The icon I'm referring to allows one to display desktop with multiple programs open and w/o having to minimize each open program before u can get back to the desktop.
When MS Word is selected it displays 'The command cannot be performed because a dialog is open. Click OK, and then close open dialog boxes to continue.' I believe this error is referring to the lower box titled 'Windows Installer' and it reads 'Preparing to install...' having my Office disk in the cd drive doesn't make a difference.
When Excel is selected it displays 'Installing components for Microsoft Excel' and reads 'Installing: Microsoft Excel feature'. In both situations, if you click thru the error boxes, the program eventually loads in about 1 min.
Tnx
stan

As long as the icon itself hasn't been deleted, right click anywhere on the taskbar, go to Toolbars, and tick QuickLaunch.

Does it actually install this oficce component, or does it fail? Have you tried to re-install Office?

I did delete the original icon (thanks to experimentation) and subsequently replaced it w/ a copy, however, that displays the desktop much like the contents of the files in a given folder would be displayed. As such, you do not have your desktop screen per se.
Regarding the 'windows installer' error, introducing the office CD does not help in whatever it's trying to install.
I have MS Office Pro 2003 and i did run the repair option to which upon completion it said everything was repaired successfully. However, this did not help the 'windows installer' problem.
thanks for your patience w/ me.

OK nar,

Can you go to My Computer/Explorer and navigate to c:\program files\microsoft office\office11\startup. If there are any files in here, right click on them, Cut, and Paste them into a safe folder you'll rememeber such as My Documents. Try to run Word again.

To create the "Show Desktop" icon:

- go to Start, run, and type notepad
- copy and paste the following lines:
[Shell]
Command=2
IconFile=explorer.exe,3
[Taskbar]
Command=ToggleDesktop

- Go to File menu, click Save As, and then save the file to your desktop as Show Desktop.scf. Note Notepad might automatically append a .txt extension to the file name. Remove this extension if present. The file name should be Show Desktop.scf.

- Drag this to your Quick Launch bar.

I've also attached one you can use, all you need to do is take off the .txt extention.

Attached Files

desktop.scf.txt (77 Bytes, 1 views)

There were no files in that startup folder.
On the other hand, having my desktop back in the quick launch is very gratifying.
Tnx madmonkey

Great stuff, but I take it the Windows Installer must be coming up before Word even starts?

If so:
- If you go to Start, Run, and type in msconfig
- Under the startup tab, untick a box, reboot and see if the Windows installer comes back.
- If it does, go back in, put a tick back in the box, and untick the next one. Follow the same process until windows installer doesn't startup.

Maybe trying to install something which failed to install/uninstall at some point.

Sorry Madmonkey.
There were/are 10 checked items in that startup folder and I did as suggested to no avail. However, the 'ctfmon.exe' application always showed as checked after reboot which seemed strange.
also, you are correct that the windows installer (W/I) error message boxes are coming up before Word starts.
I also installed and uninstalled a couple differnt programs w/o any affect to the W/I problem.