text colors and cell fill colors not displaying in on-screen worksheets

I've been using Office 2007 for years. In July/August, I finally converted from Windows XP to Windows 2007 (kicking and screaming all the way).

I haven't worked much with Excel since then. Today I noticed that an old Excel calendar-generating file that used to function perfectly no longer displays cell-fill colors or text colors in the on-screen worksheets. However, when printed and/or when viewed as an on-screen print-preview, the colors show up as usual.

Then I noticed that inserted shapes are displayed as black lines, and any fill color is displayed as white (not transparent, where grid-lines show through, but WHITE, blocking grid-line display. And for these inserted graphics, they are black & white not only in the on-screen worksheet, but also in the print-preview screen and in paper printouts.

Other types of colored inserts, such as Clip Art objects, show up in color in all three venues.

I created a quick new dummy file to see if this weird behavior only showed up old files created on the Windows XP platform. Nope, the new file exhibits the same strange anomalies.

Am I the only one who has this strange "fungus" on my Excel? Is it due to the switch from Windows XP to Windows 2007?

I couldn't find any reference to this anomaly in any of your forums. Any ideas out there?

Originally Posted by teylyn

Can you post screenshots of how it looks in XP and how it looks in Win7?

In general: Office 2007 has serious issues and limitations, even after applying all the service packs. It's still buggy. Consider upgrading to a newer version. There's a reason the world has moved on to Office 2010 and 2013.

Thanks for your response, Teylyn...sorry to take so long to get back to you. I'd be happy to post any screenshots you'd like...but I don't know how. I'm a total greenhorn, here. I'm used to using a paper-clip button or some other obvious attachment-manager link, but I can't find any, and my search for help on how to post a screenshot came back empty. The general rules explain that I should use the paper-clip button to post a worksheet...but once again, where's the paper-clip? My browser of choice is Chrome, and I’ve noticed that on some sites, Chrome doesn't show buttons and links that appear in Internet Explorer. If I don't hear back from you on how to attach, or post, worksheets, workbooks, and JPG files, I'll try the MS browser.

As to upgrading to a newer Excel version, yeah, sounds like a good idea, but I'm retired, with limited discretionary resources, all of which are earmarked for things like grandkids' college funds. I haven't done any serious VBA coding since 2005, so I don’t need or use most of Excel’s bells and whistles any more. Excel 2007 may be outdated, and I'll take your word for it that there are still serious bugs. But for my personal, very simple needs it has worked flawlessly. I'm not a cheapskate, I'll shell out money if I have to. But why should I spend $100 bucks or so for an upgrade when Excel 2007 has been working fine for me since 2009?

MartinDWilson -- No, I have no trouble capturing screenshots. I used to use SnapShot, now I prefer Screenshot Captor. I've already created three screenshots (currently saved as .PDF files) which clearly display the problem I've encountered. I just don't know how to "post" those screenshots here, on this forum. If that makes me sound like a total idiot, fine, then I'm a doofus. I have very little experience with forums, and I've never before had the need to attach an illustrative file or screenshot. Please just tell me how to post the screenshots here.

Thanks for the guidance, Teylyn. Here are three .png files.

WinXP, printout.png
First is a photo of a 2014 calendar produced using a WinXP OS - it's not pretty, but you can see where all the colors should be. That calendar looked the same in all three "views": onscreen worksheet, onscreen print preview, and paper printout. Month-names are white lettering on a dark-grey background, Saturdays & Sundays are medium-grey background, every other Monday is green (our yard-waste pickup days), and the rings in the circled dates are blue and pink.

Win7, print preview.png
Next is a screenshot, the print-preview as it looks in my new Win7 OS. It's the same calendar updated for 2015, yard-waste days moved to Tuesdays. The printout looks the same as the print-preview. You can see that most of the colors are still showing up as they did in WinXP, except the rings are now shown as black (if you go into the "edit shapes" window, they are still blue and pink, but...).

Win7, worksheet view.png
Last is a screenshot of the same (WinXP) file as it appears onscreen in the worksheet. Everything's in black and white except the year, which is a "photograph" of a range that is off to the right. The month-names' color-pattern are reversed, now showing up as black lettering on white background. The shading is not shown for Sat & Sun, or for the yard-waste days.

It may seem trivial...I can check out a print-preview to see the colors. But why is it happening?

I'm not about to shoot any messengers. I appreciate good advice, even if I can't take it. And I sincerely thank you for your time and your inputs. But to be honest, I'd rather not be chided for having outdated software, after I've explained that I really can't afford to upgrade, certainly not now.

The file was created in Dec 2010 (first calendar was for 2011), using Excel 2007 (which was released in 2009) on a 2009 Dell laptop with WinXP as the OS. I'd tried Windows Vista on a friend's laptop, and didn't care for it at all. When I generated that calendar file, it was using software which was reasonably current, especially for a low-end user on a retiree's budget. That was four years ago, not 15 or 20. Maybe my saying "old program" was misinformation. What I meant to imply was that I had a simple application that had worked well on my "old" operating system.

As to the mechanics of the calendar worksheet, the dates and blank spaces are manipulated with formulas. The working of Excel formulas hasn't changed substantially over the past 15 years -- they've added dozens of new functions, but for the most part, I believe formulas in old Excel files still work well in the latest Excel version. Except for the dates, all the rest is manual: colored fill of yard-waste days and placement of holiday squares and Soc Sec date circles. Takes me about 10 minutes each year, so no reason to write code. It's a low-tech calendar. No VBA, no conditional formatting.

However, I agree with you on the significant changes to handling objects over the years, and that may be what's "biting" me here. But it isn't just that cells which used to have fill are now fill-less. Even if I select a cell, or range of cells, and choose a fill color or pattern, or change the text-color...nothing shows up on the worksheet. ...Yet it DOES show up on the print-preview and printout. That is just weird.

I'm well aware of all the changes in Excel over the years. At Boeing, I was forced to make substantial revisions to my applications, especially the coding. I started out switching from my Lotus 1-2-3 apps, on Mitch Kapor's proprietary macro language, to MS Excel 4.0 macro langage, to several iterations of VBA. With each new version that Boeing would "approve" (i.e., require) for our use, there was some need for revision, though usually not severe. But I have no desire to bury myself once again in VBA coding. I'm borderline OCD, and that way lies madness. So if I'm not coding, then changes in VBA shouldn't impact my worksheets, right?

And I have no desire to upgrade my software only because newer, more powerful software is available, when I have absolutely no need for the newer features. If you and the other gurus here feel that's the only answer, I'll stop bothering you, and just drop out of your forum, no hard feelings. If I'm forced to change my software, I may opt for one of the free office suites available to any one of several Linux iterations. I've been told that both the spreadsheet and word-processing apps are excellent. I've set up a partition to experiment with Linux, and a couple of buddies tell me it's really the way to go, especially for a miserly retiree.

If I sound bitter, or argumentative, I apologize. I've just got my back up...you're not the first person to imply that I'm still using rotary-dial technology, and should be grateful for ANY functionality that remains, and why don't I just buy the new version? I have never begrudged you power-users all the new bells and whistles...as they say, "more power to you". There was a time when I actually looked forward to new versions...I even submitted dozens of suggestions to MS for Excel improvements. They got so used to me that they sent me beta-test versions, asked for my opinion. It was fun.

But there should be room for folks who are NOT power-users, and just want to keep using good simple software for a dozen years or more. WinXP was a more solid and dependable product than Win Vista or Win7. The software companies should not cease to support older versions. Microsoft got rich on us, and they shouldn't toss us under the bus.

Thanks for your attention and suggestions, teylyn.

Your screenshot is exactly what you SHOULD see, what I've always seen until recently. I'll try your idea to start Excel in Safe Mode, but not immediately...family stuff takes precedence. I'll let you know if it works, or if I find another solution.

A young rent-a-geek at a local computer repair shop suggested that I do a full backup of my files, and reload Win7...he thinks some driver or DLL has become corrupted. That's a suggestion I'd rather avoid, but if all else fails....

Jim (OffGrid9)

AlKey -- why would it be running in compatibility mode? The file was created in Excel 2007 as a .xlsx file. Can you explain?