Microsoft Office Suite

What is Microsoft Office?

• MS Word: is the word processing program of the Microsoft Office suite that allows you to create documents and reports.
• MS Excel: lets you develop spreadsheets that display data in various tabular and visual formats.
• MS Power Point: creates multimedia presentations to display information in a graphical format.
• MS Access: is a database program that stores information that can be manipulated, sorted, and filtered to meet your specific needs.

What is the MEEC Agreement?

     Most MCPS Microsoft Licensing is now covered under an enterprise agreement called MEEC (Maryland Education Enterprise Consortium).  Software covered by the MEEC agreement can be installed on all MCPS computers (schools do not need to purchase most Licenses). More information on the MEEC Agreement can be found at:

MCPS Tech Products Media Ordering Information

As an MCPS employee can I purchase Microsoft Office products at a discount?

     Yes you can! With a special license agreement with Microsoft, Montgomery County Public Schools is able to offer its faculty/staff a selected number of Microsoft software titles at significant discounts. More information can be found at:

http://elms08.e-academy.com/mcps_k12_md/

Frequently Asked MS Office Questions and Answers

MS Word

How can I type a fraction in Word?

Typing international characters

Tips an hints to recover a corrupt Word file

Creating Labels from Excel spreadsheet

Creating Letters from Excel spreadsheet

Tracking changes made to a document

Insert and modify Word Art objects

MS Excel

When I print my spreadsheet the grid lines are missing.

How can I display hidden rows or columns in my Excel spreadsheet?

Tips an hints to recover a corrupt Excel file

Examples of Commonly used Excel formulas

Importing text files into Excel

MS PowerPoint

Tips and hints to recover a corrupt PowerPoint file

Merge multiple PowerPoint presentations into one

MS Access

Tips and hints to recover a corrupt Access file

How to share an Access database

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Typing a Fraction in your Word document:

By default Word has an auto correct option enabled that allows you to type simple fractions in plain text. If you type a fraction in and it is not correctly formatted check to make sure your auto correct option is turned on. To do this open a new blank Word document. Click on Tools and then click on Auto Correct. On the Auto Correct options screen click on the "Format as You Type" tab. Make sure fractions is checked.

For more complicated math equations you will need to use the Equation Editor as follows: Put your cursor where you want the fraction. On the menu bar, click as follows:

Insert
Object
Microsoft Equation

A box will open up in which you may create your fractions, or whatever other math equations you wish to show. The box is sizable and movable just like a clip art image when you are done. You can also turn the wrap features on or off. You will see a special formula toolbar. The items on the top row are the symbols you can use. The items on the bottom row are the structures you can use.

For the fraction, click on the symbol that looks like a fraction with boxes where the numbers should be. A menu will drop down of all the variations available. Choose the one you want and it will be inserted into your formula box. Type the numbers or letters you want into the numerator and denominator.
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Insert international characters into your document using a shortcut key:

To Insert	Press
à, è, ì, ò, ù À, È, Ì, Ò, Ù	CTRL+` (ACCENT GRAVE), the letter
á, é, í, ó, ú, ý Á, É, Í, Ó, Ú, Ý	CTRL+' (APOSTROPHE), the letter
â, ê, î, ô, û Â, Ê, Î, Ô, Û	CTRL+SHIFT+^ (CARET), the letter
ã, ñ, õ Ã, Ñ, Õ	CTRL+SHIFT+~ (TILDE), the letter
ä, ë, ï, ö, ü, ÿ Ä, Ë, Ï, Ö, Ü, Ÿ	CTRL+SHIFT+: (COLON), the letter
å, Å	CTRL+SHIFT+@, a or A
æ, Æ	CTRL+SHIFT+&, a or A
œ, Œ	CTRL+SHIFT+&, o or O
ç, Ç	CTRL+, (COMMA), c or C
ð, Ð	CTRL+' (APOSTROPHE), d or D
ø, Ø	CTRL+/, o or O
¿	ALT+CTRL+SHIFT+?
¡	ALT+CTRL+SHIFT+!
ß	CTRL+SHIFT+&, s

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Tips for recovering corrupt Word documents:

• Try opening the file by holding down the [Shift] key and double-clicking the file in Explorer. This will keep automatic VB code from running, as well as other automatic commands that may be the cause of the error.
• If you can open the file, but the contents are garbled, try using the Show/Hide
  button to reveal formatting. Then, starting from the beginning of the document,
  highlight all of the text except any extra paragraph markers at the bottom of
  the document. Copy the text and paste it into a new document. If that doesn't
  work, you may be able to copy and paste other segments to rebuild the file.
  (Return to FAQ)

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Below are directions to create labels in Word 2002/2003 using data in an Excel spreadsheet:

1. Open Word.
2. From the Tools menu, point to Letters and Mailings, and click Mail Merge Wizard. If you are working in Word 2003, click Mail Merge.
3. Under Select document type, click Labels. This option is used for creating address labels.
4. Click Next: Starting document.
5. Under Select starting document, select Change document layout.
6. Click Label options. Select the paper type that you will be using such as Avery Standard 5160 Address. Click OK.
7. Click Next: Select recipients.
8. Under Select recipients, click Use an existing list. This option assumes that you are using address information stored in another file or database.
9. Click Browse to locate your spreadsheet containing address information. Click Open.
10. Select the table containing the address information and click OK.
11. Place a check beside the recipients you want included in the mail merge. Click OK.
12. Click Next: Arrange your labels.
13. Click More items.
14. From the Insert Merge Field dialog box, select the fields you want to include in the mail merge. Click Insert. These should be the fields that contain the recipients’ names and addresses. Close the Insert Merge Field dialog box.
15. Format the first label as you want it to appear when it is printed. Click Update all labels.
16. Click Next: Preview your labels.
17. Click Next: Complete the merge.
18. If you are satisfied with the appearance of the labels, click Print.
Your labels will now be printed. Each label should contain a different address based on the address information that was in your Excel file.

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For more information on how to create mail merge letters in Word 2003 (using an Excel spreadsheet as the data source) visit: http://www.uwec.edu/help/Word03/MM-withxls.htm

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For more information on how to track changes made to a Word document visit: http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/trackchanges/HowTrackChangesWorks.html

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For more information on how to insert and modify Word Art objects visit: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/312802

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Printing Grid lines In Excel:

If grid lines fail to appear on your printed Excel spreadsheet follow the below steps:

1. Open your Excel spread sheet
2. Click on FILE
3. Click on PAGE SETUP
4. Click on the SHEET tab
5. Check GRIDLINES under print

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Display hidden rows or columns:

To display hidden rows, select rows above and below the hidden rows. Right click on the rows and click unhide. To display hidden columns, select columns to the left and the right of the hidden column. Again, right click on the columns you selected and click unhide.

If the first row or column of a worksheet is hidden, click Edit and then click Go To. In the "Go To" window type "A1" in the Reference box, and then click OK. Click on the Format menu item and then select column (or row if you are trying to unhide a row) and select unhide.
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Tips for recovering Excel documents:

• Try opening the file by holding down the [Shift] key and double-clicking the file in Explorer. This will keep automatic VB code from running, as well as other automatic commands that may be the cause of the error.
  
• If a small Excel file with only one sheet is the problem, try opening the file from Word. In Word click on File and then click on Open. This will show you the open dialog box. In the open dialog box, select "All Files" in the "files of type" pull-down menu and try opening it directly. Or you can try using the "Recover Text From Any File" option also found under the "files of type" pull-down menu.

(Return to FAQ)

Modified Friday, February 22, 2008 by John Scott