Hi Laurence, with apologies to Patrick,

Sorry should have looked at the actual code sample to see what
was really being asked and should have
tested.  The use in INSTR  as suggested by Patrick is a lot simpler.

In VBA:
Find Method  looks for search argument within a range of cells,
like the Shortcuts.

As a worksheet Function:   (or in VBA  as Application.FIND)
SEARCH  uses wildcards, and is case sensitive.   
FIND does not use wildcards and is not case sensitive.
But failure to find results in errors, which can make implementation
difficult if the search argument is not present in the searched string.

Private Sub Worksheet_BeforeDoubleClick(ByVal Target As Range, Cancel As Boolean)
On Error Resume Next   'important sorry ..
Cancel = True          'get out of edit mode 
Err.Number = 0         'would have to be reset in a loop
If Application.Find("*", ActiveCell.Value) Then
    If Err.Number = 0 Then _
       MsgBox "Found * in position " & _
         Application.Find("*", ActiveCell.Value)
    End If
End Sub

Shortcut Keys:
The shortcuts  FIND (Ctrl+c) and REPLACE (Ctrl+h) use wildcards
of ? for single character, or  * for any number of characters,  or ~ (tilde)
to precede a search for a wildcard character of  ?, *, or ~
You specify on the dialog box whether case sensitive or not.
And would use a   ~*   to find an asterisk. 

HTH,
David McRitchie, Microsoft MVP - Excel
My Excel Macros:  http://www.mvps.org/dmcritchie/excel/excel.htm
  
"David McRitchie"  wrote in message news:OV0kJYS4AHA.1428@tkmsftngp07...
> Hi Laurence,
> Precede with a tilde just like it says in HELP.
> Precede  wildcard characters of  ?, or *, or ~  by a ~
> 
> ?  single character
> *  any number of characters
> 
> HTH,
> David McRitchie, Microsoft MVP - Excel
> My Excel Macros:  http://www.geocities.com/davemcritchie/excel/excel.htm
[site changed Nov. 2001 to  http://www.mvps.org/dmcritchie/excel/excel.htm]
> 
> "Patrick Molloy"  wrote in message
> news:OpWGEbQ4AHA.2024@tkmsftngp05...
> > Is the '*' part of the cell's value or also formula?
> >
> > IF INSTR(Selection.Value,"*") THEN
> >     'its there
> > ELSE
> >     'it isn't
> > END IF
> >
> > Patrick Molloy
> > Microsoft  Excel MVP
> >
> >
> > "Laurence Lombard"  wrote in message
> > news:3b077390.0@news1.mweb.co.za...
> > > What is wrong with the following line (I want to execute code if  the
> > > asterix character is found in the active cell).
> > >
> > > If ActiveCell.Value.Find(Chr(42),Lookin:=xlValues) = "*" Then Do_Things
> > >
> > > I have  worked out that the * is also a wildcard, so thought that
> chr(42)
> > > would force to check for the actual character.
> > >
> > > The following works if the asterix is the first character:
> > > If Left(ActiveCell.Value, 1) = "*" Then  Do_Things
> > >
> > > Thanks
> > >
> > > Laurence
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >