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10 Minute Guide to Excel for Windows 95

Introduction

Perhaps you walked into work this morning and found Excel for Windows 95 on your desk. A note is stuck to the box: "We need a budget report for the upcoming meeting. See what you can do."

Now What?

You could wade through the manuals that came with the program to find out how to perform a specific task, but that may take a while, and it may tell you more than you want to know. You need a practical guide, one that will tell you exactly how to create and print the worksheets, reports, and graphs you need for the meeting.

Welcome to the 10 Minute Guide to Excel for Windows 95

Because most people don't have the luxury of sitting down uninterrupted for hours at a time to learn Excel, this 10 Minute Guide does not attempt to teach everything about the program. Instead, it focuses on the most often-used features. Each feature is covered in self-contained lessons, which are designed to take 10 minutes or less to complete. The 10 Minute Guide teaches you about the program without relying on technical jargon. With straightforward, easy-to-follow explanations and lists of numbered steps that tell you what keys to press and what options to select, the 10 Minute Guide to Excel for Windows 95 makes learning the program quick and easy.

Who Should Use the 10 Minute Guide to Excel for Windows 95?

The 10 Minute Guide to Excel for Windows 95 is for anyone who

How to Use This Book

The 10 Minute Guide to Excel for Windows 95 consists of a series of lessons ranging from basic startup to a few more advanced features. If this is your first encounter with Excel for Windows 95, you should probably work through lessons 1 to 15 in order. These lessons lead you through the process of creating, editing, and printing a spreadsheet. Subsequent lessons tell you how to use the more advanced features to customize your spreadsheet; use your spreadsheet as a database; create, enhance, and print graphs (charts); and generate reports. If Excel for Windows 95 has not been installed on your computer, consult the inside front cover for installation steps. If this is your first encounter with Microsoft Windows 95, turn to Appendix A, "Microsoft Windows 95 Primer," at the end of this book for help.

If you are upgrading from Excel 5 to Excel for Windows 95 (Excel 7), turn to Appendix B, "Upgrader's Help," at the end of this book for help.

Icons and Conventions Used in This Book

The following icons have been added throughout the book to help you find your way around:


Timesaver Tip: Timesaver Tip icons offer shortcuts and hints for using the program efficiently.


Plain English: Plain English icons define new terms.


Panic Button: Panic Button icons appear where new users often run into trouble.


Windows 95: In addition, Excel version 95 icons help you identify features that are new to Microsoft Excel for Windows 95. You can quickly take advantage of the latest timesaving features of the latest version of Excel.

The following conventions have been used to clarify the steps you must perform:

On-screen text
Any text that appears on-screen is shown in bold.

What you type The information you type appears in bold and in color.

Menu names The names of menus, commands, buttons, and dialog boxes are shown with the first letter capitalized for easy recognition.

Key+Key Combinations In many cases, you must press a two-key combination to enter a command. For example, "Press Alt+X." In such cases, hold down the first key while pressing the second key.


Windows 95: By Any Other Name Excel for Windows 95 was designed to work with the Windows 95 operating system. It is also sometimes known as Excel 7, although the last version of Excel was known as Excel 5 (Microsoft skipped a number so that all its Office applications would have the same version number). In this book, we refer to the newest version as "Excel for Windows 95," "Excel 95," and just "Excel."

Acknowledgments

Many thanks to the people at Que who have helped me with this project. First, thanks to Martha O'Sullivan, Acquisitions Editor, for signing me to write this. Thanks to Lori Cates, Product Development Specialist, for her help on developing this book. Thanks to Mark Enochs, Production Editor, for keeping the manuscript in great shape. And thanks to all the other people I worked with at Que who helped turn this book around on such an aggressive schedule.

Trademarks

All terms mentioned in this book that are known to be trademarks or service marks are listed below. In addition, terms suspected of being trademarks or service marks have been appropriately capitalized. Que cannot attest to the accuracy of this information. Use of a term in this book should not be regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark or service mark. MS-DOS, Windows, Excel, and Toolbar are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.


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