Excel 2003 - Selection Tool Always ON

Hi all,
This morning when I started my Excel 2003 and I tried to work the worksheet
I found that when I pressed the left mouse button it would select various
cells (as if the SHIFT key was pressed all the time.
Tried to turn the Scroll/Num Lock OFF and it didnt work. This is on a
portable computer. I have had this problem before but cant remember how I
fixed.

Help please
--
=====
screwie

sounds like the F8 key has been pressed. Do you see "Ext" in the status bar,
towards the right side oof the screen? If so, press the F8 key again. If
that isn't the issue, somebody else will have to guide you

"screwie" wrote:

> Hi all,
> This morning when I started my Excel 2003 and I tried to work the worksheet
> I found that when I pressed the left mouse button it would select various
> cells (as if the SHIFT key was pressed all the time.
> Tried to turn the Scroll/Num Lock OFF and it didnt work. This is on a
> portable computer. I have had this problem before but cant remember how I
> fixed.
>
> Help please
> --
> =====
> screwie

Thanks but that doesnt seem to be the problem. Any other ideas??
screwie

"Duke Carey" wrote:

> sounds like the F8 key has been pressed. Do you see "Ext" in the status bar,
> towards the right side oof the screen? If so, press the F8 key again. If
> that isn't the issue, somebody else will have to guide you
>
> "screwie" wrote:
>
> > Hi all,
> > This morning when I started my Excel 2003 and I tried to work the worksheet
> > I found that when I pressed the left mouse button it would select various
> > cells (as if the SHIFT key was pressed all the time.
> > Tried to turn the Scroll/Num Lock OFF and it didnt work. This is on a
> > portable computer. I have had this problem before but cant remember how I
> > fixed.
> >
> > Help please
> > --
> > =====
> > screwie

A common cause of this is that you are in "Extended" or "Add" mode.

If you see "EXT" or "ADD" down on the status bar try hitting F8 key a couple
of times.

F8 will will toggle you in and out of Extended mode. SHIFT + F8 will put you
in "ADD" mode.

With the "ADD" mode you need to re-click the mouse. This is used to select
non-contiguous cells and ranges without using the CTRL key.

With the "EXT" mode you just click once and drag. All cells will be selected.

If you are using a wheel-mouse tap the wheel a couple times.

Also see David McRitchie's "Ghosting" at

http://www.mvps.org/dmcritchie/excel/ghosting.txt


Gord Dibben Excel MVP

On Mon, 11 Apr 2005 09:17:08 -0700, "screwie"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>Hi all,
>This morning when I started my Excel 2003 and I tried to work the worksheet
>I found that when I pressed the left mouse button it would select various
>cells (as if the SHIFT key was pressed all the time.
>Tried to turn the Scroll/Num Lock OFF and it didnt work. This is on a
>portable computer. I have had this problem before but cant remember how I
>fixed.
>
>Help please

I had this same problem on my Toshiba Laptop (running Windows XP) and found
the following solution:

Open the control panel > open the mouse settings > click the hardware tab >
click the properties button.

Observe the new dialog open > click the advance settings > click the "wheel
detection" dropdown > set it to "detection disabled" > cick OK > reboot.

Note that my original Wheel detection settings were "Assume Wheel is Present".

Hope it helps




"Gord Dibben" wrote:

> A common cause of this is that you are in "Extended" or "Add" mode.
>
> If you see "EXT" or "ADD" down on the status bar try hitting F8 key a couple
> of times.
>
> F8 will will toggle you in and out of Extended mode. SHIFT + F8 will put you
> in "ADD" mode.
>
> With the "ADD" mode you need to re-click the mouse. This is used to select
> non-contiguous cells and ranges without using the CTRL key.
>
> With the "EXT" mode you just click once and drag. All cells will be selected.
>
> If you are using a wheel-mouse tap the wheel a couple times.
>
> Also see David McRitchie's "Ghosting" at
>
> http://www.mvps.org/dmcritchie/excel/ghosting.txt
>
>
> Gord Dibben Excel MVP
>
> On Mon, 11 Apr 2005 09:17:08 -0700, "screwie"
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >Hi all,
> >This morning when I started my Excel 2003 and I tried to work the worksheet
> >I found that when I pressed the left mouse button it would select various
> >cells (as if the SHIFT key was pressed all the time.
> >Tried to turn the Scroll/Num Lock OFF and it didnt work. This is on a
> >portable computer. I have had this problem before but cant remember how I
> >fixed.
> >
> >Help please
>
>