Dates change when copied to new workbook or worksheet

[lori_tig]

I'm sure this is just something I don't know about....but when I copy a
spreadsheet with dates (all in the past week - 2007), to a new workbook, the
dates all change to 2003. Any idea why this is happening? Is there a
formatting option I need to have selected before I copy?

Thanks!

 

[Niek Otten]

One of the computers uses the 1904 date system, the other doesn't.

To change it:

Tools>Option>Calculation tab, check/uncheck 194 Date system

--
Kind regards,

Niek Otten
Microsoft MVP - Excel

| I'm sure this is just something I don't know about....but when I copy a
| spreadsheet with dates (all in the past week - 2007), to a new workbook, the
| dates all change to 2003. Any idea why this is happening? Is there a
| formatting option I need to have selected before I copy?
|
| Thanks!

 

[Dave Peterson]

Just to add to Niek's response:

Saved from a previous post:

One workbook was using a base year of 1900 and the other was using 1904.
(tools|options|calculation tab|1904 date system)

One way to add those four years back is to find an empty cell, put 1462 into
that cell.

Copy that cell.

Select your range that contains the dates.
Edit|PasteSpecial|Click Add (or Subtract) depending on which workbook you want
to fix.

You may have to reformat the cell as a date (mine turned to a 5 digit number).
But it should work.

You may want to do it against a copy...just in case.

Most windows users use 1900 as the base date. Mac users (mostly??) use 1904 as
the base date.