Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2016 September 11

= September 11 =

Small problem with Windows 10 update and Microsoft Excel
I just noticed a small problem with a Windows 10 update and Microsoft Excel. I use Excel spreadsheets quite a bit. The current version is Microsoft Office/Excel 2016. I set up my sheets by formatting the rows and columns, etc., so that what appears on my screen (monitor) is all of the information that I want to appear. So, I will make the columns wider or thinner and make the rows taller and shorter, until the final visual effect is what I desire (i.e., to see all of the relevant cells on my screen, without having to scroll up or down or left or right). A few days ago, I got a message that I had to do an "update" for Windows 10. It was a "big" update that probably took an hour or so to complete. I now noticed that my Excel sheets do not look "normal". They don't show all the cells that they had shown in the past, before the update. I fiddled around a little bit, but I can't see what the problem is. I noticed that the "View" options are still set at "100%". What can be wrong and how do I fix it? I don't feel like going back into each Excel spread sheet and reformatting all of the rows and columns again. I have hundreds of sheets. Now, I actually have to scroll left or right or up or down, to see all of the cells that I had previously seen on the monitor. Also, this problem has occurred in some Excel sheets, but not in others. Any thoughts, ideas, or insights? Thanks. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 16:50, 11 September 2016 (UTC)


 * Is it possible that the big update has somehow changed the default resolution of your display? It's worth checking in preferences.   D b f i r s   11:17, 12 September 2016 (UTC)


 * Thanks. But I am not sure what you mean.  Please explain.  Also, if that were the case, I would see that in all sorts of places.  Not just in Excel.  Right? Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 00:56, 13 September 2016 (UTC)


 * I think maybe we are also not sure what you mean. Would it be possible to show us a screenshot? Switch to the Excel window that doesn't look right, then press the Print Screen button (normally marked PrtScr on your keyboard). Then open MS Paint or another image editor, right click and select Paste. Save the resulting image, then upload it to the Internet somewhere (Imgur would be fine) and write the link here. Then we might be able to understand better what you are seeing. - Cucumber Mike (talk) 07:24, 14 September 2016 (UTC)


 * I can't do that at the moment. In a verbal description:  I set up a spreadsheet.  I manipulate the rows and columns by changing their heights and widths.  I leave the "View" at 100%.  When I open up the spreadsheet, my computer monitor shows Columns A through G.  If I want to look at Columns beyond G, I have to scroll right.  Same thing with Rows.   When I open up the spreadsheet, my computer monitor shows Rows 1 through 25.  If I want to look at Rows beyond 25, I have to scroll down.   This was all before the update.  Now, after the update, the page (spread sheet) looks different.  There are more rows (or perhaps less) and there are more columns (or perhaps less) when I open up the sheet at look at it.  The "View", however, is still set at 100%.  So, the "aesthetics" (appearance) of what my spread sheet looks like is all "off".   Does that help explain it any better?  Thanks. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 12:10, 14 September 2016 (UTC)


 * As an example. Column "A" represents January; Column "B" represents February; and so forth.  I set the column width in such a way that -- when I first open up the spread sheet -- all twelve months are visible (Columns A through L).  So, it has a nice appearance of displaying the entire year, all twelve months.  That was before the update.  Now, when I open the spreadsheet, I can only see columns A through H.  I can only see January through August.  If I want to see the other months, I have to scroll right.  That's the type of example I mean.  Thanks.  Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 12:15, 14 September 2016 (UTC)


 * Not especially, if I'm honest, since I'm finding it a little difficult to visualise. But thank you for the further explanation - maybe it will ring a bell for someone else. As just a random guess, I wonder if the text size has changed with the update? Try following these instructions and see if a different setting makes any difference. You might have to restart your computer to make the changes take effect. - Cucumber Mike (talk) 15:20, 14 September 2016 (UTC)


 * Yes, thanks. And that's another issue.  How would I get a screen shot of before the Windows update?   Is that even possible? Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 01:33, 15 September 2016 (UTC)


 * Either you would have done so before the update, say for some other purpose, or you would need to rollback the update, get a screen shot, then install the update again. StuRat (talk) 01:38, 15 September 2016 (UTC)


 * It would be really helpful if you had a screen shot from before the update. Then you could do the same screen shot now and figure out what is different.  I can think of many possibilities:


 * 1) Overall screen resolution may be different. For example, maybe it was 1920 x 1200 before and now it is 1600 x 1024.  This would affect other applications, but it may not be as noticeable outside of a spreadsheet, as many applications with text would just adjust to the new resolution and display accordingly, without adding more scroll bars.  Even if this is not the cause, increasing the screen res may still help.


 * 2) Excel may have added more controls along the edges that take space away from the rows and columns. Perhaps some can be hidden, and were hidden previously, but are now visible again.


 * 3) Text size might be different, perhaps because it switched fonts on you. There's also an "accessibility" option in Windows, to increase text size in all applications, that never really worked right, as most applications didn't scale windows to match.  Not sure if they fixed or eliminated that defective option in Windows 10.


 * 4) Text spacing (between characters and between lines) could be different.


 * 5) Your Excel fonts may be bold now, making them larger.


 * 6) There could be more padding at the edges of cells or the lines between the cells could be thicker. StuRat (talk) 15:45, 14 September 2016 (UTC)

Thanks, all. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 17:30, 15 September 2016 (UTC)

Would a phone stay on if the wires to a physical power or volume button are cut?
Would the software volume controls still work? Would the screen still turn on when the plug enters if it did before? Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 20:15, 11 September 2016 (UTC)


 * Are you asking about a cell/mobile phone or a land line ? (And yes, some land lines have screens.) StuRat (talk) 20:20, 11 September 2016 (UTC)


 * A cell phone. Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 20:43, 11 September 2016 (UTC)


 * This will depend on the hardware design, which is different for different phones. But most likely, if the connection between the buttons and the phone is severed, the phone will simply think the buttons are not being pressed and will otherwise act normally.  Undoubtedly it's possible to design a phone in such a way that severing the button connection causes the phone to misbehave in some way, but it seems unlikely.  Also, I would expect that in most phones, there aren't actually any "wires" between the buttons and the circuit board -- the buttons are components that are mounted directly on the board, so to sever the connection you would have to cut traces on the board, which could be quite difficult to do selectively without damaging other traces.  CodeTalker (talk) 23:55, 11 September 2016 (UTC)


 * I wouldn't assume that the volume button contacts are Normally Open (NO) and make contact when the buttons are pressed. They may be Normally Closed (NC), and increase or decrease volume level each time they open. In a closed state at startup, their status can be read as part of the startup diagnostic to make sure they're present, which can't be done if they're NO. Akld guy (talk) 01:04, 12 September 2016 (UTC)