Hmmm...

Works ok for me in Excel 2002.

A couple of alternatives:

="E"&MID(A47,2,255)

=REPLACE(A47,1,1,"E")


--
Biff
Microsoft Excel MVP


"Bob F" wrote in message
...
I'm trying to replace the first "R" with an "E" in the text "RMR-071201".
The text is in cell A47 of an Excel 2003 worksheet.

When I use the formula =SUBSTITUTE(A47,"R","E",1) the result is #VALUE!.
The substitute function works OK when I leave out the instance_number but
it
replaces all instances of the "old Text" rather than just the instance I
want.

I get this result on both of my home computers but my Excel 2003 at the
office calculates this properly.

I've downloaded and installed all the Office updates that were
recommended.

Does anyone know how to fix this?

Bob