bring up the windows task manager (Ctrl+Alt+Del)
remove msohelp both of them. Then bring up Excel

Usually seems to happen if you brought up Excel using a web browser.
during your current windows session.

HTH,
David McRitchie, Microsoft MVP - Excel [site changed Nov. 2001]
My Excel Pages: http://www.mvps.org/dmcritchie/excel/excel.htm
Search Page: http://www.mvps.org/dmcritchie/excel/search.htm

"J Seay in Tennessee" <J Seay in wrote in message
...
Whenever I activate the Help screen, the cursor turns into a two-headed
horizontal arrow cursor in the active part of the screen. I can't enter
anything into the text boxes because the normal cursor, the vertical place
holder, does not appear. Whenever I move the cursor out of the active part
of the Help screen, the cursor becomes normal and I can manipulate the tabs.