The parentheses in a formula appear in bold formatting, and the insertion point disappears when you use the arrow keys to move the insertion point through a formula in Excel 2002

Consider the following scenario. You are editing a formula in the formula bar or in a cell in Microsoft Excel. You use the arrow keys to move the insertion point past the opening parenthesis or past the closing parenthesis of a matching pair of parentheses. In this scenario, the parentheses in the formula appear in bold formatting, and the insertion point disappears for approximately one second.

Note This problem may cause a screen reader to lose track of the insertion point.

How to obtain the hotfix

This problem is fixed in the Excel 2002 post-Service Pack 3 hotfix package that is dated January 13, 2006. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: Warning Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly by using Registry Editor or by using another method. These problems might require that you reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that these problems can be solved. Modify the registry at your own risk.To enable this hotfix, follow these steps:

1. Quit Excel 2002.
2. Click Start, click Run, type regedit in the Open box, and then click OK.
3. Locate and then click to select the following registry subkey:
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\10.0\Excel\Options
4. After you select the subkey that is specified in step 3, point to New on the Edit menu, and then click DWORD Value.
5. Type DisableParenFlash, and then press ENTER.
6. Right-click DisableParenFlash, and then click Modify.
7. In the Value data box, type 1, and then click OK.
8. On the File menu, click Exit to quit Registry Editor.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.