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Microsoft Office "helpful" features?

10
2006-08-11 03:07:49, Category: Programming & Design
Let me preface this by saying I have about 10 years experience in computing, and have worked with many different operating systems and countless standard and bespoke software packages. I still have no idea whatsoever why Microsoft is the only company to add ridiculous bloody "auto-help-as-you-work" features into their products. Today I'm in a situation where I am having to use Word, and all I'm doing is manipulating some basic documents, nothing to taxing. Why the hell does this program keep trying to "help" me by adding things automatically where I don't even want them, horizontal breaks, bullet points etc?! It borders on the ludicrous. I have had a quick look in the options but cannot find a quick way to turn of these sodding features, does anyone else know a shortcut to an option which will actually allow me to work without getting interrupted every five bloody seconds with unhelpful additions to my work? Cheers.

Answers

  1. henry b

    On 2006-08-11 03:13:17


    use open office, it's free, just google it, and it will work with ms office.

  2. Bill M

    On 2006-08-11 03:13:47


    Best way is to download a free old version that does not have all the help me for incompetent people features built in and never upgrade. But look at most of the peoples posts here that show they can't figure out the check spelling button and you can see why they do this.

  3. Hatman

    On 2006-08-11 03:27:32


    I understand your problem. Tools, Auto Correct Options - or Options, Auto Correct, depending on the version of Word, will turn most of these off. Your reaction is a common one from people who think "Oh ... Word Processor ... simple to use out of the box. No training needed!" I have been involved in software support and training for 20 years and I am so familiar with this attitude! Actually, it is possible to use Word well from scratch but getting frustrated with it because it is not 'working the way you expect it to work' is the one biggest block to learning anything. Stop swearing at it and understand that there is a learning curve. It is not a particularly steep one but getting frustrated because it is slowing you down is your worst hindrance! If you are going to be using Word a lot, take some time to do a basic course in it. It is one of those applications which looks deceptively simple but is, in fact, very powerful. Just remember that the shortcuts and automatic formatting things that you find annoying are there to make a trained user more productive, not less. It's a bad workman who blames his tools!

  4. John K

    On 2006-08-11 04:39:22


    The best add on you can get is Open Office. It can read and write MS Office files and it doesn't think it knows what you want to do...You can download it for free at www.openoffice.org.

  5. NA A

    On 2006-08-11 03:15:20


    Just disable.

  6. Mooch

    On 2006-08-11 03:25:18


    It sounds like a combination of problems. And I know how insane it can make you; when Office starts being clever it can make you want to throw the computer out of the window, right? You'll probably find a few solutions in the Autoformat settings (Menu>Format>Autoformat then click on the options button in the lower left of the box). Under the Autoformat tab there are options to enable the "Smart" (Ha!) formatting options you describe above. Unselect the boxes and you're left with an unformatted document which you can then manually format in a way that suits you instead of Microsoft. Watch out for those two sneaky options right at the bottom under "Preserve" and "Always Autoformat" because they can make peculiar things happen as well. Hope this helps. But if you do decide to eject the machine, watch out for passing pedestrians below :o)

  7. wbriii13

    On 2006-08-11 03:13:49


    Look at this. I hope it helps. About all the automatic insertions, formatting, and corrections Word makes as you type Formatting a document as you type Correcting text as you type Quickly inserting an entire item by typing a few characters More information Formatting a document as you type By using AutoFormat As You Type, you can quickly apply headings, bulleted and numbered lists, borders, numbers, symbols, and fractions to your text. On the AutoFormat As You Type tab (Tools menu, AutoCorrect command), you can select the elements that you do and don't want Microsoft Word to format automatically. For example, you might want to always replace straight quotation marks with curly ones, but not want to format Internet paths as hyperlinks. If you want to automatically format selected document text or an entire document after you've finished writing it instead of as you type, use the AutoFormat command (Format menu). Overview of automatic formatting options Return to top Correcting text as you type AutoCorrect automatically fixes many common typing, spelling, and grammatical errors as you type. You can also use it to automatically insert text, symbols, and graphics that you use frequently and don't want to fully retype or reinsert. Overview of AutoCorrect Return to top Quickly inserting an entire item by typing a few characters AutoComplete enables you to insert entire items — such as dates and AutoText entries — when you type a few identifying characters. Learn about quickly inserting an AutoText entry or date by using AutoComplete. You can customize the automatic changes that Word makes, or turn off the features altogether. Turn on or off the automatic changes Word makes as you type Return to top More information Create an AutoText entry to store and reuse text and graphics Automatically format a document in a separate pass Best wishes and have fun but be safe.

  8. Stephen H

    On 2006-08-11 03:13:53


    I totally agree, unfortunately the nazis at Microsoft are probably have a good laugh at our expense over these little "features". You need to go to FORMAT > AUTOFORMAT > OPTIONS to turn all these little buggers off!

  9. Catmmo

    On 2006-08-11 03:10:20


    Believe me, I feel your pain. Try going to Tools, AutoCorrectOptions and just unchecking everything. And turn off that stupid animated help thing too if it's going - especially if it's that paperclip - I hate that thing.

  10. Ravi C

    On 2006-08-11 03:23:32


    You can disable those by changing setting under Tools > Options.