hi,

in Excel 2003 I protected the formatting a various cells, which should
contain text data only, by selecting the text-format (Via Format -> Cells and
select the text option under the Number tab), deselect the Lock option and
then protect the sheet (only allowing users to select locked and unlocked
cells, the default value). To my suprise, however, users are allowed to
change the format of these cells by simple pasting (use ctrl-c and ctrl-v)
the content of another cell from a different workbook into these "protected"
cells: if you paste the contents of a cell with date formatting into these
"protected cells", which should contain text data only, the formatting of
these "protected" cells automatically changes into date formatting! does
anyone know how to colve these problem? I have tried to use Validation
options, did not work. I also tried to llok for a way to sitch off automatic
number formatting, but could find it.

Any help is highly appreciated.