OFF97: Office Assistant Not Removed in Maintenance Mode Setup

 Last reviewed: April 8, 1997
Article ID: Q162420
97 WINDOWS kbsetup kbtool

The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Office 97 for Windows
  • Microsoft Access 97 for Windows
  • Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows
  • Microsoft Outlook 97 for Windows
  • Microsoft PowerPoint 97 for Windows
  • Microsoft Word 97 for Windows

SYMPTOMS

After you use maintenance mode Setup to remove the Office Assistant, it still appears when you start Microsoft Office.

CAUSE

The Office Assistant is a shared application and will not be removed until all the supporting applications (clients) are removed. The Office Assistant clients are Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Access, Word, the Office Shortcut Bar (OSB), Binder, Outlook, and PowerPoint.

WORKAROUND

To prevent the Office Assistant from reappearing, you must remove all .act files from the following location on your hard disk: 

   <drive>:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Actors
The Actors folder may contain several .act files if you have changed your Office assistant character.

MORE INFORMATION

The following Office Assistant files are installed in the \Office\Actors folder: 

   Clippit.act
   Dot.acp
   Genius.acp
   Hoverbot.acp
   Logo.acp
   Mnature.acp
   Powerpup.acp
   Scribble.acp
   Will.acp
Note that the Clippit character file has the .act (actor) extension because it is the default character used for the Office Assistant. The other eight files that are installed have the .acp (preview) extension which allows you to preview these characters on the Gallery tab of the Office Assistant dialog box.

When you change the Office Assistant character, the .act file for that character replaces the .acp file in the \Office\Actors folder. The previous character's file remains an .act file; it does not change to an .acp file.

For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 

   ARTICLE-ID: Q155143
   TITLE     : OFF97: One Assistant Character Installed With Complete Setup

KBCategory: kbsetup kbtool
KBSubcategory: offassist
Additional reference words: 97 8.00 word8 word97
Keywords : offassist kbsetup kbtool
Version : 97
Platform : WINDOWS

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Last reviewed: April 8, 1997
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