OFF97: What Is the Office Startup Application (OSA) and What Does It Do?

This article answers some of the frequently asked questions regarding the Office Startup Application (OSA). This article is divided into the following sections:

• What is the OSA?
  
  
• What Does the OSA Do?
  
  
• What Are the Advantages of Running the OSA?
  
  
• Can I Remove the OSA?
  
  
• Additional Information

What Is the OSA?

The OSA is a program that improves the performance of Office 97 programs. The Office 97 Setup program places a shortcut to the OSA in the Windows StartUp folder.

What Does the OSA Do?

The OSA does the following:

• Initializes Automation
  
  
• Initializes some of the common fonts installed by Microsoft Office 97
  
  
• Handles certain commands (New Office Document, Open Office Document, Help, and Screen Saver) on the Start menu and on the Office Shortcut Bar
  
  
• Displays Microsoft Outlook notifications when the Office Assistant is available

What Are the Advantages of Running the OSA?

The OSA initializes the shared code that is used by the Office 97 programs. The benefit of using the OSA to initialize shared code is that the Office 97 programs start faster. If the Office 97 programs initialize shared code (instead of the OSA), the time it takes for the program to start increases.

Can I Remove the OSA?

You can safely remove the OSA without causing the Office 97 programs to fail. However, if you remove the OSA, you no longer benefit from the performance advantages that are provided by running the OSA.

To remove OSA, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Taskbar & Start Menu.
2. Click the Start Menu Programs tab, and then click Remove.
3. Click the plus sign (+) to the left of Startup, and then click Office Startup.
4. Click Remove, click Close and then click OK.
5. Restart the computer.

Additional Information

You can the following command-line switches with Osa.exe: