Assume I type (in Word 2007) multiple "-" into a new line then Word converts them automatically into a straight full line over the whole breadth of the page.

How do I...

1.) let Word 2007 convert them only to a line with the length of the two outmost dashes and NOT the whole page?

2.) shorten an existing straight line to lets say the half of size? Typing simply DEL or Backspace does NOT work.

3.) prevent auto-conversion completely?

Peter