Make sure the cell is formatted as General before entering the
formula. You might have to re-enter the formula after changing the
format.

HTH,
JP

On Jun 15, 9:17*am, spartina_patens
wrote:
I am using Excel 2003. *I type in a simple formula and all I get is the text
(i.e. =sum(D2:D43)) that I typed in, not the value. *I have tried using F9
and Tools - Options - Calculate (it is set to Automatic). I have tried
copying the data to a blank worksheet. *Nothing works.

The data was originally downloaded into an XML format, which I then saved as
.xls. This has happened every time I use data in this format.

Anyone else found a way to fix this?