I have Word 2003 and when I send something to the printer a large bubble appears on screen telling me it has gone - is there a way of reducing this in size or speeding up its disappearance, or even switching this feature off altogether?
if you mean the notification that pops up down by the clock then it's nothing to do with word.
Click start > printers and faxes then click on the file menu and select server properties, then click on the advanced tab and make sure there is not a tick in "show informational notifications for local printer"