Hi Bernard

Thanks for your quick reply, I didn't think of looking in there.  I've had a
play with the settings and I can only find a setting for changing the colour
of selected text in word / outlook etc , nothing seems to make a difference
to the colour of selected cells in Excel.  I'm pretty sure I've checked every
setting, From the properties panel I selected the Appearance tab, then the
Advanced button, then I experimented with all the items in the "Item" list.  
I haven't found one that makes any difference to the cell highlight colour of
selected cells.  Is there anything else I could try?

Regards

Oliver