Firstly: Tools/ Options/ View and make sure that "Formulas" is not checked.

If that is OK, my guess is that you have the cell formatted as text. Set
the cell format to General or Number, then re-enter the formula (either
retype, or F2 and enter).
--
David Biddulph

"spartina_patens" wrote in
message ...
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?