Windows 7: Outlook 2007 Email Hyperlinks not working with Windows 7
Outlook 2007 Email Hyperlinks not working with Windows 7
by Bertacus - 11/7/09 5:00 PMI have just upgraded from vista to windows 7. When I select a hyperlink in an email in outlook 2007 I get an error message "The operation has been canceled due to restrictions placed on this computer". I have spent the whole day trying to fix this problem. It looks to be a common problem and has been reported with XP and Vista and earlier outlooks. It seems a registry key is incorrect (?trojan related), but all the fixes refer to vista registries and earlier. Has anyone sucessfully fixed this problem for outlook 2007 running Windows 7. I have tried every other suggestion I have come across.
Cheers
It astounds me
by Jimmy Greystone - 11/7/09 7:49 PM In reply to: Outlook 2007 Email Hyperlinks not working with Windows 7 by BertacusIt astounds me that after all the countless email worms and phishing attacks that get started by someone clicking on a single link in an email, that people will still routinely do this. I am absolutely dumbfounded, flabbergasted, befuddled, and any other adjective you can come up with.
Why people don't do something a bit more sensible, like first inspecting the link, then copying and pasting it into the browser, then giving it another quick once over to make sure it matches up with what was in the email, BEFORE telling it to load the page... I simply cannot fathom. It would seem a very simple and EFFECTIVE way of avoiding the hassle of malware, and the messy nature of dealing with identity theft.
Outlook 2007 Email Hyperlinks not working with Windows 7
by Bertacus - 11/8/09 3:50 AM In reply to: It astounds me by Jimmy GreystoneThanks for your reply Jim,
It doesn't help me fix my current problem though.
Re: links in mails
by Kees Bakker
- 11/8/09 4:18 AM
In reply to: It astounds me by Jimmy Greystone
I happen to receive a lot of mails from Cnet and Zdnet containing links to articles on their site. Just an example from the Security Weekly newsletter:
In this issue:
VC's automated Twitter feed spreads malware
Microsoft's free security beta fills up
Q&A: Adrian Lamo, the hacker philosopher
Microsoft Security Essentials not quite a must-have
Q&A: Mark Abene, from 'Phiber Optik' to security guru
Copy/paste from that mail into this text window doesn't save the links, but I'm sure you get the picture.
If the description seems interesting, I click on it to view the details. I am absolutely dumbfounded, flabbergasted, befuddled, and any other adjective you can come up with, that somebody tells me to go inspecting the link, then copying and pasting it into the browser, then giving it another quick once over to make sure it matches up with what was in the email, BEFORE telling it to load the page... I simply cannot fathom.
That's because I trust the sender.
At work, I regularly get emails from colleagues linking to a document in a shared folder or in Sharepoint. I open those also without taking any precaution.
Wouldn't you do the same?
Kees
No
by Jimmy Greystone - 11/8/09 5:44 AM In reply to: Re: links in mails by Kees Bakker
No, I wouldn't. Especially if I was already taking the huge security risk that is using Outlook.
I don't care whose name is on the email, and whether or not I would trust them implicitly if they were standing next to me. I have absolutely no way of knowing, short of speaking to them directly, if they sent me this message, or if it was just some mass mailing email worm that sent it on their behalf... So to speak.
The Melissa worm of around 2000 was just the first real high profile email worm, but there were plenty of others before and after. Some would just quietly attach an infected attachment to every email sent. The sender had no idea it was being done, and if the recipient should open it, they joined the ranks of the infected. Then there was Melissa, which crippled email servers worldwide and made national news broadcasts. Then there were probably at least a half dozen or so variations on that before Microsoft stopped patching their programs for the specific threat, and went after the common exploit they were all using. Then you had a whole series of exploits involving the way Outlook and Outlook Express would parse links. People figured out that if you wrote the URL in a specific way, you could trick Outlook/Outlook Express into hiding part of the URL. So you might think you're going to PayPal, for example, and the URL might look like you're going to PayPal, but in reality there's a URL redirect command in there that's sending you somewhere else. You'd never see that unless you were copying and pasting the URL and giving it a quick once over. Of course in this instance, the problem was really with the reliance Outlook and Outlook Express have on Internet Explorer to render messages, so had you copied and pasted it into IE, you might not have seen the problem. Which is why I also cannot understand why people still use Internet Explorer, when they have to know that a single wrong click can mean hours of cleanup from the flood of malware that starts pouring in. No other browsers have this problem, all other browsers are free... I just cannot understand why people seem unwilling to take even the most basic steps to protect themselves. Simple things too. It's like rolling up the windows and locking the doors when you get out of your car. It takes a minimal amount of effort on your part, and provides you with a far greater amount of security than the effort you put in.
And since I was apparently too subtle for the original poster. My answer DID help with your problem. It's telling you that your problem is actually a blessing in disguise. You were playing Russian Roulette with your system's security, and sooner or later you were going to get the chamber with the bullet in it which would blow your system wide open for a tsunami of crap that you don't want to come flooding in. You've been lucky thus far, or at least so far as you know, but your luck would/will run out one day unless you decide to make some changes to how you use these programs.
Windows 7: Outlook 2007 Email Hyperlinks not working with Wi
by Bertacus - 11/8/09 6:42 AM In reply to: No by Jimmy GreystoneThanks for your even less subtle reply Jimmy. I'll try firefox instead of IE. I get 50-100 email links per day. To cut & paste & preview each and everyone before opening them will be close to impossible. I struggle to get the time to open them as it is.
While you have provided an alternative "solution" to my problem i.e. avoid the problem, my problem still exists. I have a malfunctioning link which may be due to malware of some sort. My registry key remains corrupt. Does anyone know the correct registry key for windows 07/IE8 to fix this? Does anyone know the bug which causes this, or are there many bugs which specifically cause this problem.
Cheers
Windows 7: Outlook 2007 Email Hyperlinks not working with Wi
by Bertacus - 11/8/09 9:14 AM In reply to: No by Jimmy GreystoneJimmy, changing to firefox has worked. I can now play Russain Roulette to my heart's content. I can open links in word documents also, including document I prepare (I trust me!). Thanks for your suggestion and taking the time to answer my question..
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