Microsoft Office Q&A: Ask anything (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.)

Kyle Johnson2 said:The suggestion from the colleague above regarding everyone entering their own portion of the password is perfectly acceptable.

- Protecting a document in Word 2003
- Protecting a document in Word 2007

It is worth noting that the password can consist of a maximum of 14 characters.

Can anyone point me toward a solid link with some actual explanations—I'm talking tutorials—for Excel 2010? I have a massive list of things I need to wrap my head around, but my main priorities are definitely Pivot Tables, drop-down menus, and filters...

fadedrider17 said:Can someone drop a link for some tutorials or explanations for Microsoft Excel 2010? I want to learn a bunch of stuff, especially PivotTables, Drop-down menus, filters, etc.

Excel 2010—opened it up a few times just to see. Honestly, you wouldn't have any trouble digging into Excel 2007 or Excel 2013. It’s mostly just UI tweaks and graphics; the core logic is basically the same. If you can handle Excel 2003, moving to the newer versions is a breeze.

The links below cover everything from beginner basics to advanced stuff like PivotTable VBA VBA for Excel , Drop-down menu, Filtering and more...

[No input provided to rewrite.] says:
Once you lock that thing, it's game over. No way back in. Until the deadline hits. With the password or without it.

What does "deadline" even mean on a computer in this context? Like, some specific date in the future or what?
Just change the date on your PC and boom—everything’s trashed.
Either just split it down the middle like they said, or just hand it off to someone who isn't gonna give it back until the deadline hits. Simple.

Kyle Johnson2 said:Excel 2010—I’ve pulled it up a few times just out of pure curiosity. Honestly, I don't think you'd find much trouble digging into Excel 2007 or even Excel 2013. At the end of the day, it all comes down to minor UI tweaks and the graphics—the core logic remains identical. If you can handle Excel 2003, transitioning to anything else is a walk in the park.

The links provided cover everything from beginner basics to advanced maneuvers—think PivotTable, VBA for Excel, Drop-down menu, Filtering, and so on...

Thanks for the effort; some of this will probably come in handy, but I'm still aiming to master 2010 since that's what I'll likely need for a potential job. Looking at that first link, most of it seems pretty basic and surface-level, but regardless—thanks anyway!

fadedrider17 said:that first link feels pretty basic and super generic to me

Whatever works for you, man. It’s basically all the same stuff—just a different UI and maybe some extra bells and whistles in the newer version. I actually added a beefier, more detailed tutorial in English to the zip file, so go ahead and re-download the Excel 2010 for beginners one.

Also, check these out:

- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBy7BZs-zx0
- http://www.dummies.com/how-to/comput...xcel-2010.html

I've got this client breathing down my neck, insisting that every single computer uses the exact same number separators—you know, the stuff for millions, thousands, and decimals. I already tried explaining that it all boils down to the settings in the Control Panel - Language options, but he’s not having it. He’s actually demanding that I find some way to force identical formatting across the board. It’s honestly ridiculous. In the US, we write things like 1,000,000.00, whereas over in Germany, they’d use 1.000.000,00. He wants it to automatically display using that German style regardless of whether the user sitting at the desk is an American or a German. It’s total nonsense, if you ask me.

Is there actually a way to pull this off, or am I stuck just taking screenshots and pasting them everywhere? Because let's be real, that is completely impractical and definitely isn't a real solution.

Betty Hayes10 said:The client is being super picky about this—they want the number separators (millions, thousands, etc.) to be identical on every single computer. ................Now they're bugging me to find a way to make sure everyone’s using the exact same formatting everywhere.

Not enough info here. You put PowerPoint in the title.
Are we talking about numbers typed straight into PowerPoint, or are you pulling in an Excel sheet or something?

You already know you can drop a chart right into PowerPoint without actually launching the full Excel application.
Besides, it doesn't even really matter, because if the numbers look a certain way in Excel, they’re going to look exactly the same in PowerPoint anyway, right?
But this whole issue is officially settled. I checked with Microsoft support about this exact thing, and they told me there isn't a direct fix—unless you want to deal with the headache of some workaround like pasting the chart as an .emf file.

Betty Hayes10 said:You know you can drop a chart into PowerPoint without actually opening Excel (well, not fully opening it anyway)...................
But I got it sorted. I even asked on the Microsoft site and they told me it wasn't possible unless you used some weird workaround.

Alright, if you already fixed it, cool. I know Excel imports into PowerPoint, but if you set a custom format, the numbers should show up with the right separators. You can also just type the number as text and then use the Excel function VALUE later to pull it into a calculation.
Doesn't really matter though if you've already moved past it.

Yeah, but that always creates a headache—you’ve got the text first, then the calculation follows. Besides, the vertical axis just spits out numbers again instead of labels, which is exactly where things fall apart. It’s one of those situations where no matter how you flip it, the result looks stupid. The client doesn't seem to grasp that if someone already has their system set to American number formatting, they aren't going to want to stare at figures displayed in some German format. After all, is it really worth the confusion when 1.000 means one point zero to an American, but a thousand to a German?

I need some help here.
So, I move a Word doc onto a USB drive, right? Then I plug it into another computer and—boom—nothing but dots on the screen. It keeps bugging me to run a file conversion.
What am I supposed to do about this???

Do you have Word installed on your other computer? And which version are we even talking about here—is it 2003, 2007, 2010, or 2013?
Why wouldn't you just save it as a PDF if you don't plan on editing it anymore?

Betty Hayes10 said:Do you have Word on the other computer? And which version are we talking about on each machine—2003, 2007, 2010, or 2013?
Why not just save it as a PDF if you aren't planning on editing it anymore?

I save the file to a thumb drive, pull it out, plug it right back into the same PC, try to open it, and then... nothing but a bunch of dots. It makes zero sense.

Try this: save the document directly onto the USB drive, but don't you dare pull the stick out before you attempt to open that file right then and there. Does the same glitch happen under those conditions? And I'm also wondering—does this exact same nonsense occur if you save a document onto that same thumb drive using a completely different computer?

=IF(D39😁40=7;ROUNDUP(AS40/12;0);ROUNDDOWN(AS40/12;0))

If the sum of cells D39😁40 equals 7, the formula should round up to the nearest whole number—but if that condition isn't met, it should round down instead.

BUT—and this is a massive "but"—I am clearly doing something wrong because it’s just not working. It keeps rounding down regardless of what I do.

HELP ME out here.

Walter Jackson48 said:Try saving the file directly to the flash drive, then don't pull it out—just try opening it right away. Does it still glitch? And what happens if you save a file to that same drive using a different computer?

If I leave the drive plugged in, everything's fine. Same thing happens on a second PC too, but the second I yank it out and plug it back in? Those same damn loading dots start spinning again.

Bradley Murphy56 said:=IF(D39:D40=7;ROUNDUP(AS40/12;0);ROUNDDOWN(AS40/12;0))
HELP ME HERE

Try rewriting the first part of your formula—you know, that bit where you have =IF(D39:D40=7...—maybe try using =IF(SUM(D39:D40)=7... or even just a simple =IF(D39+D40=7...
and
for heaven's sake, when you're posting formulas in the future, please turn off those emojis. It makes things unreadable.

Run a full scan on your computer using an antivirus, Malwarebytes, and ComboFix. I started seeing some really bizarre stuff happening on my machine after I’d get back from the local FedEx Office with a thumb drive.

Walter Jackson48 said:Try rewriting the first part of your formula—instead of using =IF(D39:D40=7...), try something like =IF(SUM(D39:D40)=7... or even just =IF(D39+D40=7...
and
in the future, when you're posting formulas, please disable those smiley faces.

Thanks a ton. You really helped me out here.

Best regards!