XL2002: You Cannot Install Speech Recognition from Excel

In Microsoft Excel 2002, when you point to Speech on the Tools menu, you receive no dialog box to install the speech recognition feature. This behavior occurs even when the Alternative User Input feature (in Microsoft Office XP Setup) is set to Installed on First Use.

NOTE: This behavior is different from the behavior in Microsoft Word. In Word, when you click Speech on the Tools menu, you receive a dialog box that gives you the option of installing speech recognition.

This behavior occurs because Excel 2002 does not provide a command or menu item to start the Language bar.

NOTE: It is from the Language bar that you can initiate the installation of the speech recognition feature.

NOTE: Because there are several versions of Microsoft Windows, the following steps may be different on your computer. If they are, see your product documentation to complete these steps.

To resolve this issue, install the Alternative User Input feature of Office XP to run from your computer. To install the Alternative User Input feature, follow these steps:

1.	Insert the Office XP compact disc into your computer's CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive.
2.	Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
3.	Double-click Add/Remove Programs.
4.	Select Microsoft Office XP, and then click Remove.
5.	In the Microsoft XP Setup dialog box, click Add or Remove Features, and then click Next.
6.	Click the plus sign (+) next to Office Shared Features.
7.	Click the arrow next to Alternative User Input, click Run all From My Computer, and then click Update.
8.	Start Excel. The Language bar is now displayed when Excel is the active window.

The speech recognition files include support for the Voice Command, Dictation, and Handwriting Recognition modes. After the speech recognition files are installed, these features can be accessed from the Language bar. The Text To Speech feature in Excel 2002 does not use the speech recognition files or the Language bar.

For additional information about speech recognition in Excel 2002, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: