WinZip is a compression utility that allows large files to be shrunk so they take up less disk space and can be downloaded faster. The WinZip program, which can both compress files into a .ZIP archive and extract the Excel files stored in the .ZIP archives on this website, is available in a freely downloadable evaluation version from www.winzip.com. Follow the link to download the evaluation version, then follow the simple download and installation directions. (Note that users of Windows XP or above can access .ZIP archives as normal folders, and so do not need to download WinZip.)

To access the Excel files on this website, you first need to have downloaded and installed WinZip. When you find a document you would like to view and it is described as an Excel file in a WinZip archive, click on the link to download the .ZIP file. Save this file in a familiar directory on your harddrive.

Now, find the .ZIP file on your harddrive and open it by double-clicking on it. You will be given the option of registering WinZip, but can also click on the 'Use Evaluation Version' button. Newer versions of WinZip operate with either a 'Wizard' interface or a 'Classic' interface. In either case, you want to follow the on-screen directions to extract the file. You will be given the option of placing the extracted Excel file in whatever directory you choose.

Once the Excel file has been extracted from the WinZip archive to your harddrive, you can simply open it by double-clicking on it.

Excel is the spreadsheet component of the Microsoft Office Suite. If you do not have Microsoft Office installed on your computer, you will need to purchase either this program or an alternative in order to view Excel files. One such alternative is StarOffice by Sun Microsystems. An evaluation version can be downloaded from the Sun website. The spreadsheet component of StarOffice is capable of opening Excel files.

Note that many of the Excel files available on this website use data in other files in making calculations. Excel refers to this as external linking and will ask for the external files containing the data when opening files with external links. Depending on your Excel version and settings, you may be asked to locate a file that cannot be found or if you want to enable external macros. Simply clicking 'Cancel' or 'No' respectively will allow you to access the file as usual.

For further assistance please contact info@csls.ca.