Issues with AVERAGE function

[dkskcc]

Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
Processor: intel

I'm having trouble doing simple functions such as the average and sum functions with numbers that begin with a zero such as 0.09867, 0.09786.... I know that there must be a simple solution to this error but I'm stuck! Each time I do it, I get the #DIV/0 error which makes no sense as I am not dividing by zero!

When I repeat the function using simpler numbers I get the AVERAGE function to work just fine. Is there something in my preferences that I need to change? This is my first time using a MAC - I have always been a PC man. I don't know where to start.

Thanks for any help!

 

[CyberTaz]

"Mac" has nothing to do with it [and please avoid the all upper case - that
means something else].

Are these workbooks from an earlier version of Excel? If so, the problem is
that the number system doesn't support leading zeroes in values so neither
did Excel - Mac or PC. In order to display them the cells probably were
formatted as Text. As a result their content is returning the error.

Later versions of the program will display the leading zeroes for decimal
values, but the formatting may still be set to something other than a value
format. The entries may also have included an ' at the beginning to force
the 0 to display, or it's also been seen that the letter O was used instead
of a zero

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac