Getting Support For Excel 

        

If you're new to Excel, and even if you're not, you may have questions about Excel.   In addition to the web sites on my Links page, there are several ways to get answers to your Excel questions.

First of all, read the Help files.  The on-line help, especially the VBA help, has the answers to most questions.  The indexes to the files sometimes leave something to be desired, so it may take some searching to find what you need.  But the answers are likely there somewhere. 

The Microsoft Knowledge Base provides a searchable archive of tens of thousands of answers to questions and problems for all Microsoft products. On the Advanced Support Search page, select Excel97 For Windows (or whatever version of Excel you're using), choose "Keywords" for the "I want to search by" option, and enter a few words related to your question or problem.  You'll have the most luck if you keep the keywords simple, such as "chart refresh" rather than "refreshing charts".

Probably the best source of support for Excel is available in the Microsoft Excel newsgroups, available from the msnews.microsoft.com news server.  There are many people there (including me) who answer questions daily, and we've probably seen your question or problem many times before.  Be sure to ask your question clearly, and include a detailed explanation of what you're trying to do and why it doesn't work.   Include the formulas or VBA code you're working with.  Please don't attach workbooks to your messages.   The most popular Excel newsgroups are

microsoft.public.excel.charting
microsoft.public.excel.misc
microsoft.public.excel.programming
microsoft.public.excel.worksheet.functions

Post your message to the one newsgroup that is most closely related to your question.

If you're new to the Excel newsgroups, please read the Hints And Tips For New Posters guide.  When you use the Microsoft newsgroups, it is advisable to connect directly to the MSNEWS server, rather than going through your local news server.  Read why this is so

If you've still got a problem, start at Microsoft's Support site: http://www.microsoft.com/support .  They offer a wide variety of support option, some free, others not so free.