OFF2000: Controlling How and When the Office Assistant Appears

When you run any of the programs included with Microsoft Office 2000 and you use a lower screen resolution (640 x 480 for example), or if you have many windows open, or if your screen is very cluttered, you may find that the Office Assistant is too obtrusive. This article describes how to control how and when the Office Assistant appears.
All of the programs in Microsoft Office 2000 include the Office Assistant; it is available to help you with questions or problems with Office programs. To ask the Office Assistant a question, click its character and then type your question. If the Office Assistant is not visible, click Show the Office Assistant on the Help menu.
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OFF2000: "Error 1706" When You Switch CDs When Adding Office Features (Q254894)

When you try to add a feature to your Office installation, you are prompted to insert your Office CD:
The feature you are trying to use is on a CD-ROM or other removable disk that is not available.
Insert the 'Microsoft Office 2000 edition ' disk and click OK.
NOTE : edition is the edition of Office that you have installed.
After you insert your CD and then click OK to the prompt, you receive the following message:
Error 1706. No valid source could be found for product Microsoft Office 2000 edition . The Windows installer cannot continue.
NOTE : This problem does not occur if you do not have a CD in your CD-ROM drive when you are prompted to insert your Office CD.
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OFF2000: Error 2932 Applying the SR-1 Update on Windows 2000 (Q254869)

When you run the Microsoft Office 2000 Service Release 1 (SR-1) Update, you may receive the following error message:
Internal Error 2932: Please contact product support for assistance.
If you view the verbose log file text for the update, you see text similar to the following:
MSI (s) (A4:F8): Executing op: SetTargetFolder(Folder=E:\WINNT\Fonts\)
MSI (s) (A4:F8): Executing op: SetSourceFolder(Folder=F:\Windows\Fonts\)
MSI (s) (A4:F8): Executing op: FileCopy(SourceName=TAHOMA.TTF,DestName=TAHOMA.TTF,Attributes=8192,FileSize
=257636,Version=2.60.0.0,,InstallMode=58982400,PerTick=32768,IsCompressed=0
,,VerifyMedia=1,,VitalPatches=15,PatchHeaders=Binary00
Internal Error 2932: Please contact product support for assistance.
Action ended 8:14:53: InstallExecute. Return value 3.
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OFF2000: Error Message When You Run Office Setup: IE5WZD Caused an Invalid Page Fault in Module MSSIP32.DLL (Q254884)

When you run Setup for Office, you may receive the following error message:
This program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down.
If the problem persists, contact the program vendor.
When you click Details , you see text similar to the following:
IE5WZD caused an invalid page fault in module MSSIP32.DLL at 015f:7b4f2440
When you click Close , the error message goes away, and the Microsoft Office 2000 Setup dialog box (with CD key boxes) is displayed.
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OL2000: "Error 1919" Error Message If You Start Microsoft Outlook or Install Microsoft Office (Q320757)

When you start Microsoft Outlook or install Microsoft Office, you may receive the following error message:
Error 1919. Error configuring ODBC data source: MS Access Database; ODBC Error. 6: Component not found in the registry. Verify that the file MS Access Database files exists and you can access it.
To resolve this behavior, export the ODBC registry key information from a computer that has Office installed and working to .reg files, import these files to the computer that is experiencing the behavior described in the "Symptoms" section of this article, and then reinstall Office.
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Quickly remove objects from an Excel chart

If you have a chart that contains data, value, or percent labels that you want removed, you don't have to go to the trouble of displaying the Chart Options or Format Data Series dialog boxes to get rid of them. Just click on one of the chart labels, which selects all of the labels for the data series, and press the [Delete] key. As an alternative, you can right-click on one of the labels and choose Clear from the shortcut menu.
 

Increase or Decrease Text Size

To quickly increase or decrease the size of text in Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint®, Microsoft FrontPage®, or Microsoft Publisher, first, select the text you want to resize. Then, to increase the font size, press CTRL+SHIFT+>. To decrease the font size, press CTRL+SHIFT+<.
 

Get an Office 2000 Tip a Day

Want more tips and tricks? You can get a tip of the day delivered to you by the Office Assistant.
To get your daily tips:

1. Click the Office Assistant. If the Assistant isn't visible, click Show the Office Assistant on the Help menu.
2. Click Options.
3. On the Options tab, select the Show the Tip of the Day at startup check box.

Quickly Zoom In and Out of Your Office Documents

If you have a Microsoft IntelliMouse® pointing device, you can use the wheel button, the third (middle) button, to quickly zoom in and out of an Office document.
Simply hold down the CTRL key as you rotate the wheel button forward or back.
Note: This tip works in the latest versions of Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint®, Microsoft Publisher, Microsoft PhotoDraw™, and Microsoft Project, as well as many other Microsoft Windows® programs. You can also use it in Internet Explorer to increase or decrease to size of text on the screen.
 

Add Custom Buttons to Your Access Toolbox

You can save yourself time when creating forms and reports in Microsoft Access if you add some extra buttons to your Toolbox toolbar—such as Align Left and Align Right. Then you don't have to always use the menu.
To add new buttons to the Toolbox toolbar in Access 2000:

1. Open an Access form or report in the Design view.
2. On the View menu, point to Toolbars and then click Toolbox.
3. On the View menu, point to Toolbars, and then click Customize.
4. Click the Commands tab.
5. In the Categories box, click Form/Report Design.
6. In the Commands box, scroll until you find Align Left. Then click the Align Left icon and drag it on the Toolbox toolbar. Repeat to add more commands.

Now you can keep all the tools you need to create forms in one place.
Note: Although this tip uses Access as an example, you can use this technique to customize the toolbars in all Office 2000 programs (except Microsoft PhotoDraw).
 

Send an Office Document Without Opening Outlook

Ever need to get that important Word document to your boss in a hurry? Here's how you can do it without even opening Outlook.

1. On the File menu, point to Send To, and then click Mail Recipient (as Attachment).
2. Fill in the Receipts, Subject, and message boxes and click Send.

Or if you have Word 2000:

1. On the Standard toolbar, click E-mail.
2. In the To and Cc boxes, enter the recipient names separated by semicolons.
3. By default, the name of the document appears in the Subject box. If you want, you can type your own subject name.
4. Click Send a Copy.

Using this tip is a lot easier than going into Outlook, creating a new message, and browsing for the attachment on your hard drive.
Note: This tip also works in Excel and PowerPoint.
 

Copy and Paste up to 12 Pieces of Information at Once

If you're constantly copying text and data between different Office programs, here's a way to save time by copying multiple items at once.
For example, you can copy a chart in Microsoft Excel, switch to Microsoft PowerPoint® and copy a bulleted list, switch to Microsoft Internet Explorer and copy a page of text, and then switch to Microsoft Word and paste the collection of copied items into your document.
Here's how:

1. In any Office 2000 program, on the View menu, point to Toolbars and click Clipboard to display the Office Clipboard.
2. Select an item you want to copy.
3. Copy the item into the Office Clipboard by clicking Copy on the Edit menu or clicking the Copy button on the Clipboard toolbar.
4. Repeat steps two through four until you have copied all the items (up to 12) you want. If the item you want to copy is in another program, switch to that program first.
5. In an Office program, click where you want to paste the items.
6. To paste all the items at once, click Paste All on the Clipboard toolbar. Or to paste the items one at a time, click the icon for the item you want to paste.

Fine-Tune Your Fonts in Word

When you're using a small font in a tight space, sometimes the 8-point font is too large to fit and the 7-point font is too small to read. Luckily, you can choose a font size that's halfway in between those two by:

1. Selecting Font from the Format menu.
2. Then, on the Font tab, typing 7.5 in the Size box and clicking OK.

This tip works with any size true type font (think 250.5)—not only in Word but also in Excel.
 

Copy Formatting Using Format Painter

Format Painter copies the formatting (size, font style, color, borders, etc.) from a selected object or text and applies it to the next object or text you click.
To copy formatting in any Office 2000 program using the Format Painter:

1. Select the text or object that has the formatting you want to copy.
2. On the Standard toolbar, click Format Painter. (In Access the Format Painter is found on the Database toolbar.)
3. Select the text or object you want to apply the formatting to, and the formatting appears automatically.

Use Format Painter to Copy Formatting Multiple Times

This is a tip that I share with everyone I know who uses Office. If you double-click Format Painter, you can copy the selected formatting to several locations. To turn off Format Painter, click the Format Painter button again or press ESC.
 

Show Shortcut Keys in ScreenTips

You can teach yourself keyboard shortcuts for the most commonly used commands in Microsoft Word by turning on shortcut keys in ScreenTips. When you choose to show toolbar ScreenTips, you can specify that Word also display a shortcut key combination for the toolbar button.
To display shortcut keys in ScreenTips:

1. On the Tools menu, click Customize, and then click the Options tab.
2. If it's not already selected, select the Show ScreenTips on toolbars check box.
3. Select the Show shortcut keys in ScreenTips check box.

Editor's Note: When you select the Show shortcut keys in ScreenTips check box, the setting affects all Office programs except Microsoft Excel.

Show All Menu Commands in Office 2000

By default, Office 2000 displays only the commands that you use most often on the new, personalized menus. Do you wish you could see all of the commands at once like you could in Office 97? Here's how.
To turn off personalized menus:

1. On the Tools menu, click Customize, and then click the Options tab.
2. To show all the commands on the menus, clear the Menus show recently used commands first check box.

You can do this from any Office 2000 program, and it applies to all of your other Office programs as well.
 

Change the Font or Size of Text Using Keyboard Shortcuts

You can use keyboard shortcuts to access the Font box and the Font Size box on the Formatting toolbar and then quickly change the font or size of selected text.
Here's how you do it:

1. Select the text you want to change.
2. Press CTRL+SHIFT+F to access the Font box or CTRL+SHIFT+P to access the Font Size box.
3. Press UP ARROW or DOWN ARROW to select the font name or size you want.
4. Press ENTER to accept the font name or size.

Note: This tip works in the following Office 2000 programs: Microsoft Excel, Microsoft FrontPage®, PowerPoint, Microsoft Publisher, and Word.
 

Repeat Your Most Recent Action

For repetitive formatting tasks, remember the F4 key. Whenever you press that key, you repeat your most recent action, whether it was adding borders, applying bold formatting to a selected word, or inserting a file or picture.
Format Painter is better for applying complex formatting, but if you just need to repeat a single action, then F4 is the key to use.
Note: This tip works in the following programs: Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint®, Microsoft Visio®, and Microsoft Word.
 

Add a Screen Shot to an Office Document

This a great way to include screen shots in your documents.
 

1. If you are working with multiple windows, click the one you want to make an image of to make that window active.
2. Press ALT+PRINT SCREEN to copy an image of the current window.
3. To paste the image into a document, click the Edit menu in that document, and then click Paste.

You can also take a screen shot of your entire screen by pressing PRINT SCREEN.
Note: This tip works in the following Office 2000 programs: Excel, Microsoft FrontPage®, Outlook, PowerPoint, Microsoft Publisher, and Word.
 

Use Your Keyboard to Quickly Change the Case of Text

Here's how you can use your keyboard to quickly change the case of text in Microsoft Word, select the text you want to change and press SHIFT+F3. Each time you press the F3 key, the text case switches between Title Case, UPPERCASE, and lowercase.

Paste Using the INSERT Key

Did you know that you can assign the Paste command to the INSERT key on your keyboard? That means you only have to use one key to paste the contents of your Clipboard into your document.
Here is how to set it up:

1. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Edit tab.
2. Select the Use the INS key for paste check box to enable this feature.
3. Click OK.

Now, each time you press the INSERT key, you will paste the contents of the Clipboard into your document.
Note: Choosing this option disables the default function of the INSERT key in Microsoft Word that enables you to switch between insert typing mode to overtype mode.
 

What's This? Find Out What Formatting is Applied to Text in Word To find out what formatting (fonts, style, alignment, etc.) is applied to a paragraph in Word:

1. On the Help menu, click What's This?.
2. When the pointer becomes a question mark, click the text you want to check. Then a message will appear describing the formatting in that section.
3. When you have finished checking your text, press ESC.

Don't Lose Sight of Your Column Headings in Word

When you create a table in Microsoft Word, you can use column headings to describe what information is in each column. But if you have a table that spans multiple pages, you lose the headings after the first page, so it's hard to tell what each column topic is. Here's how to keep those headings visible:

1. Select the first row or rows of your table.
2. On the Table menu, click Heading Rows Repeat.

Now Word automatically repeats the table headings at the top of subsequent pages.
Note: Word automatically repeats table headings on pages that result from automatic page breaks—but not if you manually insert a page break. Also, repeated table headings are only visible in Print Layout view or when you print the document.

Save All Your Word Documents at Once

If you know the "secret" key, you can save or close all of your open documents in one step.
 

1. Hold down SHIFT and click the File menu. When you hold down SHIFT, two new options appear on the File menu: Close All and Save All.
2. To save all your open documents at once, click Save All. Or, to close all your open documents, click Close All; Word will prompt you to save your changes before closing any documents.

Type Out a Table in Word

You can create tables in Microsoft Word by simply typing out a string of PLUS SIGNS (+) and MINUS SIGNS (-).
Start the row with a PLUS SIGN (+) and then type MINUS SIGN (-) until you have the column width you want. To add a new column type PLUS SIGN (+) again. When you're done type a final PLUS SIGN (+) and press ENTER. Word turns your text into a table. To add more rows to your table, move to the last cell in the table and press TAB.
Note: If this tip doesn't work for you, then you need to turn on the AutoFormat feature in Word. To do this, on the Tools menu, click AutoCorrect. Then, click the AutoFormat As You Type tab and select the Tables check box.

Move Images in Word to the Exact Position You Want

When you position an image in a Word document, it automatically aligns (or snaps) to an invisible grid, which helps keep everything lined up.
If you ever need exact control over the placement of your image, you can temporarily override the grid by pressing the ALT key as you drag the object into place. You'll notice that the image moves smoothly and not in increments along the grid.
Note: This tip works as long as the image is not set to be in line with the text. To make sure it works for you:

1. Double-click the image, and select the Layout tab.
2. Under Wrapping style, choose any style except In line with the text.
3. Then, click OK.

Quickly Replicate Text or Graphics in Word

Here's a quick way to make copies of text or graphics in Word:

1. Select the item or text you want to copy.
2. Press and hold down the CTRL key.
3. Then use the mouse to drag the item to the desired position.

A copy of the original item is made right where you want it. This is helpful when you're creating a document that will include a lot of repeated text or images.
 

Find Your Place in Word Documents

If you are working on a long document, it's easy to lose your place. With Microsoft Word documents, you can pick up where you left off in your last editing session because Word keeps track of the last three locations where you typed or edited text. Just press SHIFT+F5 immediately after opening the document, and the cursor will appear at the exact point where you last made a change. To reach the previous two editing locations, press SHIFT+F5 until you reach the location you want.
 

Check Spelling in Only a Portion of Your Word Document

If you see a spelling mistake, you can correct it quickly without checking the entire document. Just right-click the misspelled word, and then select the spelling correction you want from the shortcut menu.
To find the next misspelled word in the document, press ALT+F7.
 

Increase or Decrease Line Spacing in Word

To quickly change the line spacing of a paragraph in Microsoft Word: