URGENT NEED FOR lost MS Excel setup file; Email or download file? [see details]?

Question

I had an MS Office suite (old, but legit) on my computer & was using Excel to help me manage my mom's diabetes, keep track of her feeding, medication, bathing, and other healthcare & lifesaving efforts I and my dad use in caring for her (she's a constant care patient at home).

My computer became slow, so I deleted a lot of files and cleaned up the HDD (avoiding removal of Excel, etc.) -- but while I was working in the wee hours of the morning (I've probably averaged 3-4 hours of sleep per day for the past month since Mom last got back from the hospital), I noticed my MS applications were in separate folders.

For whatever reason, this bothered me, and I tried moving all of them into a new "Microsoft" folder. I ignored the "this may cause some applications to not work" message, because it had always been overly cautious (apps always seemed to continue working normally) in the past, plus I was really fatigued and didn't appreciate the significance of the message.

Now, Excel doesn't work, and I can't access any of my Excel files. The install is very old, and I've lost my CD, but I've got all sorts of MS files in the Office folders. Can I just get a copy of "setup" somewhere and do the install from my HDD?

I need to get this back up and working VERY soon.

Thanks for whatever help you are able to offer.

Spankdis:

THANKS!

It took me a little while to get it launched (probably because not all my neurons are working properly right now) - but after a couple of hours of panic, I got the combination right. I think the reboot did it.

Anyway, it's going to take me a little while to get used to the new way of doing things (to be expected), but I immediately noticed one thing that I love about this software: the text in my drop-down menus is now big enough that I can read it instead of having to remember the order of the data in my lists. That's going to reduce my mental workload a lot!

Plus -- as if it wasn't obvious -- I can retrieve all my Excel data & not have to feel like a hypocrite for supporting the oligarchy of Microsoft. The folks @ Sun must be really great human beings.

Anyway, thanks again. There's just no way to explain how much this means to me, or to adequately describe how much of a lifesaver it has turned out to be.

Peace, love, joy and happiness to you and yours.

The OpenOffice software has satisfied my needs, but my initial impression is that the more useful shortcuts and convenience features of MS Excel may not exist in OpenOffice Calc. For instance, I've not yet been able to find an equivalent of the Ctrl+R or Ctrl+D functions, and Delete gives me a range of options the least powerful of which is apparently much more powerful than I wanted.

And if Calc has an equivalent of Excel's "Conditional Formatting" ("CF") I haven't found it or figured it out. I'm a little confused on that point, because it showed me that the cells had CF, and I think it recognized the formulae I used in Excel, but it apparently didn't apply that CF.

Also, I haven't yet determined whether Calc has an equivalent for Excel's Validation function. Calc won't let me use the blank values in my drop-downs (but the appearance of the drop-downs is MUCH improved over Excel).

However, it must be remembered that I've only got a couple of hours experience with OpenOffice.

Answer 1

try openoffice.org