OFF: Floppy Drive Accessed Running Help; Help Doesn't Start

The information in this article applies to:

• Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows
• Microsoft Excel for Windows 95, version 7.0
• Microsoft Word 97 for Windows
• Microsoft Word for Windows 95, version 7.0
• Microsoft PowerPoint 97 for Windows
• Microsoft PowerPoint for Windows 95, version 7.0
• Microsoft Project 97 for Windows
• Microsoft Project for Windows 95, version 4.1

SYMPTOMS

When you click <application> Help Topics on the Help menu (where <application> is the application that you are running) or press F1 to start Help, the light for the floppy disk drive on your computer may turn on; that is, your computer may attempt to read from the floppy disk drive, and the Help application does not start.

CAUSE

This behavior occurs if the current directory for the application that you are running is set to one of your floppy disk drives, and the floppy disk drive does not contain a floppy disk.

For example, if the current directory in Microsoft Excel is the A drive, and there is no disk in the A drive, when you click Microsoft Excel Help Topics on the Help menu, your computer attempts to read from drive A, and Microsoft Excel Help does not start.

This behavior does not occur if the floppy disk drive contains a floppy disk, or if the current directory for the application is set to a folder on the hard disk.

WORKAROUND

To work around this behavior, use either of the following methods.

Method 1

Use the Open dialog box (File menu) to change the current directory in the application to a directory on the hard disk.

Method 2

Insert a floppy disk in the floppy disk drive that is set as the current directory in the application.

You can now start Help for the application.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. We are researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.