Leading the way in Microsoft Office Development

Removing the "Ask a Question" box

Select (Tools > Customize) and press the Options tab.

Move your cursor over the menu bar in the corner and press the right mouse button.

Select or Deselect the "Show Ask a Question Box" to show or hide it.

If you are hiding the Ask a Question box, it will still display until after you close the Customize dialog box.

Help Menu

 Help menu

Microsoft Excel Help - Displays the Excel Help task pane.

Show the Office Assistant - Displays the Office Assistant.

Microsoft Office Online - Opens your browser and connects to the Microsoft Office Online website.

Contact Us - Opens your browser and connects to the Contact page on the Microsoft Office Online website.

Check for Updates - Opens your browser and connects to the Downloads page on the Microsoft Office Online website.

Detect and Repair - Displays a wizard that will attempt to fix any errors that might have occurred during your installation of the Microsoft Office suite. This lets you choose to retain or discard many of the customisations you have made within your Office applications.

Activate Product - Displays the Microsoft Office Activation Wizard which enable you to update your customer information and renew your subscription.

Customer Feedback Options - Displays the Service Options dialog box that can help identify trends and usage patterns after analysing your hardware and software.

About Microsoft Excel - Displays a dialog box displaying information about the version of Excel.

What's This - (Removed in 2003) Changes the cursor into a question mark allowing you to get help with any of the toolbar buttons or menus.

Lotus 1-2-3 Help - (Removed in 2003) Displays a dialog box that helps users that are more familiar with Lotus than Excel.

Kairu the Dolphin

This was an additional Office Assistant that was available in Office 97.

It is still possible to download him from the Microsoft website, just do a search for "kairu the dolphin".

Adding your own help messages

You can add your own text to the Office Assistants help file, press F1, enter your question. GoTo (Options > Annotate). This allows you to type in your own comments. The paper clip symbol next to the heading lets you know that you have added some additional comments.

Automatic Updates

Periodically Microsoft will publish updates for Excel 2003 on their Office Online website.

You can check to see if there are any updates by selecting (Help > Check for Updates).

This will connect you to the Updates page on the Microsoft website. Click the "Check for Updates" button.

Remove the Office Assistant permanently

To remove the Office Assistant permanently you can rename the "Actors" folder that should be on your C drive "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Actors".