Description of the Excel Viewer

The Microsoft Excel 97/2000 Viewer allows people who do not have Microsoft Excel to view Excel workbook files. Because the file format for Excel workbooks has not changed since Microsoft Excel 97, the viewer can be used with workbooks created in versions of Excel from Microsoft Excel 97 to Microsoft Office Excel 2003.

Microsoft Excel Viewer is a small, freely distributable program that lets you view and print Excel for Windows (versions 2.0 and later) and Excel for the Macintosh (versions 2.2a and later) spreadsheet files. This viewer lets you view page layout, copy and control cell sizes, and access the zoom and AutoFilter features. This viewer also supports OLE DocObject as well as the ability to view any Excel file.

Microsoft Excel Viewer is built to automatically configure itself as a Helper Application for Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer (you can also manually configure it as a Helper Application for other browsing tools). This allows you to automatically view Microsoft Excel spreadsheet files (.xls) that are linked to Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) pages on a local area network (LAN) or the World Wide Web.

People should copy and distribute Microsoft Excel Viewer to friends and coworkers, or post it onto public electronic bulletin boards, LANs, and Internet sites. This way, individuals without Microsoft Excel can have a utility that allows them to view Excel spreadsheet files.

System Requirements

• A personal computer with a 486 or higher processor
• Microsoft Windows 95 operating system, or Microsoft Windows NT Workstation operating system, version 3.51 or later
• 8 megabytes (MB) of memory for Windows 95 and 16 MB of memory for Windows NT Workstation
• 7 MB of hard disk space (9 MB free for installation only)
• VGA or higher-resolution video adapter
• Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device

How to Obtain the Excel Viewer

The Excel Viewer is available for download from the following Microsoft Web site: For more information about the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack, visit the following Microsoft Web site: Note If you already have a full version of Microsoft Excel installed on your computer, do not install Microsoft Excel Viewer in the same directory. Doing so causes file conflicts. The default folder location in the installer is c:\Program Files\Xlview.

How to Run the Excel Viewer

To run Microsoft Excel Viewer, use either of the following methods:

• On the Start menu, point to Programs, and then click Microsoft Excel 97 Viewer.
• From the desktop, locate and double-click the Xlview.exe program file. By default, this file is located in the c:\Program Files\Xlview folder.