printing problem

[Kittle]

I have filled in an excel spreadsheet but when I try to print it off I get the message "microsoft excel cannot find anything to print".  Never had this problem before.
Nether

[truenorth]

Could you please describe the steps you are using to try and print this document from the point after which the document has been made?Also tell us what is generating this message. Is it the printer that is turned on and the one to be used for the print process? truenorth
P.S. It just occurred to me that perhaps you did not "save" the document before trying to print it. I don't believe excel will allow a print until the document has been saved.

[Kittle]

Thank you Truenorth.
The document that I tried to print was already saved and I have printed with amendments many times before without any problems. It has been on my computer for many months.  When the excel spreadsheet comes up I amend it as necessary and then click on File - Print and ok.  Immediately a box appears stating "Microsoft Excel cannot find anything to print".  This has never happened before.   The printer is a hp deskjet 5550 and it is working correctly with any other documents that I print from Word 2000.
Kittle

[truenorth]

Kittle, It appears that it is some association difficulty that is exclusive to the excel program and the printer program not seeing something it needs to allow printing. I am going to point out something in your last post which is not necessarily an exact  portrayal of the process you are following. That is"I amend it as necessary and then click on File - Print and OK. " My point being you do NOT mention that prior to the print command you have actually "saved" it AFTER the amendment. You do say that you are saving the document so it may well be that in fact you ARE saving after you do the amendment--it is just not stated in you print sequence. I would say that the problem is likely related to the excel program rather than the printer. Can you copy the document into another location outside the excel program and try printing it from there?I know that should not be necessary but it will point more clearly to the problem being within excel.Even transferring it to a flash drive and then calling for the print from the flash drive location.If you have the excel program on a disc it may become an option to uninstall excel from add/remove programs and reinstall it. Have you gone to their web site to see if there are any upgrades to the software (other than purchasing a newer version)? truenorth

[Kittle]

Thank you again truenorth.  I have taken note of what you say and having tried the alternatives without success I decided to us a Microsoft Works spreadsheet instead of Excel.  This prints successfully but now I have another problem in that what I have on the spreadsheet is confidential and I cannot find a way to password protect it.  Any ideas?
Kittle

[truenorth]

The concensus of web opinion is that there is no DIRECT way to password protect a document in MS Works. However the alternatives to achieving that goal are to ZIP the file and there are password protections available within zip programs. Another (if you have the program) is to create your document in MS word and there is a password protection availability in that. This is one of the many sites i reviewed on your behalf and seems to reflect the prevailing opinion. However you should be able to resolve your excel issue. Have you the option to uninstall/reinstall the program? truenorth
http://www.ehow.com/how_5898548_put-works-file-xp-home.html

[Kittle]

Thank you truenorth.  By a stroke of luck by experimenting I have solved the problem by clearing the print area.  It means that I can now keep my Excel spreadsheet which is password protected.  I am so grateful to you for all the time that you must have spent on my behalf.  I am afraid that these sort of problems arise because of my ignorance of the way computers work but I keep learning a bit at a time.
I am sorry to have taken so much of your time and thank you again.
Kittle

[truenorth]

You are most welcome and thank you for your kind words.We at the CH forums do our best to be helpfull and you need not deprecate your level of knowledge. We all had to start somewhere and in my own case i am still learning each day. By researching the problems of others one also learns from the experience. truenorth

[patio]

Nicely Done TrueNorth and thanx kittle for stopping back with an update ! !