Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with msoffice

MacgyverFilter: link sharing using MS Office

Monday, stony Monday — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:23:17 -0800

Macgyver IT: I want my team to use something like del.icio.us to share links. But since this is ask.metafilter, I can't use the obvious right answer. I need to make something like it myself, using ~~bubblegum and string~~ the MS Office 2000 suite and my knowledge of VB. What would be my best approach? This is clearly insane, but I want to try (please don't ask why I can't use something reasonable -- I just can't). I don't need the full del.icio.us, just links and tags. I'm also okay with having only one person at a time able to add a link to the dB, and everyone sharing a big ball of links.

I've thought about using an Excel file, but I don't know if there's a reasonable way to do that, or what that way would be. Could that work, or should I bite the bullet and go for Access? Is there a feature hidden somewhere (in Outlook?) that I'm overlooking?

Excel AVERAGE questions.

FatherDagon — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 12:38:23 -0800

Trying to get some modified AVERAGE results in Excel. Right now I've got a formula in my workbook 'AVERAGE(Data!Z:Z)', pooling turnaround time data from a single column on a different sheet. Most of the values are in the five minute range (3.5, 4.2, 7.1, 5.0, etc), however there are also very occasionally (say 5-10 cells in an array of 3000 or so) values that are closer to 1-2 days (1500 minutes, 2000 minutes, etc).

Is there a way to modify or append the AVERAGE function to either a) weed out values outside of a certain range, or b) get a median average that drops something like the 10 lowest and highest values in the range, or the bottom and top 1%, or something similar?

Sweet suites?

NekulturnY — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 02:04:00 -0800

Experiences with StarOffice? I'm thinking of switching from Office to StarOffice. The problem is, I have to mail word docs to people every day, and they have to be able to read those files hassle free. Also, I have to be able to work on them, save them and retrieve them hassle free.

I found an old thread back from 04 where StarOffice and OpenOffice were discussed, and there seemed to be a number of glitches still. I was wondering if those had been ironed out in the meantime.

I am not so much interested in the philosophical and moral qualities of the product (it's open, it's free, it's not evil MS, that sort of thing). Just the mundane: "does it work like MS office?" stuff.

Word formatting problem

sulaine — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 08:33:09 -0800

MS Word formatting issue: it applies any changes to entire document. How do I make Word only apply formatting changes to the selected text? If I highlight one word or sentence or section and try to change the format (bold, change font size, add bullets) it will apply the change to the entire document. Then when I hit undo, it removes the change from the document except for the selected section.

What gives? How do I fix it?

How do I get Word and Excel to work together?

cheeken — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 22:07:52 -0800

I need MS Excel and Word to play together nicely. I can do what I need to in Word, and I can do what I need to in Excel; it's the Relationship that's Complicated. Maybe I need workflow advice? Basic knowledge? Please, please keep reading. I'm putting together a quarterly report for an ongoing evaluation of a county youth program. We're currently in Q2. We get lots of quantitative data, run it through SPSS and Excel to make lovely charts and graphs (like the average number of tutoring hours for females across tutoring agencies, that kind of thing). Then, my job is to write up a narrative description of what's going on, and put it together in ONE document.

This is the problem.

So, the final document will have a couple paragraphs of text, and then a chart that I've copied over from Excel, then more text, and on and on. Writing up the text and charts takes 20% of my time. Formatting, moving, adjusting, placing, chasing paragraphs around takes up the other 80%. It seems to me that with two programs that are part of a "Suite," it can't possibly be that hard.

Here's how I currently do it:
1) Write paragraph of text in Word.
2) Go to line after paragraph.
3) Copy chart from Excel.
4) Post Special...Microsoft Excel Chart Object
5) (Because now the text looks all goofy from how it looked in Excel) Right click > Format Object... > Layout > Click 'Square' and 'Center'
6) Then I have to go back above the chart and start typing the next paragraph, but I have to move the chart up manually to push the new text below the chart. [This is where it starts to suck.]

Now, god forbid that, after I have all my text-chart-text-chart sequences done, I have to go back and add a sentence or a paragraph, or move (or, *gasp* resize slightly) a chart, because then my charts will suddenly move behind each other, or on different pages, or they'll move to above the top margin on a page and become Completely Immovable.

So, I need some advice on how you create a document in Word that has 20+ pages of text and 25+ charts pasted in from Excel in a way that you can then make adjustments to the document and not have everything completely screwed up. What's your Word+Excel workflow?

Excel date arithmetic problem

Rock Steady — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 09:55:06 -0800

MS Excel Question: If I have a column with a range of dates in it, is there a formula that will tell me how many years ago that date was from today? I am trying to calculate employee discount levels. For every year of service, an employee gains an additional percentage discount. I have employee hire dates in an Excel spreadsheet, and I would like to be able to, at a glance, determine what discount level a given employee is at, even if I open the spreadsheet three years from now. The levels top out at five years, if that matters.

Convert asterisks to bullets?

limon — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 20:07:21 -0800

Word 2007. Table with cells with lots of text. Need to convert asterisks to bulleted lists. Example inside. Need to convert this:

* One
* Two
* Three

To this

one
two
three

I know Word will do that automatically as I type, but I need to do that on a preexisting text.

I also know that if I click on a bunch of lines that begin with an asterisk and hit the bulleted list icon, Word will correctly interpret the asterisk as the item indicator and convert it into a bullet. But this table has hundreds of small bulleted lists. I need something to do that automatically.

Dual-boot Mac: which version of MSOffice, 2007 or 2008?

bartleby — Thu, 29 May 2008 21:16:48 -0800

Dual-Boot Macbook; OSX (home)/ Windows (work). Need MS Office on both without rebooting. Office 2007 on the Windows partition + Parallels seems to make the most sense. Anything I should know about? This macbook is going to have a split personality as far as I can maintain practically. Most of the time it'll be in Home mode, booting to OSX, - but I will have to access its work personality daily, and I don't want to have to reboot to do so.

I will need functional access to Office, specifically Outlook (or Entourage, if I got Office:Mac 2008) to access work's Exchange server and/or sync with a WM6 smartphone (Outlook->MissingSync->iCal isn't cutting it for me).

Seems silly to pay for it twice, and it appears that with Parallels, I can run the Windows version in OSX while the reverse doesn't seem possible.

Any performance issues I should know about? Am I missing some crucial idea/hack/OMG NO I tried that and it gave me fits?

How to make MS Office Mail Merge create varied colored boxes (or similar effect)

DetonatedManiac — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 18:54:34 -0800

I need to do something very specific with Mail Merge (I think thats the best way to do it) but I have no idea how. Basically I want to take info from a spreadsheet and convert it into a variable number of different colored boxes of a constant size in a document. I am working on making a Board Game prototype.

I need to make cards that have on them from 1 to 5 boxes that must be 1cm by 1cm. The data in the spreadsheet will dictate the number of boxes and the fill color of the boxes. The spreadsheet data will look something like this (with r = red, bl = blue etc)

r - bl- br
r - y
w - r - y - bl

I have used mail merge before some, but I don't know how to elegantly do what I am trying to do. Any advice or alternate methodologies appreciated.

By the way, all of this (the mail merge "code" and final product) has to fit into a 3in by 2in space... which could be a pain since when I have used mail merge in the past the little <>> brackets made text that needed to fit into tight spaces get thrown off (if anyone knows what I am talking about)

This would be a perfect job for an intern. If I had one.

LiveToEat — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 07:47:20 -0800

MS Excel filter: I'm editing a huge spreadsheet and Excel doesn't like my zip codes. How can I quickly fix this? more after jump... I'm doing a mass mailing and I exported about 9000 names from our customer list in Filemaker, and Excel deleted the zero at the beginning of the East coast zip codes. (i.e. Worcester, MA 1602 instead of 01602) There are about 500 zip codes like this and I have to believe there's a quick way to make a universal change and stick in the missing zero at the beginning of the zip codes. I already formatted the cells to recognize nunbers as text, but that still leaves me to fix each one by hand.

Any ideas on what to do? And please explain it in simple steps because I'm not as technologically inclined as some.

Why doesn't Word work right?

BeerFilter — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 06:56:21 -0800

Word 2003 won't open after double-clicking on a document, and the mouse doesn't work in the document area. If I double-click a Word file, the mouse hourglasses for a moment, then nothing happens. If I run Word by itself, I can open documents just fine, but outside of Word, I got nothing. I've already checked the file types and everything seems to be in order.

In addition, my mouse doesn't work in Word, but only in the actual document window. I can mouse all around the menus and toolbars and such, but I can't do anything with the mouse to the document. I can't highlight, I can't insert a cursor, I can't get the scrollbars to move. I CAN change the page view with the clickys in the lower left, but nothing else in the document window works.

Since Outlook 2003 uses Word 2003 for its rendering, I have the same problem in Outlook 2003. Menus & toolbars work fine but I can't highlight or do anything with the mouse to the actual text. I can use the keyboard to highlight and navigate.

In all other application, including the rest of MS Office, the mouse works fine.

Here's what seems like the key to figuring this out:

I already completely uninstalled Office 2003, ran CCleaner (my S.O.P.), and reinstalled it, and it's exactly like it was before. No opening documents outside of Word, no mouse in the text field.

I'm a FOSS guy at home, but this is at my relatively new job (in the IT dept, no less) and I haven't been inflicted with Word in a long time, so I'm not real hip to fixing MS Office screw-ups. Anyone got any ideas on this?

Why should I use Pages instead of Word?

GardnerDB — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 10:21:37 -0800

Someone gave me iWork '08 as a gift and I already have MS Office for Mac. I have no experience with iWork. Why would I want to use Pages instead of Word? Why would I want to use Keynote instead of PowerPoint? I only need a word processor and presentation app, so a debate between Numbers and Excel is moot.

Moving MS Office

BrotherCaine — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 03:40:29 -0800

I'm trying to move MS Office Pro. 2003 to a new computer, but I'm having trouble. I've lost the certificate and CD, but can extract the product key... However, I'm not sure how to get the media associated with the install. I used Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder v1.51 to extract the original Product Key (CD Key), and I got a hold of an Office 2003 Professional install CD (Promo version?). However, when I run setup it immediately rejects the CD Key. I tried copying the CD to my hard drive, and slipstreaming SP2 on top of it, but it still wont install with the product key I have.

For the office install on the old machine:

Product version is 11.0.7969.0 in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Common\ProductVersion

Builds in Help About:
InfoPath 11.6565.8132
Outlook 11.8118.8132
Access 11.6566.8132
Word 11.6568.8132
Publisher 11.8103.8132
Excel 11.8120.8132
PowerPoint 11.6564.8132

I own both machines, and am migrating because the old one is failing. I think I accidentally threw away the wrong package of CDs and Documents when I got rid of one of my old computers.

If I don't have the COA, are they going to ask me for something on it when I try to reactivate?

The learning curve to switch to Firefox from IE6

orlin — Sat, 09 Dec 2006 20:12:23 -0800

How much work will it take me to change from IE6 to Firefox? Looking at the list of problems in AMF, should a person not highly computer literate make the change? I use XP and have MS office installed and am now learning to write web pages -- CSS, HTML, Java.. Thanks in advance for your advice.

Help me become a Vista and Office 2007 pro!

JPowers — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 20:28:29 -0800

Help me become a Microsoft Vista and Office 2007 pro! Are there any well-done, professional, in-depth screencast tutorials (in the vein of Lynda.com) over being a Windows Vista power user?

Same question for Office 2007?

Free or for pay services welcome.

Side question: How long does it usually take Lynda.com to come out with tutorials once a product is released?

Follow-up question: approximately when will most Fortune 500-type companies make the switch to Vista? How about Office 2007?

How do I turn off single-window mode in Powerpoint?

chrisamiller — Fri, 22 Sep 2006 18:12:14 -0800

MS Office question: How do I stop Powerpoint from using a single window to display all documents? I'd like to be able to look at two powerpoint files side by side and copy/paste between them, but powerpoint insists on opening them in the same window. Each ppt file that is open has a seperate entry on the taskbar, but toggling between them just toggles which of them appears in the lone powerpoint window.

I'm sure this is an easy question to many, but I'm usually an open office user and my google-fu is failing me tonight. Any help is appreciated.

I need a fix for an excel formula recalculation error.

batcrazy — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 08:50:43 -0800

I can't get a formula in excel to recalculate when copied and pasted to another cell. Help! I'm trying to get three of the same bits of data from 300 different worksheets in an excel file. Each worksheet is named with a person's first and last name.

I inserted a new worksheet, typed in each person's first and last name into separate cells in column A.

Then I am using an indirect formula to grab the data from each worksheet.

The formula I'm using is

= INDIRECT ("'"&$A2&"'"&"!"&B$1)

Example Worksheet:
A B C D
1 C62 h62 m61
2 Jane Doe
3 Bob Lugnut
4 John Smith

The Formula works fine. The problem I have is when I cut the formula from row 2 (Jane Doe's data) to row 3 (Bob Lugnut's Data), Jane Doe's data remains until I go into the cell and hit return. Only then does the cell recalculate the formula and show Bob's data.

Because the entire point of this exercise is so I don't have to go in and manipulate EVERY single cell to see the data, I know there MUST be a way to fix this.

If it helps, I've used this formula before with a different excel file and it works and recalculates fine.

I also tried starting over in a new worksheet, thinking maybe something about that worksheet was effed up, but it didn't help.

Help me Hive Mind!

Champagne scheduling app on a beer budget.

Marnie — Tue, 22 Aug 2006 04:56:59 -0800

OfficeApp Filter: How can I seamlessly convert lists of project assignment names and deadlines to a calendar view that can be shared? Or can I? I'm a new supervisor. My team has a series of deadlines for different assignments - let's say 40 per month. If I have an Excel column of assignment names and one of their respective deadlines (generated from an Access query), is there a way to enter those automatically into a calendar view that can be shared on our network or on the web?

I have tried using the Task function in Outlook, but can only figure out how to show the deadlines in a "timeline" format. I would really like them in a 30-day calendar page. Also I can't just cut and paste the Excel columns, but have to enter them manually in "Tasks."

Our office has the MS Office suite exclusive of Project, Visio and FrontPage. I think it is all '98. There is zero budget, but I am open to any freeware or open source solutions. Bonus points if it's simple enough for an IT-disinclined staff.

Thanks in advance! Apologies if this has a common sense solution, but I am really stumped.

Synchronize Outlook with Palm Pilot in Office 12 Beta?

lisaj32 — Wed, 31 May 2006 13:01:36 -0800

Anyone else using Office 12 Beta? I've recently installed it on my laptop, and I can't find a way to synchronize Outlook 12 with my palm pilot. Anyone know how to do this?

MS Office Upgrade

SoftSummerBreeze — Tue, 07 Mar 2006 10:31:32 -0800

Will I lose files by upgrading my version of MS Office from 2002 to 2003 Professional? I currently have MS Office 2002 on my system here at work. I want to install MS Office 2003 Professional so that I can use Publisher that comes with it.
Is there anything I need to do before installing the new version to avoid over-writing or losing my current files?

MS Office on Macs

ParisParamus — Wed, 26 Jan 2005 06:05:56 -0800

Do you find that MS Office for OS X runs faster than MS Office for Mac OS 9...., run on an OS X Mac in Classic mode (or, whatever it's called...) Oh. Fast= macros in Word and Excel. I'm trying to decide if it's worth buying a new copy of Office when I buy my first OS X machine.

How do I get 1200 people in three different countries upgraded from dumb terminals to PCs and MS Office?

pomegranate — Fri, 08 Oct 2004 08:05:46 -0800

Here's a question from 1992: How do I get 1200 people in the US, Canada, and Mexico up and running with PCs and MS Office from a previous dumb terminal environment? (More inside of course) You can't send them to web-based training until they understand point-and-click. In my mind there's a national organization I can buy classroom passes from, and include the classes as part of the rollout at the 36 sites. Then there would be an element of customized, hands-on follow up training back in the workplace. Once they get comfortable with the basic concepts of Word, Outlook, and the like, I'd send them to web training.
The key for me is that this organization is so ubiquitous that they'd have something near most of our sites, and that I don't have to deal with 10 different vendors.
I'm sure these businesses existed everywhere ten years ago, but I need it now. Please help me help my company join the 21st century.

Help me identify this software- is it spyware?

johnnydark — Thu, 05 Aug 2004 10:32:21 -0800

I have something on my MS Word window I can't get rid of, and I think it's spyware. Pic of offending thing inside.

OpenOffice Saves in MSOffice Format -- So Is Buying MS Office Worth It?

trharlan — Mon, 23 Feb 2004 00:54:58 -0800

I've been thinking about plunking down the cash to buy a licensed copy of MS Office (or Office XP, or Office 2003, etc.) for my new laptop. Can anyone tell me why I shouldn't just run Openoffice instead? From what I've read, it appears that I can "save as" most MS formats with it. Any firsthand experience?

How do I retrieve Microsoft Office file metadata?

ajr — Sat, 31 Jan 2004 13:28:00 -0800

Does anyone know of a program that will display metadata from Microsoft Office files (such as revisions from Autosave, track changes, etc.)? My searching has documented the range of metadata that is available and I have located numerous programs for removing the data, but nothing that will allow me to retrieve the data easily. I am looking for something a little more advanced than Notepad.