Activating handwriting recognition in office 2003

[Philip Freeman]

I am currently trying to use office 2003 on a Tablet PC (a HP/Compac tc4200)
running Windows XP tablet edition. All software is recent & has been updated.

Office does not offer the handwriting options. Following online help, I have
activated the Language Bar, which only shows speech options and not the hoped
for Write-anywhere or other buttons.. I have accessed the text services &
input languages options under the control panel, but although the hardwiring
recognition option is present in the add Input Languages section, it is
"grayed".

Although there is no listing for office 2003 as such, I have also tried
installing handwriting recognition in office as described for office 2000 and
XP in the online help (using the Add/Remove programs & custom installation)
but handwriting is not offered as an option in shared services, although it
is otherwise as described in these help files.

In short I have tried everything described in the online help (at least that
Search turns up) and feel balked at every turn! I would be deeply grateful
for any pointers as to what I am doing wrong!

Philip Freeman

 

[Mary Sauer]

How to install and configure speech and handwriting recognition in Word 2003
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;826851

 

[Philip Freeman]

Thank gone for your reply. Unfortunately, the instructions have the same
lack of correspondence to my system as the one for other versions did.
The help file for activating handwriting recognition, for example, says:
6. In the Features to install list, expand Office Shared Features.
7. Expand Alternative User Input.
8. Click the Handwriting icon, and then click Run all from my computer.
However, there is NO handwriting icon to click! Similarly no icon appears in
the Language bar as described in other sections of these documents.
Clearly I am missing some underpinning thing - but I have no clue what!

Thanks again!
Philip

 

[Echo S]

You know, you may want to ask this on one of the Tablet groups. Here's a
link to microsoft.public.windows.tabletpc

http://www.microsoft.com/communitie...d18-4164-41f7-81a9-1d1201792294&lang=en&cr=us

 

[Diego Klabjan]

Did you solve the problem? I have the same identical problem.

Thanks,

Diego Klabjan
(e-mail address removed)

 

[melismik]

So have I

 

[nessili]

Ditto for me. I didn't see this post, so I just posted my own query on the
same topic. I can get speech to work, but the handwriting box is "greyed"
out, and the description for installing it does not work. I have a Toshiba
Portege Tablet PC. Does this make any difference?

 

[Michael Bloom]

I have also encountered a problem with Microsoft's instructions not working
with an HP tablet PC.

I believe I have found the source of the problem, and it looks like a
"Catch-22".

Finding people who had a different problem leading to the same symptoms
helped me find what I believe to be the cause.

Searching through the net, I found other people who had a similar problem
that was introduced only when they installed SP3. In their case, installing
SP3 replaced files in the directory "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft
Shared\Ink". They were able to get the icon back by restoring the
pre-service pack version of "penusa.dll" in that directory.

I had not installed SP3, but nonetheless had no handwriting icon to start
with. I took a look at the ink directory, and found that some files there,
including "penusa.dll" were apparently stubs of size 3KB. I found a
penusa.dll that was much larger in a cab file on another system.Looking at
the "ink" dir on a Vista system, I noticed many directories that were not
present in the XP "ink" dir.

Absent files/dirs include:
"1.0" (which includes Microsoft.Ink.dll),
"en" (which contains Microsoft.Ink.Resources.dll),
"en-US" (which contains a dozen files of type MUI),
other language directories,
"fsdefinitions" (containing 6 xml files and 6 subdirectories,
"TabletLinks" (containing some shortcuts and a .ini file)

Seeing the MUI files, I did a search at HP, and found a software guide (HP
document part number 334243-001, "Software Guide - HP Tablet PC Series") that
provides instructions to install the OS in 5 steps: 1. Xp Professional
Tablet PC edition 2005 CD, 2. HP Driver CD, 3. .NET platform, 4.
Microsoft Windows XP Professional MUI CD, 5. Windows XP Tablet PC MUI CD.

Despite those instructions, HP only installs the first and second CD's,
with the .Net Platform being on the driver CD. I called HP to try to obtain
the two MUI CD's, and nobody I spoke to knew anything about them or could
find anything about them in their support system. The best they could
suggest was to get the disks from Microsoft. But Microsoft says that the MUI
disks are only available through an OEM (like HP, who ought to supply them if
their documentation instructs customers to use them.

From what I can tell, you need a properly installed MUI platform in order
for the Office 2003 Handwriting Icon to be present (along with the Speech
Icon) under "Alternative User Input" in the "features to install" list.

But while HP documents that using these CD's is part of a proper system
installation, they do not follow their own instructions, and do not provide
the CD's to enable the user to do so.

So HP says to contact Microsoft get what (I think) you need. And Microsoft
says you can only get it from your OEM. Hence, it's a Catch-22! (for those
unfamiliar with the term "catch-22", read Joseph Heller's classic novel of
the same name).

Now, I must ask: Does Microsoft have any alternative mechanism for
enabling the Handwriting Icon?
Or, can Microsoft make an exception to their rule about the XP MUI CD's for
customers who are stuck with systems that do not permit Microsoft's
instructions for enabling Handwriting support to work in for their copies of
Office?