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2.5. Installing the Analysis Pack

Excel contains a variety of "add-ons" that allow you to perform additional calculations beyond the basic features build into Excel from the start. Some of these add-ons might require you to insert the Microsoft Office CD ROM, others can be installed without that disk. In general, the more add-ons you install into Excel, the longer the program takes to start up. Therefore, you only want to install those options that you are really going to use, or uninstall add-ons when you don't need them any longer.

For this class you must install the "Analysis ToolPak", which contains a variety of procedures for conducting statistical analysis. Installing an add-on is simple:

• Start Excel as usual
• Select "Tools | Add-Ins ..."

You should see a dialog box similar to the following:

• The first option "Analysis ToolPak" is the one you want to install, so make sure that "Analysis ToolPak" has a check mark
• With that check mark in place, click on OK

Note: If Analysis ToolPak is not listed in the Add-Ins dialog box, click Browse and locate the drive, folder name, and file name for the Analysis ToolPak add-in, which is Analys32.xll, usually located in the Microsoft Office Library\Analysis folder, or run the Microsoft Office setup program You may want to contact the help desk at extension x2222 for assistance in this case.

Note: If you are using Excel 2007 the procedure for installing the Analysis TookPak is slightly different:

• Click the Excel "Start" button in the top-left corner
• Look for the button "Excel options" and click that
• From the list on the left, choose "Add ins" to see a list of active/inactive add-ins
• At the bottom of that dialog is a drop-down list that should say "Manage Excel Add-ins" - click the "Go" button next to that
• Check "Analysis Functions" and click "OK"

The Analysis TookPak should now be installed automatically. It may take a few seconds (or minutes, perhaps), but you should not be prompted to insert a CD-ROM. If you do have to insert the Microsoft Office CD-ROM you should contact the Help Desk at x2222 for further assistance (unless, of course, you do have the CD-ROM ...)

After installation is complete, a new option will appear under the "Tools" menu entitled "Data Analysis". You might have to 'expand' the menu choices under the "Tools" menu to see "Data Analysis" as the last entry.

Note: For Excel 2007 the analysis functions will be available in the "Data" ribbon on the right-most side, named "Data Analysis". The specific functions in that add-in are the same as for Office 2003.

If you select the "Tools | Data Analysis ..." menu option, you will see the following entries for performing statistical analysis on data in your spreadsheet:

We will explore several of these options in the rest of this course, but you are welcome to click on "Help"  now to learn more about the Analysis Tookpak.