How do I make a file read only unless a password is supplied?

Click <File> <Save As...>

When the Save As window opens, click <Tools> <General Options>

Enter your desired password in the 'Password to modify:' box and then click
'OK".

This will launch a 'Confrim Password' window in which you will need to
re-enter the desired password.

The user will be able to open the file and not save changes. However, the
user can delete/modify any data while it is open--just not save the changes.

If you want the user to only be able to open the file and not be able to
change anything, you might want to consider using the Protection feature.
This allows the author to protect the whole file, separate sheets, or a
single cell.

<Tools> <Protection>

Best wishes.

"Tim" wrote:

>

Transplanted Buckeye wrote...
>Click <File> <Save As...>
>
>When the Save As window opens, click <Tools> <General Options>
>
>Enter your desired password in the 'Password to modify:' box and then
click
>'OK".
....
>The user will be able to open the file and not save changes. However,
the
>user can delete/modify any data while it is open--just not save the
changes.

Not quite. User can't overwrite the existing file, but *CAN* save the
changed workbook under a different filename. Then the enterprising user
could close this new file and use the OS to copy it using the original
filename.

All the modify password does is open the file as read-only WITH RESPECT
TO ITS ORIGINAL FILENAME if the user doesn't enter the modify password.
If the OP want's file protection with passwords, it'd have to be
provided by the OS, not any application software, and AFAIK, no Windows
version supports any file system that provides password access to
modify files.

Under Unix-like systems (including Macs running OS X), it's possible to
write scripts which start off by reading user-entered passwords, and if
validated, open other processes UNDER OTHER USER IDs to copy the users'
working copies of protected workbooks (stored in the user's own working
disk space) to protected locations which the users' own IDs have only
read access. Maybe the same sort of thing could be done securely under
Windows, but I'd guess it'd require a background service to run
separate processes with file access permisions different from the
current user's.

>If you want the user to only be able to open the file and not be able
to
>change anything, you might want to consider using the Protection
feature.
>This allows the author to protect the whole file, separate sheets, or
a
>single cell.
>
><Tools> <Protection>

This provides EXTREMELY WEAK protection. Adequate to prevent innocent
and unsophisticated users from screwing anything up, but a minor
inconvenience to sophisticated users (such as anyone reading this
newsgroup) intent on unprotecting worksheets or workbooks.

Aside from file open passwords, all security or protection mechanisms
in Excel are light weight and not meant to deter determined attack.