I have a column of text that's in the style 1994/95, 1995/96, etc. When I
paste it into Excel, after setting the column to Format Cell General, the
entries beginning with 19 go in as text. That's what's supposed to happen.
But -- here's my problem -- the entries 2000/01, 2001/02, etc. go in as
dates. I can't fix this even by manually deleting the dates, resetting the
cell format to General, and TYPING in the characters. The cells above are
still showing as Format Cell General. The problem cells mysteriously change
from General to Custom.

There must be some way to stop this 'helpful feature.' Any suggestions?

Excel 2003.