I had started earlier to try to find a way to email Microsoft my
request, but got tired of clicking around with my slow dial-up
connection.

But after reading Dave's answer, I decided to pick up the phone and
call the number on Microsoft's site, and was pleasantly surprised to
get right through to someone who emailed me a link to download the
hotfix. He also told me tech support relating to this would be free,
and asked me if I wanted to speak to a tech support person right then
and there. I'm kicking myself for saying no, I don't have any
questions about installing the hotfix, because I later read in their
email:

"WARNING: This fix is not publicly available through the Microsoft
website as it has not gone through full Microsoft regression testing.
If you would like confirmation that this fix is designed to address
your specific problem, or if you would like to confirm whether there
are any special compatibility or installation issues associated with
this fix, you are encouraged to speak to a Support Professional in
Product Support Services"

And the file is large (14mb) so it must make many changes to
excel.exe. Now I'm nervous, not sure if I'll install it, definitely
won't without calling them back. Not sure it's worth it just to keep
my protected cells from being selected when I re-open the workbook.

Interesting experience...


Andy