HOW TO: Change or Disable the Office Assistant in Access 2000

Microsoft Office 2000 provides program information and support through the Office Assistant, which is a feature that is shared by all Microsoft Office programs. The Office Assistant is an interactive Help utility that allows you to ask questions about a program, just as you might ask questions of another person. Additionally, the Office Assistant can offer tips and suggestions while you work to help you accomplish your tasks more effectively.

However, you may not want to use the Office Assistant in your program, or you may want to change the settings for this feature. This article contains tips for customizing the Office Assistant to meet your needs.

Customizing the Office Assistant

If you want to hide the Office Assistant, choose a different Office Assistant character, or make changes to the settings of the Office Assistant, you can open the Office Assistant shortcut menu. To open the shortcut menu, right-click the Office Assistant. You can set the following options from the shortcut menu:

• You can hide the Office Assistant by clicking Hide.
• You can make the Office Assistant interact by clicking Animate!
• You can change the Office Assistant character by clicking Choose Assistant.
• You can change features of the Office Assistant, specify the type of tips you want displayed, or reset your tips, by clicking Options.
  
  NOTE: You can also gain access to the Office Assistant Options by clicking Options in the Office Assistant balloon any time the Assistant is active.

If you hide the Assistant, you can view it at any time by pressing the F1 key or by clicking the Office Assistant button on the toolbar.

Removing the Office Assistant

The Office Assistant is a shared component in Microsoft Office 2000. To uninstall the Office Assistant, follow these steps:

NOTE: These steps apply to the Microsoft Windows 2000 operating system. For earlier Windows operating systems, there are slight, intuitive variations in these steps.

1. Close all Microsoft Office programs.
2. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
3. Double-click Add/Remove Programs.
4. Click Change or Remove Programs, select Microsoft Office 2000 in the list of currently installed programs, and then click Change.
5. In the Microsoft Office 2000 Maintenance Mode dialog box, click Add or Remove Features.
6. Double-click Office Tools, and then click the icon labeled Office Assistant to open the installation menu. On the menu, click Not Available, and then click Update Now. The Office Assistant longer appears in your Microsoft Office programs. Instead, the appropriate Help file opens when you press F1 in any Office program.

For more information about the properties of the Office Assistant, click Microsoft Access Help on the Help menu, type troubleshoot the office assistant in the Office Assistant or the Answer Wizard, and then click Search to view the topics returned.