To eliminate the code being the issue i tried adding the code as given
at

http://www.automateexcel.com/index.p..._a_cell_change

however when i change cell 1 nothing happens. i have tried saving and
re-opening the worksheet. therefore it seems an excel issue, however i
am given no warnings that macros have been disabled.

recorded macros (eg copy cell 1 to cell 2) seem to run and work fine,
but worksheet change macros dont seem to want to work.