OFF: Office Assistant Not Answering Visual Basic Questions

When you ask the Office Assistant a question about Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications, you receive one of the following responses depending on your type of computer.

Office 97 for Windows

Office 98 Macintosh Edition

If the Office Assistant tries to answer the question but does not point to the expected topic, you may not be in the Visual Basic Editor. (Microsoft Access does not contain the Visual Basic Editor. Instead, you must open a module in a database before asking your question.)

-or-

The errors may indicate that the required Help files have not been installed or have been removed from the installed location. Both the product Help and Visual Basic Help files are necessary for the Office Assistant to answer Visual Basic questions.

If you are not in the Visual Basic Editor, press ALT+F11 (or OPTION+F11 on the Macintosh) to open it, and then ask the Office Assistant your question. (In Microsoft Access, open a database, and then open a module before asking the Office Assistant your question.)

If the Office Assistant cannot answer your question while you are in the Visual Basic editing environment, install the appropriate Help files.

To install the appropriate Help files, use the appropriate method for your type of computer.

Microsoft Office 97 for Windows

To install the appropriate Help files, follow these steps:

1. Quit all Office programs.
2. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
3. In Control Panel, double-click the Add/Remove Programs icon.
4. On the Install/Uninstall tab, click to select Microsoft Office 97. (If you are using a stand-alone version of one of the Office programs, click to select the appropriate product in the list.) Click Add/Remove.
5. In the Setup dialog box, click Add/Remove. If you selected a stand-alone version of one of the Office programs in step 4, proceed to step 7.
6. Under Options, click to select (do not clear the check box) the program that requires Visual Basic Help, and then click Change Option.
7. Under Options, click to select (do not clear the check box) the appropriate Help option using the following table.

           If the program is:     Select this option:
           ---------------------------------------------
   
           Microsoft Access       Help Topics
           Microsoft Excel        Help and Sample Files
           Microsoft PowerPoint   Help
           Microsoft Word         Help
   					

8. Click Change Option.
9. Under Options, click to select the product Help and Visual Basic Help check boxes using the following table.

           If program is:         Select these check boxes:
           ------------------------------------------------
   
           Microsoft Access       Product Help
                                  Programming Help
   
           Microsoft Excel        Help for Microsoft Excel
                                  Help for Visual Basic
   
           Microsoft PowerPoint   Help for Microsoft PowerPoint
                                  Online Help for Visual Basic
   
           Microsoft Word         Help for Microsoft Word
                                  Help for Visual Basic
   					

10. Click OK. If you selected Microsoft Office 97 in step 4, click OK a second time.
11. Click Continue.

Microsoft Office 98 Macintosh Edition

To install the appropriate Help files, follow these steps:

1. Quit all Office programs.
2. Insert the Microsoft Office 98 compact disc (CD) into the CD-ROM drive.
3. Open the Office Custom Install folder on the Office 98 CD.
4. Double-click Microsoft Office Installer.
5. To control which components of Office are installed, select Custom Install as the type of installation to perform.
6. Click the triangle next to the program that requires Visual Basic Help. For example, if you need to install Help for Microsoft Word, click the triangle next to Microsoft Word.
7. Click the triangle next to the Help item in the list.
8. Click to select the Help and Help For Visual Basic check boxes using the following table.

           If program is:         Select these check boxes:
           ------------------------------------------------
   
           Microsoft Excel        Help for Microsoft Excel
                                  Help for Visual Basic
   
           Microsoft PowerPoint   Help for Microsoft PowerPoint
                                  Help for Visual Basic
   
           Microsoft Word         Help for Microsoft Word
                                  Help for Visual Basic
   					

9. In the Install Location list, click the hard disk partition or network volume in which Office is installed.
10. Click Install to begin the installation process.
11. All of the necessary files are copied to the location that you specified in step 9, and you receive a dialog box that states that the installation was successful.
    
    If the dialog box prompts you to restart the computer, click Restart. Otherwise, click Quit to complete the installation process.

For more information about using the Microsoft Office Installer, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

The Visual Basic Help files are not installed when you select a Typical installation (or Easy Install in Office 98 Macintosh Edition). The Visual Basic Help files are also not installed during a Custom installation unless you explicitly select the Help options.