OFF98: Controlling How and When the Office Assistant Appears

• Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition
• Microsoft Word 98 Macintosh Edition
• Microsoft PowerPoint 98 Macintosh Edition

SUMMARY

When you run any of the programs included in Microsoft Office 98 Macintosh Edition and you use a lower screen resolution, or you open many windows at once, or the screen is cluttered; the Office Assistant window may become obtrusive. This article contains information about controlling how and when the Office Assistant appears.

MORE INFORMATION

All of the programs in Microsoft Office 98 include the Office Assistant. The Assistant is available to help you with any questions or problems that you have about using Office.

To ask the Office Assistant a question, click the Office Assistant window, and then type your question. If the Office Assistant window is not visible, click the Office Assistant toolbar button on the Standard toolbar.

By default, the Office Assistant is always visible. However, you can make the Office Assistant appear only when you have a question by following these steps:

1. Click the Office Assistant window. Click Options on the dialog box that appears.

2. Under Assistant Capabilities, several check boxes control how often the Office Assistant appears. These check boxes are listed in the following table.

      Check box              Functionality
      ------------------------------------------------------------------------
   
      Help With Wizards      If selected, the Assistant appears when you use a
                             Wizard.
   
      Display Alerts         If selected, all alerts are displayed in "word
                             bubbles" by the Assistant. If cleared, alerts are
                             displayed in normal dialog boxes.
   
      Guess Help Topics      If selected, the Assistant guesses which Help
                             topics you want to see based on your actions.
   
      Respond To Help Key    If selected, pressing Help displays the
                             Assistant and prompts you for a question. If
                             cleared, pressing Help displays the Help
                             Topics window for the current program.
   
      Move When In The Way   If selected, the Assistant window moves away
                             from the pointer when you are typing. If cleared,
                             the Assistant window may hide or obscure the text
                             you are trying to edit.
   
      If you want the Assistant to appear only when you need to ask a
      question, clear the Help With Wizards, Display Alerts, and Guess
      Help Topics check boxes. Make sure that the Respond To F1 Key check
      box is selected.
   
   

3. Click OK.

To hide the Assistant, do either of the following:

• Click the small close box in the upper-left corner of the Assistant window.

      -or-
  

• Press and hold the CONTROL key and click the Assistant window. Then, click Hide Assistant.