Conditional Formatting help?

[gofish]

Don't know if I am posting in right place, but will try again...

I am using Excel 2003 and it seems to only allow me 3 conditions per row where i am trying to color about 10 cells plus the one with the "X", with 7 different colors from cell a7-g7 containing an "X". If I place an "X" in say, D7, I want cells i7-v7 to change to red. Or if an "X" gets placed in F7, then cells i7-v7 turn blue. But I can only get 3 color changes per line using condition 1 as =$a$7 = "X", condition 2 as =$b$7 = "X", and condition 3 as =$c$7 = "X". But I need to do D7-G7 the same way with different colors. These all work great but not enough conditions for 4 more.
Is there another way?

Would adding a7<>'X' somewhere in this formula =$b$7 = "X" help and where would it go or be written?

If I had Excel 2007, would I be able to do this much easier?

[Palmetto]

Versions of Excel prior to 2007 are limited to three CF. Excel 2007 is not limited. You will have to use a VBA solution for 2003.

Example code:

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[gofish]

oh man, don't know anything about Visual basic or how to use it. Where should I go to learn about it enough to insert what you posted?

I tried to use a trial version of Excel but what a waste of time, can't use any functions. It will open my speadsheet but can't type anything in it.