The format of the dates in a range in an Excel 2003 spreadsheet changes to the "mm/dd/yyyy" format when you use a macro to recalculate the range

You set the Regional Options setting on a computer to a language other than English (United States). When you use a macro to recalculate a range in a Microsoft Office Excel 2003 spreadsheet on this computer, the format of the dates in the range changes from the date format that is used by the language that you set on the computer to the date format that is used by the English (United States) setting. For example, dates that use the "dd/mm/yyyy" format are changed to the "mm/dd/yyyy" format.

Note The format of the dates in the worksheet does not change if you use either of the following methods to recalculate the whole worksheet:

• You press the F9 key.
• You use a macro that uses the Activesheet.Calculate command.

This problem occurs if the macro that you use to recalculate the range uses the Range.Calculate command or the UsedRange.Caculate command. In this case, Excel incorrectly calculates a date from a text string, such as "=VALUE(B5)".

This problem was first fixed in a hotfix that is now contained in a service pack. If you installed the latest Office 2003 service pack, you do not have to install the hotfix.

Service pack information

This problem is corrected in Office 2003 Service Pack 3. To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Office 2003. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:After you install the service pack, follow the steps that are listed in the "How to enable the hotfix" section to set the RangeCalcRegionalSettings registry key and to activate the hotfix.

Hotfix information

How to obtain the hotfix

This issue is fixed in the Excel 2003 Hotfix Package that was released on October 2, 2006. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

How to enable the hotfix

Warning Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly by using Registry Editor or by using another method. These problems might require that you reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that these problems can be solved. Modify the registry at your own risk.

1. Exit Excel 2003.
2. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
3. Locate and then click the following registry subkey:
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Excel\Options\
4. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
5. Type RangeCalcRegionalSettings, and then press ENTER.
6. Right-click RangeCalcRegionalSettings, and then click Modify.
7. In the Value data box, type 1, and then click OK.
8. On the File menu, click Exit to exit Registry Editor.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.

This problem was first corrected in Office 2003 Service Pack 3.