Office & productivity software forum: Outlook URL link restrictions

OK, here is everything that I have found:

Help>About>MS Office Outlook displays:

Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 (11.6359.6408) SP1

I had performed updates previously through Explorer (when I was completing the re-install of the software). At that time I had all Office (and Windows) updates according to Microsoft's web site.

Of interest, when I clicked on the "Check updates" menu option from the Help menu, I received the same error message as clicking on a URL link, that is:

"This Operation has been cancelled due to restrictions in effect on this computer. Please contact your system administrator."

I also receive the same error message when clicking on a "mailto:" link to send and email to someone.

I ran the "Detect and Repair" menu option, but no change.

And the product is activated.

If I open Explorer and run Office Updates, it still shows that I have all recent updates.

If this is not what you are looking for, let me know. Todd

I got a chance tonight to follow up on your last response. I printed off the directions and followed carefully, double checked in fact. In Step 2 (for XP) all settings as they should. I then performed and applied the changes from Outlook-to-Express-to-Outlook.

I could Run "mailto:" with no issues, and a new message email pops up (Outlook was not running/open at the time, same situation with Outlook running).

BUT,

If I run Outlook and open a message that I have received that has an email mailto: or URL link, I am still unable to click on either link and have anything happen, I still receive the error message:

"This Operation has been cancelled due to restrictions in effect on this computer. Please contact your system administrator."

This continues to happen for "mailto:" links, URLs, as well as the "Check for Updates" menu option. So there is still no change in status.

I am unsure as to what to check next.

while logged in as Administrator, or (only) as a non-administrative user? Of course, if would be ridiculous if you had to be administrator to be able to click on a mailto-link, but it might point to a possible solution. Just a WAG.

Kees

Yes, I am setup as the computer administrator (single user , dedicated system), Guest account is turned off.

As far as Firefox goes, I had it installed previously with no problem, my wife is using it as well on a similarly configured system (yes, I have tried to compare settings between the two but nothing is standing out).

I had previously tried to reset IE as the default browser and have tried it again tonight (Tools>Options>Programs>Reset Web Settings), but still no change in status.

If I get sometime later, I'll try to re-install Office and see what happens.

I ended up removing Office and Firefox and re-installing Office again from CD, updating it, and verify that it worked fine with IE. Then I re-installed Firefox and tested again. No problem this time, previous issues have cleared and I can now click on links and get new mail messages or web links as expected.

Thanks for your help.