Excel's a great spreadsheet, but if it can't do what you want, then check out the world of add-ins. Here are some of the best Excel add-ins (including three by yours truly: Power Utility Pak, JWalk Enhanced Data Form, and Sound-Proof).

• Edwin's Power Tools (shareware, $US40): features include 3D formatting and several text manipulation tools. Available for all versions, including Excel for Macintosh.

• Power Utility Pak (shareware, $US40): highlights include chart exporting and the ability to insert a file at the cursor position. Versions available for Excel 5 and later.

• Spinnaker Add-Ins (shareware, $US10 to $US20): several utilities, including tools to filter data and merge databases. Works with Excel 5 or later.

• The Spreadsheet Assistant (shareware, $US40): permits conditional selecting, range selection without screen scrolling, and mathematical operations on a range without formulas. Works with Excel 5 or later.

• Analyse-It ($US125 to $US325; free demo): both general and clinical statistical tools.

• JWalk Enhanced Data Form (free; VBA source code, $US20): this alternative to Excel's Data Form (for Excel 97 or later) makes the task of entering data into a worksheet database simpler.

Caption: The JWalk Enhanced Data Form improves on
Excel's standard Data Form

• Premium Solver (Frontline Systems, $US495): overcomes size limitations imposed by Excel's Solver feature and finds solutions to much larger problems 3 to 100 times faster than the standard Solver.

• XLStat 4.0 ($US75 to $US145; free demo): advanced statistical analysis tools (in English or French) for Excel 5 and later.

• Adarus Business Plan ($US60; free demo): uses a series of wizards to help you prepare a professional business plan; creates financial reports covering cash flow, income, balance sheet, break-even, and financial ratios. Requires Excel 95 or later.

• Crystal Ball ($US495; free demo): uses Monte Carlo simulation (conducting multiple random trials) to help analyse risks and uncertainties associated with a financial model.

• Interval Solver and Interval Calculator ($US99; free evaluation version): two add-ins help you solve problems by using interval arithmetic.

• Sound-Proof (shareware, $US20): a proofreading tool that uses a synthesised voice to read the values in selected cells. Requires Excel 97 or later.

• Spreadsheet Detective ($US48 to $US160; free evaluation version): comprehensive spreadsheet auditing and validation tools, including Y2K auditing.

• Cell Watch 97 (free): lets you continuously monitor values in multiple cells of various sheets located in different workbooks.

Caption: The Cell Watch add-in displays values from selected cells
in a toolbar, visible from any worksheet

• Data Recovery ($US149; free demo): salvages all or part of the data in a corrupted workbook that can't be opened. But only cell data and formula results, not actual formulas, are recovered.

The products here, except Premium Solver, are available for download from this month's cover CD. In some cases, the download is a demo version with a time limit or reduced functionality. Premium Solver can be downloaded from http://www.frontsys.com/premsolv.htm.

Many Excel-related Web sites offer tips, tutorials, macros, and files. My own Web site (www.j-walk.com/ss/excel) contains links to more than 100 other sites. Of course, Microsoft also provides lots of Excel information, available at www.officeupdate.microsoft.com/excel.