Spreadsheet Issue

In a spreadsheet, you just typed 12.98789876 in a cell. But when you confirm, the sequence ‡‡‡‡‡‡ appears, what do you do?

A: You change the language settings (Asian characters are replaced by ‡‡ when the language is incorrect).
B: You widen the column width
C: You specify a number format (instead of a text format)

I'm counting on you, dear friend(s)

Thanks in advance

Configuration: Windows XP Internet Explorer 6.0