sorting issue - help
 

I have tried everything and hoping some guru on this board can help. I
converted from Excel 97 to 2002. I have folders set up like the following
(there are many other folders, this is just a small sample) :
$$ (space) (space) (space) 1
$$ (space) (space) 11
$$ (space) 111

In the old excel, they were sorted in the same manner as above. The new
version, sorts them with all folders with a single space first, double space
second and triple space third. How can I get this back to the order of the
old version? I cant rename because I have links from many other folders and
fear those link will change if I remove spaces