IE 5 – Word Doc Links

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NT4 / SP6, with Office97, IE5, and FrontPage98

One user has found that when he clicks on a link on our IntraNet to a Word doc it launches Word and displays the file in the Word application window. Some folks may want it to do that, but we don’t. This is the first one thats behaved this way, all the other workstations have displayed the docs within the browser. Very few of the users have FrontPage, and only a couple are using it in the new loadset this person just received.

I’ve looked at everything I can find in IE and Word settings, can’t find anything in TechNet. Methinks this may be a FrontPage setting causing this, but it didn’t do this before he got a new workstation with the new loadset that includes SP6 for NT.

I don’t use FrontPage, I’m a NotePad fan. I didn’t really want to load it just to troubleshoot this issue, but I’m running out of options.

All input is warmly received !

TIA

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To bne sure I understand – you want the file loaded in the browser window (with a subset of word controls) or you want a word window to load?

AFAIK, it’s a feature of the browser – what version of IE is on the other computers?

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Hi Mary, Thanks,
All are IE5 (not 5.5).

We want in-place activation to work, NOT launch Word to display the document, which is how all the others work. And his also until he got the new loadset.

This user has FrontPage, unlike most others, and also I have since learned that the symptom follows him to another workstation so it may be in his profile. Which is bad, I was hoping not to have to redo that, as it is much more of a pain now with our new loadset than it was previously.

I have tried to edit local registry on my workstation to produce the same behavior using TechNet Q174893 info, but to no avail. I can’t get my machine to launch Word by clicking on a .doc link. The only difference in installed applications between mine and the user’s is FrontPage(98).

Thx, DonB

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Maybe the same in FP98, but in FP2000 under Options/Configure Editors there is an option to ‘Open Web pages in the Office application that created them’.
Just a thought…..

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Hi Leif, thanks
I’ve left the user a msg to chk for that.

He had already told me there wasn’t an option to change anything, but I can’t trust what the end user says…

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Don,
See the below document, which discusses turning on/off this feature. There are other problems that can creep up, that could cause this behavior, but this document is the most likely fix.

MS KB Q162059

Please note, these are the NT Options:
8 = open in the native application
0 = open in-place in the browser, exception being PowerPoint, always open in-place.
(I have heard, but not tried using 9 for Powerpoint to open in Powerpoint, in NT)

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Hi James, Thanks,
I tried editing my registry using Q162059 info to produce that same behavior, to no avail.

So far I’ve only tried changing my key value from 0 to 8, but that didn’t change my open link behavior for some reason.

I’m still using the doc you referenced and another one I found to try and force mine to open .docs in native mode.

I’m trying to figure out how to use regsvr32 on docobj.dll (per Q174893) to do it.

Will keep you ‘posted’… (sorry)

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Don,
RE: Q174893, the only real hard part is translating the path, so

%systemroot%system32regsvr32.exe /u %systemroot%system32docobj.dll

would translate to: (on a default NT install)

C:WINNTSYSTEM32regsvr32.exe /u C:WINNTSYSTEM32docobj.dll
(adding or removing the /u part, depending on the step you are doing)
Make sure you include the spaces where needed.

Also, take a look at the following (since you mentioned it followed his profile, this may apply):

Open Windows Explorer (not IE). Select View->Folder Options. Scroll to Microsoft Word Document, select it, and click Edit. At the bottom of the “Edit File Type” box, is a check box for Browsing in the same window.

See if that affects it. Let me know if you have any questions.

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Hi James,

I can’t seem to effect the change on my machine to force it to behave like the affected user’s by either of these 3 methods.

When I run the regsvr command to disable my ‘open in browser’ it says successful, but doesn’t change the behavior, even after restart.

I don’t have ‘Folder Options’ under the View menu, all I have is Options, and nowhere in File Types for Word docs is a chk box for “browsing in same window”. I saw this suggested for My Computer also, and had found that this wasn’t in there. I’ve checked a couple other PC’s here, and we don’t have a ‘Folder Options’ selection, they are all ‘Options’ only….not sure what that means.

If I toggle the registry key on my machine between 0 and 8 to try and duplicate the ‘open in native’ feature, it stills opens in the browser. I rebooted to see if the change needs a restart to take effect, I find the key gets set back to its previous value…which on my PC is 0.

My next step is to log on the user’s PC and see what his key value is I guess. If his is an 8 that will at least show why this is happening.

Thanks again, will keep you ‘posted’…(ouch)

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“I rebooted to see if the change needs a restart to take effect, I find the key gets set back to its previous value…which on my PC is 0.”

There is a clue in there somewhere. Something is resetting the registry key.

I would suggest you do a search in the registry for BrowserFlags. If there are any keys called that in HK_Current_User delete them. They may override the settings in HK_Local_Machine.

Also it might depend on your profile setup. My profile does not always get written back to the server, especially if it gets too big (files on the desktop). There is a setting which deletes the local profile and always uses the one from the server, so it could be that your carefully entered changes are being overwritten when you reboot.

Let us know how you go.

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Hi David,

I realized that, and since changing the LocalMachine-Software-Classes key alone didn’t work, I was leaning towards re-creating his roaming profile. Although for us thats harder to accomplish than it use to be.

Our NT, roaming profile settings, policy files, certain parts of the registry, and other things are locked down to changes. This is part of how our workstations are configured, and they won’t let the technicians have access to change them just for silly things like desktop support issues.

In other words, if we can’t get it to do what the user would like it to do, they have to live with it.

However, per your suggestion, I found BrowserFlags keys set to 0 on my machine in Local and CurrentUser, changed them to 8, and my machine STILL wouldn’t open the doc in native app. (Which is what I’m trying to duplicate b4 I go hacking on the client’s to make his STOP opening the app native ).

I then found that they are getting reset NOT when we log off / on, but when we run IE….which is also ‘locked’ to a large extent by the powers that be.

So that has narrowed it down considerably. I have a couple of reg file tools I can use to unlock IE and try to find the offending setting, but I had already poked around and don’t see anything like “open in native app” or “open links in new window” etc.

Its really got me aggravated because out of over 4200 workstations, this is the first one to start doing this, and for no apparent reason.

Maybe tomorrow I’ll have time to fiddle with it some more, we’ll let yall know what happens.

Muchos gracias for your input.

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You Beaut!

This issue had been a blooming nuisance to me for some time. I do like all my tool bars and real menus availble when i open a document from the office intranet.

Thanks!

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I’m glad we were able to assist you !
I just wish I could get mine to NOT do what you apparently prefer.

Our folks here like to open the link to the doc, then hit the back arrow to return to the previous browser page.

When it launches the native application instead (which takes longer), you have to close the application (which takes longer) to go back to the browser page you were on.

Of course, you could leave the Word window open…but then you have to toggle back and forth…not efficient if you are just wanting to view something from the browser.

On our IntraNet very few people have access to actually edit the documents, so they don’t want the Word application to open up just to display the doc.

This post was an effort on my part to make it not NOT do that for one user, when it has never done this, and so far we have been unsuccessful.

But I’m glad you found joy in the process !

Take care.

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BTW we have alot of forms on out intranet. When I want to fill them in I like to have the full armoury of Excel tools available. Then I have to save them elsewhere.

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Right, I understand. Our forms are mostly Word, and since all are protected to any changes the users simply SaveAs and hit the back arrow to return to the previous browser page. They then call the doc up later from Word, fill it out and email it or print it.

You do get a minimum Word toolbar within the browser like that, the guy having the symptom is one of a dozen editors of the various forms. He wants to look at in the browser on the IntraNet and test it as a user would use it, then go back (like it used to do). Changes to the form itself are made from FrontPage or Word.

His is the only workstation doing this, and he prefers to have it ‘back the way it was’. Only problem is, we have no idea how it got like this !!

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