Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Excel 2007 Multiplication Bug

850*77.1 gives a result of 100,000 instead of the correct 65,535!
It seems that any formula that should evaluate to 65,535 will act strangely.

More posts here :

One poster in the forum noted these behaviors: "Suppose the formula is in A1. =A1+1 returns 100,001, which appears to show the formula is in fact 100,000... =A1*2 returns 131,070, as if A1 had 65,535 (which it should have been). =A1*1 keeps it at 100,000. =A1-1 returns 65,534. =A1/1 is still 100,000. =A1/2 returns 32767.5."

You've got to wonder: if it worked fine in previous versions what the hell did they do to mess it up this time?

Saturday, September 15, 2007

MSN Messenger 7.5 doesn't work anymore

I tried logging into MSN Messenger a couple of days ago and got an error saying that I had to download the latest "Windows Live" version. My current version is 7.5 and I don't want to download the latest because I hate it as it is a memory hog.

After searching a few forums online, I found the following workaround to get MSN Messenger 7.5 logging me in again:
  • Right click the MSN Messenger icon and select Properties
  • On the Compatibility tab choose to Run this program in compatibility mode for: Windows 2000
  • Click OK
Now, when you start MSN Messenger, it reinstalls/repairs it and then allows you to log in again! Only thing is, you end up with a funny icon in your System Tray.