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

Regards,
Peter T

"John Keith" wrote in message
...
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.
--
Regards,
John


"Peter T" wrote:

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" wrote in message
...
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.

--
Regards,
John


"keeena" wrote:

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?