I think it's a training issue.

The good news is that newer versions (xl2002+, I think) will give you that
warning that you want.

JimG wrote:

We get Excel files from others where a novice user has highlighted a whole
column and sorted it not knowing that it does not also sort the other
columns. (exp. sort a date of birth column as described and the correct
date of birth is no longer associated with the person's name). Is there a
way to disable this type of column sort or create a pop-up warning? I
cannot think of a reason this type of sort function is even in Excel. It
can create serious data problems.

--

Dave Peterson