Are you sure you're formatting  it as text. I've just tried this in both
2003 and 2000 and the results are the same. The format  stays as text. The
number still appears exactly as typed in, and a simple number typed into the
cell afterwards is left justified as text, not right justified as a number.

How did you format the cell as text? How are you entering  the digits
information (by typing them or by copying them)?

Re the 123 help ... I'm sure that's in the options. Have a look, or check
help, or do a Google search.