OL2000: Hyperlink to Executable File Opens in Outlook with Security Update Applied

View products that this article applies to.

This article was previously published under Q288369

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SYMPTOMS

If you have a Microsoft Outlook Rich Text formatted message with a hyperlink that points to an executable file that does not have the extension and the Microsoft Outlook Security Update has been applied, the executable file may open when you click the hyperlink in the message.

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CAUSE

This problem can occur because of the interaction between how Outlook uses the URL and how the operating system treats files without extensions. The executable file opens only when there is a sub-folder with the same name as the executable file in the target folder. For example, if you have the following folder

\\Server\Share\Files\Calc

and the Calc.exe program file is in the Files folder, then a hyperlink to \\Server\Share\Calc in an Outlook Rich Text message starts the Calc.exe program without warning when you click the executable file.

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RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Microsoft Office 2000. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

276367 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/276367/EN-US/ ) OFF2000: How to Obtain the Latest Office 2000 Service Pack

The English version of this fix has the file attributes (or later) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in coordinated universal time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the <B>Time Zone</B> tab in the Date and Time tool in Control Panel.

   Date        Time      Version  Size         File name   
   -------------------------------------------------------------
   11/14/2000  6:21 PM   NA       2494976      Outlook.msp
   11/14/2000  6:29 PM   NA       7084032      Outlook_Admin.msp

After you install the hotfix, the following files will have the listed attributes or later:

   Date       Time      Version      Size     File name 
   ----------------------------------------------------
   11/10/2000 3:34 PM   9.0.0.4709   5328946  Outllib.dll

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STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.

This problem was first corrected in Microsoft Office 2000 Service Pack 3 (SP-3).

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