Several users have reported an issue in which web links (hyperlinks) no longer work in Outlook 2007 and Word 2007. Users experiencing this problem may receive the following error message:
“This operation has been cancelled due to restrictions if effect on this computer. Please contact your system administrator.”
This problem is generally caused by a corrupt Internet Explorer registry key. As such, the first thing you should try is resetting web settings in Internet Explorer. In Internet Exploer, click the Tools menu, click and select Internet Options. In Windows XP, go to the Programs tab, and then click the Reset button. In Windows Vista and Windows 7, click the Advanced tab then select reset. Apply the changes.
If that doesn’t work, you will need to edit the registry, following these steps, as described by Slipstick Systems:
- Start, click Run, type Regedit in the Open box, and then click OK.
- Browse to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\.html
- Right click the value for the .html key and select Modify…
- Change the value from “ChromeHTML” to “htmlfile” (or from FireFoxHTML to htmlfile)
Repeat this process for each of the following keys:
- [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\.htm]
- [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\.html]
- [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\.shtml]
- [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\.xht]
- [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\.xhtml]
Filed under Internet Explorer 8, Office 2007, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP by on Apr 19th, 2010. 1 Comment. 
Several users are experiencing problems installing the new Office 2007 Service Pack 2 (SP2) update, which was released earlier this week. Users are sometimes presented simply with the message “updates failed” or “The installation of this package has failed.”
Fixes
- Install the Microsoft Office System Update Download and install this file from Microsoft. It contains fixes for issues that can prevent the installation of Office 2007 updates. Next, re-attempt installation or move on the the following fixes.
- Try Windows Update If you manually downloaded the Office 2007 SP2 installation package initially, try downloading and installing the update through Windows Update instead.
- Re-download the installation file Microsoft’s servers have had issues delivering the Office 2007 SP2 installation package. When downloading Office 2007 SP2, ensure that the file size is 290MB. If it is smaller, you may have a corrupt, unusable file. Try re-downloading the file.
- Use the Windows XP or 2003 hotfix If you are running Windows XP or 2003, try using this hotfix from Microsoft that solves an issue with large installation files
Filed under Office 2007, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP by on Apr 30th, 2009. 15 Comments.
Earlier today, Microsoft released Service Pack 2 for Office 2007 (see our previous coverage for a list of what’s new). Users are experiencing a range of issues with the update, ranging from minor to major.
Problems and fixes
Corrupt downloads/will not install Some users appear to be getting corrupt or otherwise problematic download files. When downloading Office 2007 SP2, ensure that the file size is 290MB. If it is smaller, you may have a corrupt, unusable file. Here, again, are the officialdownload links. You might also try this link.
Outlook won’t launch Office 2007 SP2 has broken Outlook for a number of users, who are unable to launch the program after the update. This may be due to Outlook add-ons or newly incompatible Outlook connectors. Try removing any Outlook add-ons then re-launching.
A temporary fix for this issue, if the aforementioned doesn’t work, is to open the Office folder and find the Outlook .exe file. Right-click it and select “Run as Administrator.”
Exchange connectivity Some users have lost Exchange server connectivity after this update. We are continuing to investigate this issue.
Uninstalling the update If you are having serious problems after installing Office 2007 SP2 and wish to remove the update, note that this is the first service pack to support uninstall of client patches through both the command line and the use of the Microsoft Service Pack Uninstall Tool, which you can download here.
Filed under Office 2007, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP by on Apr 28th, 2009. Comment.
Microsoft today released Office 2007 SP2, the latest edition of the company’s productivitiy suite. The new release is cumulative, meaning that it includes fixes included in Office 2007 SP1 and other public updates, security updates and hotfixes that were issued through February 2009.
The new release can be downloaded here.
What’s New Among the major enhancements in this release:
- Word improved .pdf and .xps output; better integration/performance with Outlook
- Excel: improves the charting mechanism (better parity with Office 2003, improved robustness, and targeted performance improvements); adds a chart object model to Word and to PowerPoint
- Outlook Speed boosts, including faster startup, shutdown, and switching between folders; better search reliability; fewer duplicate RSS items
- PowerPoint faster file resaves; better .jpeg, .png and .gif image quality; fixes several printer-specific problems.
- Speed improves application performance when many graphic objects are present, especially for Excel 2007
- Miscellaneous OpenDocument Format (ODF) support: “SP2 lets you open, edit, and save documents in version 1.1 of the ODF for Word, for Excel, and for PowerPoint. Users of these Office programs can now open, edit, and save files in the OpenDocument Text (*.odt), OpenDocument Spreadsheet (*.ods), and OpenDocument Presentations (*.odp) formats.”; built-in “Save As PDF/XPS” support
If you are having any problems after the update, please let us know.
Filed under News, Office 2007, Windows Vista, Windows XP by on Apr 28th, 2009. 1 Comment.