Someone has set Excel to use 1904 date system. Use Tools|Options, open
Calculation tab and look in lower left corner.
best wishes
--
Bernard V Liengme
www.stfx.ca/people/bliengme
remove caps from email

"KR" <nospam@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:eb8Aqk3DFHA.1392@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
> Situation:
>
> Workbook was created in Excel 2003 (PC) and forwarded to another person
> who
> opened it with another PC using either Excel 2000 or 2003 (unconfirmed
> which
> version). The dates showed up as about 4 years off. My first thought?
> Maybe
> the machine was set with a different system clock. But here is where it
> gets
> weird;
>
> the receipient returned the workbook via email, and the wrong dates still
> show up even on the originator's PC. When he enters new dates, they show
> up
> as correct, but the cells that had the original dates (or anywhere they
> are
> cut/paste from those original cells, including into new workbooks) still
> show up as wrong. Checking the cell value (days since seed date) the cells
> are identical, but in cells right next to each other, show as different
> dates (when formatted as date).
>
> I was unable to find anything in cell format that would cause the
> difference
> (we made sure it was straight date format, and not the ones with the
> asterisks).
>
> The fact that the dates are about 4 years off (taking into account leap
> year, it probably matches up exactly) makes me think of the Macintosh seed
> date being 1904 instead of 1900...but no-one here uses a mac, and if the
> date was actually based on the machine date, I would think that the
> numbers
> would still match up within a PC, and certainly within a worksheet.
>
> Has anyone else come across this? Any idea what would cause it, so we can
> ensure it doesn't happen again?
>
> Thanks,
> Keith
>
> --
> The enclosed questions or comments are entirely mine and don't represent
> the
> thoughts, views, or policy of my employer. Any errors or omissions are my
> own.
>
>