Color Problems

[John Keith]

My shop has just gotten new PC's (all machines were created from the same
image) Office 2003 is loaded. One of my co-workers is have a very strange
problem with her excel. Any workbooks loaded on her PC are displayed on the
screen with out any color (text color or background). The same file when
loaded on my PC shows the colors properly. The appearance is as if the
entire worksheet had been selected and then the background color was set to
"no fill".

Things that have been checked:
1. Options|Colors|Reset colors; no change
2. Using the quick color assignment toolbar buttons (the proper color
selections appear with the button-drop-down, but clicking the button will not
assign any color)
3. The workbook and worksheet are UN-protected (changes are allowed- Bold
setting still works on the appearance of the data)
4. Page-Setup|sheet|Black and White is NOT checked and even if it is checked
the screen colors do not change untill you look at a print-preview.
5. Display Properties|Color is set to Highest(32-bit)
6. Screen Saver is one of the default WindowsXP settings.

What could cause this?
Before we un-install and re-install Office... does anyone have any ideas of
something else to try?

 

[keeena]

When you say "without any color (text color or background)", I assume
you mean everything looks white? Is the text visible or no? Is there
a cell grid (the default light gray grid) or no?

 

[John Keith]

Text is visible. All appears black and white. Grid lines are black (all of
the
borders are set to the solid black line). Still the oddest part of all this
is that when I try to set a background or text color, the button click does
nothing at all.

 

[keeena]

AFAIK there is no Excel property that would cause this. Doesn't mean
there isn't one...I've just never heard of it.

Some other items which could affect formatting and may be worth
checking
Conditional Formatting
Embedded code / Add-ins

Sorry I couldn't help you more.

 

[John Keith]

Thanks for the replies

Conditional formatting or embedded code would be saved with the workbook.
This would have caused the same issue on my PC but that was not the case.

The part that warrants further checking is any Add-in(s) installed (but my
thought is that there are not any, because this is a new install from an
image for the dapartment)

 

[Peter T]

Still the oddest part of all this

is that when I try to set a background or text color, the button click does
nothing at all.

That sounds like the sheet is protected (formats only perhaps). You said it
wasn't in your OP but might be worth double checking.

Regards,
Peter T

 

[John Keith]

Both worksheet and workbook protection were off (when looking at the menu,
both of the choices were to "Protect"). Is there a seperate protection for
formatting-only somehere?

I'll double check on Monday, but I think they have already uninstalled and
re-installed Office.

 

[Peter T]

In XL2002+ there is a drop down list of options, including formats, you can
include/exclude with protection.

Regards,
Peter T