how to stop auto formatting of pasted data in cells

I am pasting information from a website into a column in excel. when i paste the data, it automatically formats the info as a date, even though i do want the date format. i tried going to format > cells > number > text, and then tried pasting the data, but my formatting is overridden, and it reformats the data as dates. is there a way to turn off autoformatting so that the data i paste into cells does not format unless i choose to format it?

i have been able to copy the data into word, and then by selecting the column that excel is converting to the date format, and using the paste special function, i am able to get the data into the column in excel under the proper format. also, i have tried selecting all of the necessary data from the website i am using, and then using edit > paste special > selecting text, and then clicking ok, but instead of populating all of the cells, the data only goes into column A. is there anyway around this? or do i have to paste the data into word, and then copying it from word and using the paste special function in excel?

anyone have any ideas????? or is auto-formatting always on?