I've tried the following and replaced 9.0 with 11.0:

1. Quit any programs that are running.
2. Click Start, and then click Run. Type regedit and click OK.
3. In the Registry Editor, click to select the following subkey
(folder):
HKey_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\9.0\Co mmon\General
4. On the Edit menu, point to New and click DWORD Value. With New Value
#1 selected, type AcbControl, and then press ENTER.
5. On the Edit menu, click Modify. In the Edit DWORD Value dialog box,
click Decimal under Base. Type 1 in the Value data box. Click OK and
quit the Registry Editor.



The problem is that on my laptop, set up very similiarly to my desktop,
this prevents the task pane from appearing. When I try it on my
desktop, it doesn't work (the task pane continues to appear).

One difference: my desktop has SP2 and my laptop has SP1.

One site I read suggested that I add the AbcControl to
HKey_Local_Machine in a very similiar place in the hive. I tried this
and it still didn't fix my problem. Can anyone help me out with this?
I really need to find a way to disable the taske pane with SP2.