CSV-OpenText installs a new "Open (all columns as text)" context menu item for .CSV files. This menu item will open the .CSV file in Microsoft Excel, but prevent Excel from automatically converting data that looks like a date or a number (e.g. phone numbers). To use, simply right-click on a .CSV file and select the "Open (all columns as text)" item. All columns will be opened as text columns.

WARNING: Opening a .CSV file using this method requires write-access to the file. The original .CSV will be modified by Excel when it is opened, so if you don't have write-access to the file (e.g. the file is on a CD), please copy the file to a folder that you can write to. Conversely, if you want to preserve the original .CSV file, please make a copy of it first before opening it with the "Open as text" menu item.