Hi Alan,
The Office Shortcut Bar (OSB/MSOffice.exe) was discontinued
by Microsoft after Office XP. Here are some approaches you
may want to consider
1. 3rd party products.
Paul mentioned a shareware tool that is available.
There are also what appear to be free 3rd party toolbars
that some folks say they like using.
a. JetAudio Toolbar.
Similar in use to the Office Shortcut Bar(OSB)
http://jetaudio.com/products/jettoolbar
b. H-Menu, also similar to the OSB, but with more
features you can configure if you want to:
http://h-menu.com/main_en.htm
c. Powerpro
Similar in appearance to the OSB and can autohide,
but with additional popup configuration choices and
some more detailed (techie?) optional features.
http://windowspowerpro.com/xsamplebar.htm
d. Slickrun
While it doesn't look like the OSB it can be
a useful alternative once you're used to it.
For example you can type in 'Word' in the box
and it will launch Word, or you can type 'google'
and it launches your browser to the Google search page.
It can be locked in position on your desktop or it
can minimize to the system tray as an icon as well
as has a hotkey to pop it up.
http://bayden.com/slickrun/
If you try or choose one of the above tools please
post back to let others know how you like it as an
OSB replacement.
2. Use Windows Built-In Toolbar Customization Features
a. You can use the Quicklaunch toolbar in
Windows and drag copies of your Office shortcuts
to it, or
b. Create a new Toolbar by right clicking
on a blank spot on the Windows Taskbar, unlocking it
and creating a new toolbar(folder) and drag the Office
or other shortcut icons to it. You can tear off that
toolbar and place it and size it as needed anywhere on
your desktop.
3. Use an Older version of the Office Shortcut Bar
If you have an older version of Office with the shortcut
bar and running MSOffice.exe from Start=>Run doesn't
start it, you can do a custom install of the old version
of Office and choose just the Shortcut bar. (Note that this
may put a great deal of the core old Office files back on
the PC if you've removed the older version). The OSB
should work, but will be 'as is' and doesn't support
things like high resolution icons. You may also be
prompted to install updates to the older Office version
when visiting
http://officeupdate.com
====
Does anyone know of a replacment product similar to the ShortCut Bar that
was taken out of the new Office System 2003?
Thanks.
Alan >>
--
I hope this helps you,
Bob Buckland ?
MS Office System Products MVP
*Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends*
The Office 2003 System parts explained
http://microsoft.com/uk/office/editions.asp