TASK PANE

[RENEE]

I use Word 2003 and have turned off the Task Pane box several times. It
keeps reappearing when I open Word or Excel. This KB item is supposed to
help:

1. Quit Word 2003. If you use Word as your e-mail editor, also quit
Microsoft Outlook.
2. Click Start, and then click Run.
3. In the Run box, type REGEDIT, and then click OK.
4. Locate the following registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Common\General
5. Right-click the DoNotDismissFileNewTaskPane key, and then click Delete.
6. Click OK to confirm that you want to delete the
DoNotDismissFileNewTaskPane key.

Problem is that I do not have the "DoNotDismissFileNewTaskPane key" as
mentioned in number 5. Any suggestions?

 

[Guest]

Do you happen to have the KB number? That seems wrong to me. What you need
to do is to create the Key (which is not created by default) and set it with
0, 1 or 2 depending how you want it to work.

Fortunately, some really bright MPs (Beth Melton and Bill Coan) and have
created a simple add-in for Word and Excel that let you choose the Task Pane
behaviour wanted. See the FAQ and download the add-ins here:
http://word.mvps.org/faqs/customization/ShowTaskPane.htm

 

[RENEE]

It's knot a kb number - it referred to me to it when I searched Help in
"Word" and this is what it said:

The Getting Started task pane appears every time when you start Word 2003
View products that this article applies to.
Article ID : 838676
Last Review : July 27, 2006
Revision : 3.1
Important This article contains information about modifying the registry.
Before you modify the registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that
you understand how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For
information about how to back up, restore, and edit the registry, click the
following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
256986 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/256986/) Description of the
Microsoft Windows Registry
On This Page

SYMPTOMS

RESOLUTION

Solution 1

Solution 2
SYMPTOMS
Every time that you start Microsoft Office Word 2003, the Getting Started
task pane appears.
Back to the top

RESOLUTION
There are two solutions to this problem.
Back to the top

Solution 1
1. Quit all Microsoft Word programs that are running including WordMail.
2. Start Word 2003.
3. On the Tools menu, click Options.
4. On the View tab, click to clear the Startup Task Pane check box.
5. Quit Word 2003.
When you start Word 2003 the next time, the task pane should not appear. If
it does, go to Solution 2.
Back to the top

Solution 2
Warning If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious
problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft
cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry
Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.1. Quit Word 2003.
If you use Word as your e-mail editor, also quit Microsoft Outlook.
2. Click Start, and then click Run.
3. In the Run box, type REGEDIT, and then click OK.
4. Locate the following registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Common\General
5. Right-click the DoNotDismissFileNewTaskPane key, and then click Delete.
6. Click OK to confirm that you want to delete the
DoNotDismissFileNewTaskPane key.
When you start Word the next time, Word will respect the task pane setting.
If the task pane is still appearing, follow the steps in Solution 1 to make
sure that the setting is turned off in the user interface.

 

[RENEE]

Downloaded the add in you suggested and it worked. Thanks very much.

 

[Guest]

You're welcome.

FWIW, it is a KB article ID: 838676. I'll be studying this!

tf

 

[Beth Melton]

I believe the KB article is correct.

The information on the reg key: DoNotDismissFileNewTaskPane key is a
reg hack that Adobe and a few other third-party manufacturer's used as
an attempt to circumvent the Task Pane getting dismissed too quickly
when the applications started. It would display briefly but when an
add-in loaded, such as the PDFMaker add-in, it would trigger the
dismissal of the Task Pane. The end result was those who wanted the
Task Pane at startup were not too happy.

So in their infinite wisdom they started adding the reg hack during
their installation procedure and the Task Pane would appear when the
application started. But now the problem was reversed. Those who
didn't want to see the Task Pane at startup were now seeing it and
even worse, all attempts to suppress it using the
Tools/Options/General Startup Task Pane option were futile since the
Reg Hack disregards the option. (I think they finally rectified this
in service packs.)

Although I don't think the KB should recommend deleting the
DoNotDismissFileNewTaskPane key. Instead they should provide a table
with the available values and allow the user to modify the setting to
their liking. Perhaps their (MS) thought is since it's not part of the
application defaults then it doesn't need to be there.

Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email can not be acknowledged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

Office 2007 Preview Site:
http://www.microsoft.com/office/preview/default.mspx
Office 2007 Community Articles/Tutorials:
http://www.microsoft.com/office/preview/community/article_archive.mspx

TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/

 

[Guest]

Beth

That's now clear, thanks. I was baffled why the key was present and assumed
that Adobe must be guilty of adding it, but I wasn't sure of their intents.
They obviously didn't think out their solution very well!

Terry

 

[Beth Melton]

Now when have we ever known Adobe to think out their solutions? ;-)

It's always one thing or another with them. As I'm sure you know,
while their latest version of the add-in doesn't suppress the task
pane they elected to 'workaround' the issue they caused by allowing
their add-in to modify Normal.dot each time Word starts by discarding
all changes to Normal.dot on exit - even the user's personal
preferences. <sigh>

Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email can not be acknowledged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

Office 2007 Preview Site:
http://www.microsoft.com/office/preview/default.mspx
Office 2007 Community Articles/Tutorials:
http://www.microsoft.com/office/preview/community/article_archive.mspx

TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/

 

[Guest]

Luv 'em.

terry

Now when have we ever known Adobe to think out their solutions? ;-)

It's always one thing or another with them. As I'm sure you know, while
their latest version of the add-in doesn't suppress the task pane they
elected to 'workaround' the issue they caused by allowing their add-in to
modify Normal.dot each time Word starts by discarding all changes to
Normal.dot on exit - even the user's personal preferences. <sigh>

Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email can not be acknowledged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

Office 2007 Preview Site:
http://www.microsoft.com/office/preview/default.mspx
Office 2007 Community Articles/Tutorials:
http://www.microsoft.com/office/preview/community/article_archive.mspx

TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/