When I point to a cell to drag it or add a list of consecutive numbers or
drag my formula to adjacent cells this *&^@^ star appears instead of the
usual pointer. It messes up everything , Please tell me how to get rid of it.
----------an octegenarion amateur!

P.S. I'm using Excel in Office 2003

A star generally has 5 points.

I cannot think of any Excel pointer that has 5 points.

Perhaps a better description of the figure and what it does to mess things up.

Does it prevent dragging cells or formulas?


Gord Dibben MS Excel MVP

On Sat, 14 Apr 2007 12:08:01 -0700, robo9763
wrote:

When I point to a cell to drag it or add a list of consecutive numbers or
drag my formula to adjacent cells this *&^@^ star appears instead of the
usual pointer. It messes up everything , Please tell me how to get rid of it.
----------an octegenarion amateur!

P.S. I'm using Excel in Office 2003

"Gord Dibben" wrote:

A star generally has 5 points.

I cannot think of any Excel pointer that has 5 points.

Perhaps a better description of the figure and what it does to mess things up.

Does it prevent dragging cells or formulas?


Gord Dibben MS Excel MVP

On Sat, 14 Apr 2007 12:08:01 -0700, robo9763
wrote:

When I point to a cell to drag it or add a list of consecutive numbers or
drag my formula to adjacent cells this *&^@^ star appears instead of the
usual pointer. It messes up everything , Please tell me how to get rid of it.
----------an octegenarion amateur!

P.S. I'm using Excel in Office 2003

Dear Gord, Thank you for answering my request, this has been driving me crazy since the shop "did me a favour "and loaded Office 2003 in my computer. I was doing reasonably well with Office 97 . What I called a star is really the same small cross with an arrowhead at the end of each arm, not + anymore. This (cross arrowhead+ ) appears whenever I try to copy or drag the formula that is in the cell, by clicking on the bottom right
corner. When I go ahead and use the arrowheaded monstrosity, nothing is
accomplished it does not transfer formula or drag it or do anything, that I
can see anyway, but I used to think the action was done OK.
I hope this is clearer and that you have a remedy,
Thanking you in advance , Bob Troutman

Do you see that same "star" when you hover over the edged of a selected cell?

Do you see the "autofill button" (the little square thingy) in the bottom right
corner of the selection?

I'm guessing that you don't. And if I'm right, try:
tools|options|Edit tab|check allow cell drag and drop



robo9763 wrote:

"Gord Dibben" wrote:

A star generally has 5 points.

I cannot think of any Excel pointer that has 5 points.

Perhaps a better description of the figure and what it does to mess things up.

Does it prevent dragging cells or formulas?


Gord Dibben MS Excel MVP

On Sat, 14 Apr 2007 12:08:01 -0700, robo9763
wrote:

When I point to a cell to drag it or add a list of consecutive numbers or
drag my formula to adjacent cells this *&^@^ star appears instead of the
usual pointer. It messes up everything , Please tell me how to get rid of it.
----------an octegenarion amateur!

P.S. I'm using Excel in Office 2003

Dear Gord, Thank you for answering my request, this has been driving me crazy since the shop "did me a favour "and loaded Office 2003 in my computer. I was doing reasonably well with Office 97 . What I called a star is really the same small cross with an arrowhead at the end of each arm, not + anymore. This (cross arrowhead+ ) appears whenever I try to copy or drag the formula that is in the cell, by clicking on the bottom right
corner. When I go ahead and use the arrowheaded monstrosity, nothing is
accomplished it does not transfer formula or drag it or do anything, that I
can see anyway, but I used to think the action was done OK.
I hope this is clearer and that you have a remedy,
Thanking you in advance , Bob Troutman

--

Dave Peterson

The 4-headed cross with the arrowheads is the default cursor when you hover over
the edges of a cell.

This allows you to move the cell to another location.

Does this not occur? What happens if you double-click on that arrowhead?

Cursor should move to last cell in column or row depending upon which edge you
clicked on.

Do you see a small black lump at the bottom right corner of the cell?

This is known as the "fill handle" and you click on that to drag/copy cells.

Are you saying that the normal fat white cross never shows up anywhere?


Gord


On Sat, 14 Apr 2007 15:24:03 -0700, robo9763
wrote:



"Gord Dibben" wrote:

A star generally has 5 points.

I cannot think of any Excel pointer that has 5 points.

Perhaps a better description of the figure and what it does to mess things up.

Does it prevent dragging cells or formulas?


Gord Dibben MS Excel MVP

On Sat, 14 Apr 2007 12:08:01 -0700, robo9763
wrote:

When I point to a cell to drag it or add a list of consecutive numbers or
drag my formula to adjacent cells this *&^@^ star appears instead of the
usual pointer. It messes up everything , Please tell me how to get rid of it.
----------an octegenarion amateur!

P.S. I'm using Excel in Office 2003

Dear Gord, Thank you for answering my request, this has been driving me crazy since the shop "did me a favour "and loaded Office 2003 in my computer. I was doing reasonably well with Office 97 . What I called a star is really the same small cross with an arrowhead at the end of each arm, not + anymore. This (cross arrowhead+ ) appears whenever I try to copy or drag the formula that is in the cell, by clicking on the bottom right
corner. When I go ahead and use the arrowheaded monstrosity, nothing is
accomplished it does not transfer formula or drag it or do anything, that I
can see anyway, but I used to think the action was done OK.
I hope this is clearer and that you have a remedy,
Thanking you in advance , Bob Troutman

"Gord Dibben" wrote:

The 4-headed cross with the arrowheads is the default cursor when you hover over
the edges of a cell.

This allows you to move the cell to another location.

Does this not occur? What happens if you double-click on that arrowhead?

Cursor should move to last cell in column or row depending upon which edge you
clicked on.

Do you see a small black lump at the bottom right corner of the cell?

This is known as the "fill handle" and you click on that to drag/copy cells.

Are you saying that the normal fat white cross never shows up anywhere?


Gord


On Sat, 14 Apr 2007 15:24:03 -0700, robo9763
wrote:

NEW MESSAGE Dear Gord,
I,m glad you saw my 2nd note to you and thanks for answering.
Yes I have that large white cross, it shows up during initial hovering
after (1) left click, it's OK.
Now I see what that 4-head thing is, it does appear on any edge and
it cuts the cell right out and deposits it where designated.
I had forgotten all about that fill handle,like the skunk in the
wind, so if I ignore the 4-head monster and look for the fill button,and aim
for it,the desired black cross appears,more stable.
I,ve been practicing this, it seems all right, it seems to me that
4-head could be dangerous can it be turned off do you think?
Anyway, thank you very much, this has been driving me to senility,
and I 've spent a few hours going thru Help etc. trying to find something
that refers to it so I can get rid of it. It is still a nuisance while it's
blotting everything out, but now I know where to look for handle and what to
avoid.

Sincerely,
Bob
Troutman

Victoria B.C

I don't know how to turn the 4-headed cross off except to disable drag and drop,
which will also disable the fill handle.

I wouldn't say it is any more dangerous than many other functions that can mess
up your data, like doing a Sort without selecting all columns or "merging" cells

Keep up the practicing and you'll get the hang of it.

Gord....................from up the street at Parksville, B.C.


On Sun, 15 Apr 2007 12:20:02 -0700, robo9763
wrote:



"Gord Dibben" wrote:

The 4-headed cross with the arrowheads is the default cursor when you hover over
the edges of a cell.

This allows you to move the cell to another location.

Does this not occur? What happens if you double-click on that arrowhead?

Cursor should move to last cell in column or row depending upon which edge you
clicked on.

Do you see a small black lump at the bottom right corner of the cell?

This is known as the "fill handle" and you click on that to drag/copy cells.

Are you saying that the normal fat white cross never shows up anywhere?


Gord


On Sat, 14 Apr 2007 15:24:03 -0700, robo9763
wrote:

NEW MESSAGE Dear Gord,
I,m glad you saw my 2nd note to you and thanks for answering.
Yes I have that large white cross, it shows up during initial hovering
after (1) left click, it's OK.
Now I see what that 4-head thing is, it does appear on any edge and
it cuts the cell right out and deposits it where designated.
I had forgotten all about that fill handle,like the skunk in the
wind, so if I ignore the 4-head monster and look for the fill button,and aim
for it,the desired black cross appears,more stable.
I,ve been practicing this, it seems all right, it seems to me that
4-head could be dangerous can it be turned off do you think?
Anyway, thank you very much, this has been driving me to senility,
and I 've spent a few hours going thru Help etc. trying to find something
that refers to it so I can get rid of it. It is still a nuisance while it's
blotting everything out, but now I know where to look for handle and what to
avoid.

Sincerely,
Bob
Troutman

Victoria B.C



.


"Gord Dibben" wrote:

A star generally has 5 points.

I cannot think of any Excel pointer that has 5 points.

Perhaps a better description of the figure and what it does to mess things up.

Does it prevent dragging cells or formulas?


Gord Dibben MS Excel MVP

On Sat, 14 Apr 2007 12:08:01 -0700, robo9763
wrote:

When I point to a cell to drag it or add a list of consecutive numbers or
drag my formula to adjacent cells this *&^@^ star appears instead of the
usual pointer. It messes up everything , Please tell me how to get rid of it.
----------an octegenarion amateur!

P.S. I'm using Excel in Office 2003

Dear Gord, Thank you for answering my request, this has been driving me crazy since the shop "did me a favour "and loaded Office 2003 in my computer. I was doing reasonably well with Office 97 . What I called a star is really the same small cross with an arrowhead at the end of each arm, not + anymore. This (cross arrowhead+ ) appears whenever I try to copy or drag the formula that is in the cell, by clicking on the bottom right
corner. When I go ahead and use the arrowheaded monstrosity, nothing is
accomplished it does not transfer formula or drag it or do anything, that I
can see anyway, but I used to think the action was done OK.
I hope this is clearer and that you have a remedy,
Thanking you in advance , Bob Troutman

Ahem, The Star of David.

(Named after many of the "David" contributors in the *excel* newsgroups!)



Gord Dibben wrote:

A star generally has 5 points.

I cannot think of any Excel pointer that has 5 points.

Perhaps a better description of the figure and what it does to mess things up.

Does it prevent dragging cells or formulas?

Gord Dibben MS Excel MVP

On Sat, 14 Apr 2007 12:08:01 -0700, robo9763
wrote:

When I point to a cell to drag it or add a list of consecutive numbers or
drag my formula to adjacent cells this *&^@^ star appears instead of the
usual pointer. It messes up everything , Please tell me how to get rid of it.
----------an octegenarion amateur!

P.S. I'm using Excel in Office 2003

--

Dave Peterson

Yes, I've heard of the Gordian Knot, but that's a different pointer!



Gord Dibben wrote:

A star generally has 5 points.

I cannot think of any Excel pointer that has 5 points.

Perhaps a better description of the figure and what it does to mess things up.

Does it prevent dragging cells or formulas?

Gord Dibben MS Excel MVP

On Sat, 14 Apr 2007 12:08:01 -0700, robo9763
wrote:

When I point to a cell to drag it or add a list of consecutive numbers or
drag my formula to adjacent cells this *&^@^ star appears instead of the
usual pointer. It messes up everything , Please tell me how to get rid of it.
----------an octegenarion amateur!

P.S. I'm using Excel in Office 2003

--

Dave Peterson