Hi KL!
This was a "feature" introduced in Office 97 and is almost universally
hated. Indeed competitions have been help for the most original things
people would like to do with it. Unfortunately, few suggestions are
capable of being printed. Method of getting rid of office assistant
without a gun vary between Versions:
Excel 97
Close Excel and other Office Programs
Right Click Start Button > Explore [This opens Explorer]
Most setups will use the following path to this folder:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Actors
Select the Actors folder
Right Click > Rename
Type in (e.g.) WasActors
Enter
Hold a party to celebrate locking him up.
This is the recommended procedure because, if feeling masochistic or
just wanting to remind yourself of how much you hated it, you can
reverse the operation. You can do a complete uninstall using the
Office setup CDROMS but there is just a chance you'll find a user
likes having something to complain about.
Excel 2000
At least in Office 2000 you can use an internal menu to prevent the
Office Assistant from being used.
Help > Show Office Assistant
Click on the Office Assistant
Options
Remove Check from "Use Office Assistant"
OK
You'll now find that the Office Assistant will only pop up if you use:
Help > Show Office Assistant
But if you do use that menu, you will have let him out of jail and you
'll need to repeat the process:
Options > Remove Check from "Use Office Assistant"
To remove the Office Assistant permanently:
Start > Settings > Control Panel
Double-click the 'Add/Remove Programs' icon.
Click the 'Install/Uninstall' tab
Microsoft Office 2000'
Click 'Add/Remove...'.
Insert the Office 2000 CD and click 'OK'.
Click 'Add/Remove...' and clear the 'Office Assistant' check box.
Click 'Continue' and 'OK'.
Excel 2002 (XP) and 2003
By 2002, despite significant improvements, Office Assistant is still
not wanted by most users.
Help > Show Office Assistant
Click on the Office Assistant
Options
Remove Check from "Use Office Assistant"
OK
You'll now find that the Office Assistant will only pop up if you use:
Help > Show Office Assistant
But if you do use that menu, you will have let him out of jail and you
'll need to repeat the process:
Options > Remove Check from "Use Office Assistant"
To remove the Office Assistant permanently reinstall Microsoft Office.
You can do this through a menu driven system that boots up with
insertion of the Office CDROMS which allows a change of your
installation options.
--
Regards
Norman Harker MVP (Excel)
Sydney, Australia
(e-mail address removed)
Excel and Word Function Lists (Classifications, Syntax and Arguments)
available free to good homes.
K L said:
How do I turn off that stupid office assistant that keep popping up all the
time ...
If any of the microsoft guys are reading this, please get rid of that
nonsense, useless office assistant ..
Also it has an extremely irritating appearance ...