edition. Can I simply uninstall the trial small biz version, install the Outlook and home/student office, and have my Outlook data intact? Or is there more to be done to accomplish this?

Decimal seconds, please.

dondiego87 — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 14:03:50 -0800

Microsoft Excel VBA question: Converting decimal degrees to degrees-minutes-seconds (DMS), with rounding customization. I'm pretty proficient with Excel but am a complete n00b when it comes to programming even Visual Basic. I needed to convert some decimal degrees into DMS format, and failing to find a function that did so, I went to Google and found this page. Surprisingly enough, both of those modules worked successfully, allowing me to access them through the Function menu. I was even able to figure out how to change the function name to something I find clearer.

My one gripe about the Decimal-to-DMS conversion is that it doesn't allow for any numbers after the decimal point in the Seconds part of the output. I wouldn't usually mind (I know how tiny a second is), but I'm using this for a mapping application where meters matter, and the rounding is throwing me off. Can the hive mind help me get decimal seconds?

Excel 2007 - Duplicate Data Removal Issue

Sandor Clegane — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 11:26:14 -0800

Excel 2007 - Is there a way to remove ONLY a duplicate row leaving the first unique entry? I have a list of sweepstakes entries that need to be pared down to only unique entries. When I attempt to remove duplicate data it usually removes both the duplicates AND the first entry. I need to find a simple way (without formulas, if possible) to separate the duplicates from the unique entries.

The data columns are as follows: Entry Date, First Name, Last Name, Email, Birthdate, Address, City, State, Zip, Sex, Phone Number, Opt In 1, Opt In 2.

I need to remove all duplicate email addresses from the list. There are a few issues with the way I currently do things. If I just highlight the email column and remove duplicate data it shifts all the unique addresses up so now the data is out of alignment. If I select the entire spreadsheet and remove duplicates it doesn't come up with the same number of duplicate entries as I get with just the email column. Finally, if I apply conditional formatting to the duplicate entries it highlights all versions of the same email address. Thus, I would be removing all entires for that person. I need to allow them one and remove the rest.

I realize there are ways to do this with formulas but I have to do this often and applying a formula to tens of thousands of rows is very, very cumbersome.

Oh Hive Mind, please help me!

Save me from working over the weekend!

BobbyDigital — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 10:14:16 -0800

BoringFilter: I have to send out a large group of emails (around 175), and I would love to use mail merge to do it, but there is an annoying twist... ...each of the recipients needs to get a message with an individual file attached. The files (.pdf's if it mattes which it should) are all clearly labeled and in a directory, and I have an excel list of recipients ready to go.

My question is whether I can automate this task to some degree rather then just individually sending this message out many many times.

Also, all programs are of the microsoft office 2007 variety, and I am using Vista Pro.

How to view OneNote content on a mac?

chrisalbon — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 23:26:43 -0800

How to access information and files embedded in Microsoft Onenote on a Mac? I finally got a mac and the only thing that I am in need of is a way to view previously made Onenote notebooks and their contents. I won't need to add to or edit the files - just view them and open the word, powerpoint, and pdf files that have been embedded in the Onenote database (not printed into the notebook pages).

For my 1st 2 years of medical school I used Onenote to store all of the syllabi (aka our textbooks), lecture information, lecture powerpoints, practice tests, and study sheets. My entire notebook is on the order of 7gb. Most of the information I would come back to is in the embedded files, not the Onenote pages, but they provide the structure. All is typed text (never used a tablet).

Because of the volume of the noteboook, it is not feasible to reorganize everything again. Not too sure how the emulator stuff works to open something under leopard, but this site says Office 2007 wouldn't work with Wine . I tried this program which seemed so perfect, but besides oddly having to execute it through command prompt to get it to work, it would not let me access the embedded files. I'd really like to avoid only being able to access it through booting into windows.

Any ideas?

Help me save my sanity from Powerpoint 2007!

There's No I In Meme — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 13:33:37 -0800

Powerpoint Filter: How can I set the default font size for a chart axis in powerpoint 2007? Every time I create a chart or hit the 'reset to style' command in Powerpoint 2007, the fonts in the chart reset to a cartoonish 18pt font. Is there any way to change the way to change this behavior to default to the font size I want? I'm tried messing around with the master slides to no avail. Can any Powerpoint gurus save me from insanity?

Is there such thing as an Excel formatting template thingie?

kmtiszen — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 12:03:08 -0800

Excel Experts: Is there a way to apply a custom formatting template to an unformatted worksheet? I'm hoping there are some hardcore Microsoft Excel experts out there that might be able to help me out with this. Don't know if it matters, but I'm using a Mac version of Office.

In any event, I've been using our company's proprietary program to pull an Excel worksheet on a pretty regular basis. The information within is pretty simple--no formulas or anything fancy, just plain ol' text in cells. Unfortunately, the export does not format the worksheet and I'm left formatting the silly thing by hand each time.

Is there a way to create some kind of formatting template that I can apply to the unformatted worksheet for some instant gratification? And beyond that, would I be able to share this "template" (or whatever it may be called) with my co-workers who experience the same daily plight?

Thanks in advance for any help!

Why won't Office let me be legit?

itchie — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 18:13:52 -0800

I'm trying to clean up my act and bought a legitimate copy of Office for my Mac. Problem is, after deleting my (bootlegged) copy, it's still recognizing that copy over th legimitate one. What's up? Okay, so, for awhile I've been using a bootlegged copy of Office on my Mac. I recently bought it and attempted to uninstall the bootlegged copy (using the freeware AppDelete) in order to register my current copy. However, when I got the actual copy up and running, it keeps booting me off saying that the registered user is on and I cannot use the program.
My question is, what would be causing this? What files am I missing to delete to get the bootlegged copy completely off my computer and get my legit copy on there without the kick-off?
Thanks.

Why is my iBook suddenly unstable?

sindark — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 14:13:44 -0800

All of a sudden, my G4 iBook is incredibly unstable. All sorts of programs keep crashing (though not the whole machine). What could be wrong? I have had my G4 iBook for more than a year now and it has been extremely rare for a program to crash. Now, while I am in the process of trying to write my thesis, programs are crashing left and right. Everything from Firefox to Word to iTunes. I haven't lost any important data yet, but it's just a matter of time. If my EndNote library of thesis sources got corrupted, it could be a very bad thing, indeed.

I haven't installed any new software. I tried fixing disk permissions and verifying the hard drive. The machine has 1GB of RAM installed so, unless I am doing more things at once than I have been lately, that should not be a limitation.

Is there anything else that could be causing this? Is there any way I might return to the stable days of old?

MS Office Small Business Accounting Help?

idledebonair — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 09:30:15 -0800

What is the easiest way to set up Microsoft Office Small Business Accounting 2006 for a simple business? My boss has charged me with the task of setting up Microsoft Office Small Business Accounting 2006 on all the store computers so everyone can access the invoices and what not from any computer. Then he wants me to teach him and my co-workers how to use the new system. My problem is that I know computers and software, not how a business works/should work and all of these accounts that are predefined in the program are a bit confusing.

What do I need and what don't I need?

A bit more about our setup: We have 5 computers total. 1 acts as a server, 2 are in back rooms and 2 are in the front of the store that act (will act) as Point of Sale. We only have 4 licenses for the software, so I thought that we would not install the software on the server, but keep the database for Accounting on it. Does that sound like a good plan? I'm not sure exactly the best way to do it.

We sell furniture, so we have vendors we buy from regularly, vendors we deal with only once, a bunch of inventory, 5 employees, and a ton of clients.

Any tips the hivemind can give about doing payroll, inventory, sales, etc. will be extremely helpful.

mail-merge-fu

TurkishGolds — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 07:12:18 -0800

MailMergeFilter: I want to print a large number of uniquely numbered gift certificates for different businesses using Microsoft Office, and I can't seem figure out a good solution. I have to print gift certificates for many different businesses that all have different, pre-determined unique consecutive numbers. I'd like to do the design for the gift certificates in Microsoft Publisher and then merge the data (buisness name, address, phone number, and gift certificate number) in from Excel.

For Example:

40 gift certificates for "Company 1" numbered 41-1 ... 41-40
20 gift certificates for "Company 2" numbered 12-20 ... 12-40
80 gift certificates for "Company 3" numbered 17-120 ... 17-200

...and so on.

So far I've been able to mail merge the business details into publisher, but not the gift certificate numbers.

To further complicate things, I need to print the gift certificates 3-up on a page, and I haven't been able to find a way to get the merge to change data on that 3-up page. (If I just type all of the numbers into excel, and try to merge those into the document, page 1 will be 3 gift certificates all with the same number.)

Because of the volume of certificates that I need to print, I'm looking for the least labor intensive solution.

What's the best way to accomplish this with these tools? Suggestions for other ways of accomplising this task are appreciated too.

Help me Access my data please.

ilikecookies — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 07:49:37 -0800

I play with a rather large and multi-layered database. Using the Enter Parameter Value function, is there a way to make that Prompt box into a drop box displaying all the options? Say you are tracking seventy people who interface with two hundred different organizations in different ways. You want the query to prompt you for the person so you can see who they have been talking to, but you don't want to have to type out the whole name. Instead, when the box pops up to prompt you to enter a name, the box is linked to the table with the names of all the people and you just choose the one you wish to run the query on. Is this possible in Access?

It seems like it should be. Because it would be brilliant.

Standardizing Micro$oft Word templates-

Bdave — Tue, 09 May 2006 23:23:47 -0800

I need to have everyone 'on the same page' so to speak. I am helping a friend at their office and they have exceeded their budget for proper IT support so they called me. What they need is for everybody to be using the same stationary, email signatures etc. So when they make a new Word document, it comes up with the stationery I made. Or when they go into Outlook it already has the right format and disclaimer etc. They have SBS 2003 and I was wondering if there was an easy way to do this other than going into everyone's PC and manually screwing with their Application Data. Most workstations here have multiple logons and users as they are about 3 PCs short. Also bonus points if you can tell me how to make the templates uneditable.

Seamlessness between Open Office and Microsoft Office?

NoMich — Tue, 10 Jan 2006 12:03:27 -0800

Let's say that I got a new computer without MS Office on it and I install Open Office. Let's also say a person sends me a Word or Excel file via email. Will I be able to read it and edit it in Open Office without messing up the format? If I make any changes to the file and email it back to my friend, will he be able to read it and make further edits to it while using the Microsoft Office applications?

Clear Formatting in Word

Orange Goblin — Tue, 22 Jun 2004 07:12:12 -0800

How can I get Microsoft word to paste things as plain text by default? Why would I want the formatting of the website I'm copying ~~my homework~~ from anyway?

Should I get a raise?

skryche — Thu, 27 May 2004 09:02:59 -0800

How much should an Advanced Excel (PivotTable, lookups, etc.) hombre in Manhattan be getting paid? I've been temping in this hole of an office for a few months and almost all spreadsheetery has become my responsibility. I think some sort of raise is in order, but I'm not sure what my target should be.

XP won't let me type in Thai.

Pericles — Wed, 18 Feb 2004 08:57:14 -0800

Internationalising email in WinXP. My wife can read emails sent to her in Thai script using Outlook on our Win XP machine, but I can't work out how to configure the machine so that she can type in Thai (using out Thai/ English keyboard) in a non-html email. Outlook help mentions configuring using Microsoft Office Tools from the program manager - but that requires using the XP discs, which we don't have as it was preinstalled by the PC manufacturer. Anyone got any ideas? I don't want to change the language of the whole O/S/ (there's a download from microsoft.com to do that) as I don't read Thai. We're by no means married to Outlook; Moz, Opera etc would be fine. We have Thai fonts.